how to do a portrait

“You don't take a photograph, you create it.”

“The photographer finds beauty in what we all see but most consider ordinary.”

“Photography is, above all, a way of looking.”

Pierre Gonnord

“To photograph means to put your head, eyes and heart at the same point of view.”

R. Whitman, Prince, Roger Nelson,

helpful tips

ECU: extreme close-up

CU: close-up (shows subject subjectively)

MCU: medium close-up (shows subject objectively)

MS: medium shot (shows what subject is doing)

FS: full shot (show subject in location)

Primeríssim pla

Primer pla

Primer pla llarg

Pla mig

Pla sencer/ de conjunt

Frame your shot so the subject takes up most of the picture.

Richard AvedonPierre Gonnord

Anything else in the shot is just a distraction, so frame it out.

Be careful with the background!

Try to take different compositions: symmetrical, asymmetrical, centered…

Florence Henri, Portrait composition 1930

F. Egot, Steve Jobbs

Stoneth, Portrait

Turco Jean, Portrait n.1512

Take your time and take a lot of shots.

Make the subject feel relaxed, talking to him and giving confidence.

Annie Leibovitz

Think about what makes your subject unique and try to capture it in the shot.

John Rankin Waddel, portrait