Chavez Digital Photography: Intro to Self Portraits

Portrait photography can be tough at first because the human face changes from moment to moment. Capturing the best moment requires some persistence and skill, but learning the basics isn't too difficult and can improve the quality of your portraits significantly. Here's a quick overview of what we're going to cover:

Use shallow depth of field to keep your subject in focus and your background out of focus. If you have a DSLR, certain lenses (like a 50mm or 85mm prime lens) will be more effective.
Compose your photo well, drawing the eye to the right places and using an interesting setting to create a more interesting portrait.
Consider color regardless of whether or not the final photo will be in color.
Make sure you have good lighting, whether you're relying on available light or using an artificial setup.
Keep your subjects engaged (capture that moment you are looking for, maybe a certain emotion, or facial expression) Capture their personality

Students will be assigned a celebrity, of which they will closely examine their portrait.As they work in pairs, they will answer the following questions. Once they have finished, we will share thoughts, ideas, and opinions with the class.

Questions:

1. What kind of expression\mood is being displayed? How do you know? (Talk about the posture, lighting, setting, etc)

2. If you were to have a re-shoot (meaning you were going to conduct your own photo shoot with this person), what would you change? Why?

3. Now, think about yourself. Ask your partner, and classmates for ideas. What would your self-portrait look like? Where would it be? Lighting? Setting? Posture? and Why?

Celebrity Portraits - Find the celebrity that your group chose (answer questions 1&2 about this photo)