File :-(, x, )
Anonymous
'Sup, /p/.

A friend of mine asked if I could take 'professional' photos of her. I've wanted to get into portrait photography for a while, so I've agreed, but I've never done this before.

I'd like to ask if you could share any advice, things you learnt if you've been in the same situation etc.

Picture related (just a snapshot of her.)
>> Anonymous
Prime lenses, very good and carefully thought out lighting.

http://photo.net/learn/portraits/intro
is a good primer. good luck!
>> ac !!VPzQAxYPAMA
Small DoF.

Don't just have her throw a fake-looking, overly-posed smile at the camera.

Lighting lighting lighting. You want soft diffused light on her face to prevent ugly shadows. Natural sunlight and reflectors, preferably. If you don't have reflectors, you can fake it with some paper if the light's bright enough.

Remember: It's a very small step from "Professional photos" to "tasteful nudes" and an even smaller one from there to "Explicit hardcore XXX fucking". Make sure she takes that first step and keeps going. And send us the appropriate /s/ link.
>> Anonymous
>>55529
I lol'd @ the xxx comment

Lighting is key, and the paper is a good trick. I made a quick bounce-flash reflector out of layered wax paper and some stiff cardboard. They're not too expensive (<$20 or so) in the first place, it's just I can't be arsed to order one to my house (and there's no camera shops that carry them around here).
>> Anonymous
Lighting's already been covered (remember that fill flash is your friend), so let me say this: props. Have something for her to DO; people just sitting there posing gets boring very quickly. I'd also recommend looking for a nice posture sheet to give you posing ideas. That, and get some magazines (I bet Cosmo and Seventeen is going to serve you better than Newsweek and Scientific American) and look through them, perhaps with her, and see what kind of poses and such she likes.

Oh, background. Pay as much attention to background as you do to her. Or maybe almost as much as you do to her. (She's cute, BTW.) I think what the difference is between normal and "professional" looking photos is is that pro-photos pay a lot more attention to the small details, like background and such. Try to keep as much out of the background as possible. A small DOF will help you do this, but it's not necessary if you can find a location where she'll naturally be the obvious subject. Apparently, and I've not tried this out much myself yet, one of the best ways to keep her as the subject is for her to contrast with the background as much as possible. If she's wearing light clothing, you may want to consider shooting against a dark background, such as brick or the like. If she's wearing yellows and reds, maybe shooting against the green of a park or forrest wolud be best. If she's wearing dark, shooting against the blue sky may work. As for as outdoors goes, remember that sunrise and sunset are the best times, since she won't have shadows coming into her face. I'd really suggest sunrise, pain as it is to be ready that early, but there will be great warm, natural lighting, and probably a lot fewer people around to get in your way.