Composition is a vital element in the creation of portraits. What should be included that can help tell about the subject's personality, occupation or mood. This articles discusses guidelines on what to include and what to leave out.
What part does COMPOSITION play in creating Portraits?
In previous articles I’ve given definitions of PHOTOGRAPHY and PORTRAITS, talked about ARTISTIC INTENT, PLANNING a Portrait, and LIGHTING and CAMERA ANGLES. In COMPOSING a Portrait one needs to take into account the Intent and the Mood that is to be portrayed.
The subject may be looking directly into the camera... or not, depending on the Intent...
If the Portrait is to be of one individual, the COMPOSITION will be different than for a Portrait of a couple ...or for a Group or Family. Again, the Facial Expression, and often the Body Language or Pose are all integral, so the purpose of all the other elements in the Composition is to support or influence the perception of the subject’s Personality and or Mood.
If the Portrait is to be of an individual in a room, the question becomes, “Is there anything that would enhance the story of this Portrait that might be included as a prop?” If so, then by all means include it... If not, then don’t add anything.
However, Space itself - or the environment - could be a Compositional element! In many, if not most cases, in an individual Portrait, the subject will fill the frame, or even OVER fill the frame such as when the top of the head is cropped out to emphasize the eyes and facial features.
If the Individual is outdoors, then the environment becomes either an additional “personality” in the Composition, or just a background. Generally if the environment is to be simply the background, then again the subject will fill the frame, and the background will be thrown out of focus.
If on the other hand the environment will be used in the Composition as an identifying element, the subject may be placed to one side of the frame in order to allow the environment to contribute to the feeling of the Portrait.
When the Portrait is of a group, such as a Family, then while the Facial Expressions are still of top importance, Body Language or Pose becomes equally important because now the Portrait will want to show the relationships within the family or group.
For this reason, I believe that Interpretive Portraits are more expressive. That is when the family is engaged in an activity together, rather than looking directly into the camera.
However, the same rules apply as far as the Composition. If the Portrait is being made in a room or studio, then unless a prop will add to the “story” of the Portrait, don’t include any. If the Portrait is being made in the environment, then it should be included as an additional “personality” to enhance the overall feeling of the Portrait, or it should be minimized and thrown out of focus, and the people fill the frame.
In the next article I’ll explain why POST PRODUCTION is so vital to Creating PORTRAITS
For more information on how you can have your perfect portrait created for you, go to YourPerfectPortrait.net.
What Makes a Photograph a Potrait
If not all photographs of people are Portraits, what makes a photograph a portrait? This series of articles will define what constitutes a Portrait, and what needs to be done regarding the photography and then to the photograph in order for a photograph to qualify as a proper portrait.
What Makes a Photograph a Portrait - Planning & Preparation
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What Makes a Photograph a Portrait - Post Production
What is Post Production, and how does it apply to photographic portraits? This article reveals how important post production is to the creation of photographic portraits. After a photograph has been recorded in camera, there are a number of processes that must be applied to it in order to turn the photograph into a portrait.
