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Genres in practice3 min read

LESSON 35

Portrait

A person, their light, their moment.

IN THIS LESSON

  1. What a portrait is for
  2. The three classic lights
  3. High key and low key
  4. In practice: working with a person
  5. In practice: lens and background

What a portrait is for

Portrait photography sets out to show the character of a person or a group, using light, background and pose. A portrait can be artistic or plain and clinical, and many are commissioned for occasions such as weddings and school events or for business use. Early studio portraits took a long time to expose, which is why sitters were placed against plain backgrounds, lit by a soft window from above, and asked to keep very still. In what is called hidden mother photography, a young child's mother was concealed in the frame to calm the child and keep it still. Shorter exposures later let photographers leave the studio.

The three classic lights

The most common studio arrangement uses three lights. The key light is the main one, usually set 30 to 60 degrees to one side of the camera or above the face; it gives the face its shape, and how far away it stands controls how quickly the light falls off. The fill light goes on the other side and softens the shadows the key creates; a reflector often does this job instead. The back light, or hair light, sits behind the person and separates them from the background. A fourth light can light the background itself. Lesson 62 covers named setups in detail.

High key and low key

Two moods sit at the ends of the scale. High-key lighting gives a picture that is nearly free of shadow, with a background brighter than the person; it usually needs all three lights or more. It reads as open, fresh and clean. Low-key lighting lights only part of the subject, keeps deep shadows and puts the person against a darker background; it typically uses just one light, sometimes two. It reads as quiet, serious or dramatic. Choose the mood before you set a single light, because it decides how many lights you need and where they go.

In practice: working with a person

This section is working practice. Most stiff portraits come from a stiff photographer. Talk while you shoot, explain what you are doing, and show a good frame on the screen early so the person relaxes. Focus on the nearer eye; if it is sharp, the picture usually holds. Give small, clear directions, such as chin forward and a little down, weight on the back foot, hands doing something. Shoot more than you think you need, because the best expression often comes just after the posed one, when the person thinks you have finished.

In practice: lens and background

Also practice. A moderately long lens used from a few steps away keeps features in natural proportion and lets you blur the background with a wide aperture. Look behind the person before you look at them: a pole growing out of a head or a bright window beside an ear will win the viewer's attention. Move yourself or the person until the background is plain, dark, or far away. Open shade, the edge of a building or a large window give soft light that suits nearly every face, and they cost nothing.

Try it today

  1. 01Ask a friend to sit by a window, side-on to the light.
  2. 02Make ten frames with the light on one side of the face, then add a white card opposite as fill.
  3. 03Move them until the background behind their head is plain.
  4. 04Focus on the nearer eye and keep talking while you shoot.
  5. 05Take three more frames after you say you are done, and compare expressions.