Creative, commercial photographers.

How to take photographs of people â€“ part two

July 13, 2009

Last month, we featured an article about how to check camera aspects to take better photographs of people but this is such a large and important area of commercial photography we thought we would feature a few different tips this month.

Many of us regularly take photographs of people and yet this is actually quite a difficult task to do. Taking photographs of family and friends is a common activity during holidays and special occasions and commercial photographers often have to shoot people in order to use them as part of an advertising or marketing campaign. The use of people in work like this can be very useful and powerful too.

Walking around a city centre such as Leeds you encounter many different types of adverts and informative images and a lot of these will feature people. A commercial photographer and especially one involved in an area such as catalogue photography must be able to photograph people effectively.

When getting ready to take a photograph, you must first consider what is of importance and what must be included in the shot. Once you have decided upon this, frame your photograph accordingly.

The distance between you and your subject is also of great importance. Think about this carefully and try a few different positions. Even if you move further away from them than you had first planned, it will still be possible to use the zoom feature on your camera and this may actually help you produce a more flattering image.

The lighting of the shot must also be considered. Try to avoid taking photographs in intense bright light or dark shade if you are just trying to take a simple shot.

Finally, it is well worth trying to put the people that are in your photograph at ease. Try to encourage them to relax and take a few photographs of the same image to try and ensure that you get a great photograph.