Self Portrait and Portraits part 1

9. Obscure Part of your Subject

A variation on the idea of zooming in on one part of the body is to obscure parts of your portrait subject’s face or body. You can do this with clothing, objects, their hands or just by framing part of them out of the image.

Doing this means that you leave a little to the imagination of the image’s viewer but also focus their attention on parts of your subject that you want them to be focused upon.

16. Take Unfocused Shots

As photographers we have ‘sharp focus’ drummed into us as an ultimate objective to achieve in our work – but sometimes lack of focus can create shots with real emotion, mood and interest.

There are two main strategies for taking unfocused images that work:

1. Focus upon one element of the image and leave your main subject blurred. To do this use a large aperture which will create a narrow depth of field and focus upon something in front of or behind your subject.

Get Closer

The most common mistake made by photographers is that they are not physically close enough to their subjects. In some cases this means that the center of interest—the subject—is just a speck, too small to have any impact. Even when it is big enough to be decipherable, it usually carries little meaning. Viewers can sense when a subject is small because it was supposed to be and when it's small because the photographer was too shy to get close.

Don't be shy. If you approach people in the right way, they'll usually be happy to have their picture made. It's up to you to break the ice and get them to cooperate. Joke around with them. Tell them why you want to make the picture. Practice with people you know so that you are comfortable; people can sense when you aren't.

I like this photo because of the plainness in the background and how the horse riders are all in one place and not hanging out of the pictures.

I like her in this picture because its so simple and it shows all of her natural beauty in the white dress being compared to a dark background.

I chose this picture because I like how there is just one strip of color.

I like this photo because the way all the mail is floating around him it makes it seem that he doesn't care and is free

I like this photo because of the way they are smiling it makes it look like a general smile and the background is not too flashy or crowded.

I like this family portrait because how they are shows their personality and how they are in life.

I will shoot my friends and family, and I will take the pictures either against a plain wall or in a farm field to create depth in the picture. To make the shots successful I will take multiple shots and get the subjects into different positions and places.