A Few Portrait Tips

I would like to apologize for the lateness of my post, the internet in all of the dorms at my school was down for almost the entirety of college student waking hours. That being said, please do not judge my blogging by the quality of this post, it is getting very close to bed time and I have so much school stuff to work on that I just cannot put as much time into this as I would have liked.

I've been doing quite a few self-portraits lately, so I thought it would be nice to share those with everyone, and some tips that could help you take your own :)

For indoor portraits, the best place to be is by a window. The glass helps filter the light, while still giving the picture a nice natural quality.

You can face the window, be perpendicular to it, or any angle like that, but shooting towards the window will very seldom end up with the look that people are going for.

Don't have a background with too many distractions. A simple background will put more focus on the model and have less opportunities to draw eyes away from the purpose of the photograph.

Props can be a great addition to a picture. Adding something such as a headband, jacket or journal can not only loosen up the model, but also add lots of character to the scene. Just be careful and make sure not to go overboard with them :)

Relax. This is a key component whether you are taking portraits of yourself or anyone else. If the photographer is stressed, the model will be too. Especially if they are one in the same. Trying too hard to get the perfect shot will not get you a perfect shot.

Most importantly, have fun! It is very easy to tell if the person in the picture is not having fun playing in front of the camera. Put some music on, dance around, and make it an enjoyable little stress-free moment of fun :)

~Karalee