Portrait
You might be thinking about the portraiture photographers of your childhood when you think about this genre; those are the ones who would take the family picture once a year when your mother made everyone get dressed up and pose in front of the fireplace. And, you’re not wrong–that is one type of portrait, but there are many other types as well.
We’ve put together a list of 11 of the most important types of portrait
1. Traditional Portraits
The traditional portrait is typically where the subject is looking at the camera and posing for the photograph. These are usually shot in the studio with a formal
Frequently, these portraits are cropped to show the head and shoulders of the subject rather than the full body. A typical example would be a senior yearbook portrait.
This is one of the types of portrait
2. Family and Group Portraits
This is that family picture you took every year where your mother made you wear your formal, Sunday ‘go to church’ clothes. Nowadays, you might prefer a portrait with your significant other or perhaps a close group of friends, and maybe you choose to keep it casual instead of formal.
Whatever the case, these portraits are often shot on location in the subject’s home or some other location where the group gathers. The nice thing about these types of portraits is that you can often capture genuine interaction between the subjects, and that can make for compelling images.
3. Formal Portraits
This is a category that pairs well with the traditional and group types of portrait
This kind of portrait is also often used to take serious types of photographs, such as those used by businesses for advertising purposes or to highlight some of their best employees.
4. Lifestyle Portraits
This type of portrait
You might, for example, ask the kids to jump on the bed or play tag in the yard. You want to capture them doing things that they do regularly together. This is where you can get creative with your images.
Talk to your subjects and get an idea of what they’re like. That will help you as you think about the kinds of images you want to capture.
5. Conceptual Portraits
This is another type of portrait
With this type of
6. Environmental Portraits
This is a mixture between two types of portrait
It’s a location that means something to that person and forms an important part of their personality. It could be an artist’s studio, an office, a den, a kitchen, or a classroom. With environmental portraits, the goal is to capture the person in what they consider to be their natural environment.
7. Candid Portraits
Candid portraits are portraits that are not posed. They are unplanned. An example of a candid portrait would be the street
With this type of
8. Glamour Portraits
Glamour
9. Surreal Portraits
Surreal portraits are a fine art style of portraiture. A surreal portrait turns dreams into images; it emphasizes alternate realities, and an interpretation of the subject’s subconscious mind.
As with any fine art style, it often involves the use of props, an often elaborate wardrobe, photo tricks, and photo editing. For example, this type of portraiture frequently involves images taken underwater. It creates a very surrealistic feel, and when done well, the results are stunning.
10. Abstract Portraits
This is another one of the types of portrait
This type of
Whatever the case, you can throw away the rule book here and allow yourself to really think outside of the box.
11. Close-up Portraits
This is probably the most personal of the different portrait
It might help to talk to the model about the kinds of things they love to do. That will help relax them and it results in great facial expressions. For this kind of portraiture, you want to highlight your model’s best facial features, and hide any flaws.
To do that, you can ask them to tilt their head one way or another, but regardless of how they are posed, it helps to keep focused on their eyes. A person’s eyes are usually their most striking feature, and as the ‘windows to the soul,’ most people want to see them in a portrait.
As a portrait photographer, you want to capture images that will help to form part of a lifetime of memories, but you might also want to create a form of art or capture a concept. There are a number of styles to choose from, and of course, you might like to try them all.
Whatever type captures your imagination, portraits are a great way to express not only your subject’s personality, but yours as well. Portraits are a common way for us to express ourselves, to capture our spirit, our unique nature, and perhaps even our dreams.
If you can master the art of portrait photography, you can shape the world for generations to come with your images. Now, that’s a reason to smile!
Frequently Asked Questions about Portrait Photography :
Here are some other common questions regarding portrait
What makes a portrait?
This is an interesting question because the answer is not so straightforward. On one hand, it is the representation of a person, but it also involves the photographer’s interpretation of the subject, and so, it is a mix of the two.
Can a portrait be full body?
Yes, very frequently portraits involve full-body images. A common type of portrait
What does portrait mode do?
When in portrait mode, your camera will automatically use a large aperture to blur the background by using a narrow depth of field so that your subject is the only thing in focus.
What is the best lens for portrait photography ?
Well, there are different lenses for different types of portraits, but many professional photographers consider the best standard lens for portrait photography to be a 50mm lens, such as this Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM. They say the 50mm lens has the perfect focal length for portraits.
What is the best camera for portrait photography ?
As with any genre, there are many considerations regarding what type of camera to use, but here are two that are among the highest rated cameras for portrait
50mm is not the best choice for portraiture.