To create memorable and impactful creative portraits, prioritize emotional connection and distinctiveness over strict adherence to technical rules, focusing on simplicity, deliberate lighting, and subject posing.
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over the years of shooting creative
portraits I've probably shot around 100
000 images give or take comprising of
many different styles locations and
lighting conditions while I'm still
learning new things every single day
this is what I've learned so far [Music]
different is better than good and what I
mean by good is that the photo adheres
for the most part to all of those hard
and fast rules of Photography things
like rule of thirds having even lighting
using the correct portrait focal length
not shooting at too high or too low of
an angle to create perspective
Distortion things like that to give you
a demonstration here's one of the first
portraits that I ever shot it follows
all of those technical rules definitely
and it is a good image but it doesn't
mean that it's going to stand out in a
sea of other photos that look exactly
the same and that's what I mean when I
say different is better than good even
something as small as using an element
in the background of your image to frame
your subject can add something just a
little bit more interesting to your
frame when I began experimenting with
shooting from completely different
angles creating focus and shape with
lighting and framing in a way that's a
little bit more unconventional my photos
became way more interesting to look at a
photo that breaks a pattern can cause
people to linger just a few seconds
longer examining the photo and its
meaning but those few seconds are
actually what differentiates a photo
that is kind of forgettable from a photo
that is truly memorable
emotion comes first so many of my photos
when I was starting out in portrait
photography lacked any kind of direction
or goal and being a little bit
frustrated by this it forced me to
really examine my favorite portrait
photographers to sort of figure out why
their images really struck a chord with
me and what it eventually boiled down to
was that each and every photo carried an
emotion they made me feel something and
over time I realized that what separates
an average photographer from a really
great photographer is not just their
ability to create visual impact but
their ability to create emotional impact
through their images I think a really
great exercise when you're planning a
shoot is to think in terms of the viewer
and what kind of emotion you want them
to feel when they're looking at your
photos and it's something that you
really don't have to overthink at all
just start very simple you can start by
looking at Portrait photos by
photographers that you really love and
just writing down the emotions that you
think the image is conveying what do you
feeling when you see this photo and then
separate those individual elements of
the photo what is it about the pose the
lighting the background the location is
it the overall darkness of an image that
gives it a brooding Vibe is it the pose
of the subject that makes you feel a
little bit uneasy or is it the energy
and the movement in the photo that makes
it feel fun and liberating and then you
can take these lessons into your own
photography work think about lighting
and posing as one idea and not two
separate things the reality is that they
always work together one of the most
important things to remember is that the
viewers eye will always be drawn to the
brightest or the most contrasty part of
the image one big mistake that I see
some portrait photographers making and
definitely a mistake that I have made in
the past is having bright and detailed
elements in the background or in some
part of the frame that completely
distracts from the person that they're
photographing the goal here is that the
light and the way it falls on your
subject and that comes down to posing as
well which whichever way your subject is
facing will cause the light to fall
differently that lighting should not
draw attention to parts of the frame
that aren't important or don't
contribute to the story I could probably
take my own advice right here there's
some sunlight coming in from the window
if you can see it Falling on My Shoulder
here this is kind of distracting it's
very bright and it takes away from the
main focus which should be my face here
but I'm filming in a hotel room so
there's not much I can really do about
it right now think about your photograph
as a dance between the light and the
pose as a side note soft lighting will
give you much more freedom when it comes
to posing as there's less contrast
overall so difference between light and shade
shade
Simplicity is the ultimate
sophistication you might think that a
quick fix for a boring photograph is to
just add more complexity whether it's
adding a prop putting some fairy lights
in the background or changing to a more
colorful or eye-catching outfit but if
these things don't add to the overall
impact and emotion of the photo then
they are just clutter I think it's nice
just to strip it back to complete Basics
what do we actually need to create a
portrait photograph you need light a
subject and a background and that's it
one exercise I've used to really
simplify the planning for a photo shoot
is to just list out a whole bunch of
lighting ideas it could even be
something as simple as shooting in blue
hour or using the light from a Street
Lamp and then I will go ahead and
brainstorm a whole bunch of locations or
backgrounds and then I'll go through and
simply link them together I'll find
potential combinations that could create
a certain emotion and once you've got
this really simplistic idea really
stripped it back to just lighting and
location then all of your decisions from
here on should be pretty easy who's
going to be the model or subject in the
photo what kind of outfit should they
wear what expression is going to be on
their face what kind of pose will they
be doing all of these decisions should
line up with the mood that you created
through that lighting location combo
remember to start with a very basic idea
and you can add some complexity to it
but only if it adds to the overall
meaning of the photo trust your gut and
keep it simple if you need to add things
you can add things but my suggestion is
subtract subtract subtract always take
things out of the photo and make it as
simple as possible alright that's it
some of the most important things that I
have learned after shooting a hundred
thousand portrait images I really hope
you guys enjoyed this video leave a like
down below if you did and subscribe to
see more videos like this remember to
make a story worth telling and I'll see
you guys in the next video foreign
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