The Rules Of Good Portraiture

[ladonna]

Thanks for advice of posing short groom on stool. One more question, what about when I am taking pictures of the Bride, Groom and Attendants?
I am from Southern Louisiana.

[alibabafi]

Thanks for a really good tutorial.Just registered to the forum today and this was the first thing i looked.Lots of information and good tips also.I really like to start taking portraits so this helps a lot

[Benji]

Originally Posted by ladonna

Thanks for advice of posing short groom on stool. One more question, what about when I am taking pictures of the Bride, Groom and Attendants?
I am from Southern Louisiana.

Ladonna,

The last time I had a groom that was shorter than his bride (he was an inch or so shorter and the bride asked if there was some way to equalize their heights) I had the bride remove her shoes which lowered her an inch or so, then we stood him on a two 1 inch thick books (one under each foot) which made him just about 1/2 inch taller than her. The covers of the books was dark maroon and (thankfully) the carpet was also a similiar dark maroon so the books were nearly invisible in the full length shot. With Photoshop I could have easily changed the color of the books had it been way off.

Benji

[h8177]

Wow, very good information to have and practice on. Thanks for the write up Benji

[ajanes2]

Thanks for the great info.

[Gw¥nNëVëRe]

Hi Benji! I am so glad I found you from DPS and followed you here Thanks for this looong and very detailed tutorial.

Originally Posted by Benji

As mentioned earlier, these "rules" are really guidelines. Once you know them you can judiciously break them.

lol I am so clueless, I will be breaking them all. I don't have studio equipment but when I do I will practice non-stop.

Originally Posted by Benji

I'm told rock musicians study the great composers of classical music to gain an understanding of the "rules" of composition in music so they can become great musicians in their genre.

Interesting info.

Originally Posted by Benji

No problem. Glad to be of assistance. Also I have a video with lots of these images and more and it also shows exactly how to do some of them and some that are more exciting! PM me.

Benji

I would love to have a copy too.

Cheers,

Gwynn

[johns]

The Rules Of Good Portraiture.

Super info. I will have to read all rule often.
Thanks for your effort.

JohnS

[munin]

I also came here from POTN, great tutorial.
Thanks!

[ditch_azeroth]

all these rules make a whole lot of sense. excellent work benji.

[tonyt369]

like so many, i just joined this site the other night and i just finished reading this entire thread. i don't even consider myself a photographer, just a guy with a camera. i really enjoy learning and this was quite interesting. i would like to add my thanks to everyone elses for the great information, and all of your time.

[HannesP]

Great, I can learn so much here, thank you.

Hannes

[pop]

I feel like a five year old. A superb post

[dffrantiask]

RE; Rules of Good Portraiture.
Just want to thank you Benji for your tutorial. I just joined today ,came across it by accident and it is just what I have been looking for. Great job. Thanks again.
Don

[Lunatique]

Great set of general rules--very generous of you to take the time to post them.

For me personally, I've learned that rules are great for beginners that really need guidance, but once someone has attained enough proficiency, one should think outside the box and break the rules when called for. The rules listed are great for very safe portraits that you'd see at Sears or typical shopping mall portrait joints. If that's the look the client wants, then great, but if the client and the photographer wants to go for more artistic and expressive portraits, then many of those rules will only limit the potential for truly amazing portraits.

Some of my favorite photographers are guys that shoot celebrities and fashion, and they break just about every one of those rules on a daily basis, and the kind of photography they do is a lot more intriguing and artistic to me. I guess it depends on what style you prefer as a photographer, and what your client wants. If Vogue or Rolling Stone called for portraits of rock stars or the latest Academy Award winning actress, you'd be shooting yourself in the foot to give them shopping mall styled portraits. But of course, if the typical middle-class family comes to you for a portrait to hang in their living room, you'd shock them with very creative and artsy portraits that look more like something out of Entertainment Weekly.

[MalcolmK]

[FONT='Trebuchet MS','sans-serif']Benji,[/FONT]
[FONT='Trebuchet MS','sans-serif']Awesome… The PDF is a great reference for us non-pros that only occasionally do portraits.[/FONT]

[livinginthepast]

I've come back to this post over and over since I (recently) found PhotoCamel. It is such a great resource. Thanks for this!

[kliphe]

Wow! What a lot of information. This is great.

[Nate Davis]

How can I find about your training DVD

[Ning]

Hi Benji

I stumbled on to your website while reading the forums at Portrait Professional.

Thank you for sharing your wide knowledge with us.

[Keith_Indy]

I think people who are criticizing this fine effort are forgetting the caveat Benji included after the last rule.

As mentioned earlier, these "rules" are really guidelines. Once you know them you can judiciously break them.

I'm told rock musicians study the great composers of classical music to gain an understanding of the "rules" of composition in music so they can become great musicians in their genre.

I'm taking a course on Composition and Lighting for Studio Portraits, and that is something that has been continuously mentioned. That once you learn the basics (ie the rules) you can experiment and figure out when you can break them.

Benji, I think if you have the makings of your own book here.