How to Get the Professional Portrait Look

Experimenting with props works especially well when photographing children.

A professional looking portrait doesn't have to be a stiffly posed, starkly lit, school picture-style photograph. Think more along the lines of the kind of portrait of somebody that you'd see in a magazine or a photography exhibition. With a little thought and effort, anyone can get the professional look when taking a photographic portrait.

Instructions

1. Take your portrait in the appropriate format. Most portraits are best when taken with the camera in the vertical position -- the format which is actually called "portrait" -- although horizontal or "landscape" style may work well in some situations.

2. Take your portrait outside or somewhere indoors with plenty of natural lighting. Using flash in a portrait can white out your subject's skin, give red eyes or ruin the tone of the photo. Natural light is much more aesthetically pleasing, especially in the early afternoon, and outdoor scenery can make for an interesting background.

3. Give your subject a prop to work with if they feel uncomfortable just standing or sitting with nothing to do. Choose a prop that looks good in a photo.

4. Shoot a candid portrait of someone in a natural situation, such as interacting with family, working, playing or taking part in an activity he enjoys.

Tips & Warnings

• Use the "rule of thirds" to improve your composition. Imagine that what you see through your view-finder is separated into three equal portions both horizontally and vertically, with lines to mark out these thirds. The rule of thirds states that points of interest, in this case the subject of your portrait, should be located along one of these lines. However, once you get accustomed to this rule of composition, you can get some interesting results by flouting it.

• The better the camera you're working with, the more professional your portrait will look. However, you can take a decent photograph with even an inexpensive camera, just focus on getting an interesting subject matter and good composition.

References

• Samir Barahdwaj.com; Top 5 Tricks for Taking Professional Looking Photos with Your Digital Camera; Samir Bharadwaj; May 2007
• Digital Photography School; 10 Ways to Take Stunning Portraits; Darren Rowse
• Apogee Photo; Taking Better Portraits; Marci Cooke

Resources

• Photography.com