More about photography.
As you have seen I use my professional photographer´s kit to make the pictures of my models. I must rely on good materials since portrait painting is my full-time profession. However, also with good amateur stuff you can make good pictures. For the beginner a few tips, some dos and don’ts. Let me start with a common mistake. Don´t use the flash on your camera. This flash blows away all the shadows. And shadows are fundamental in portrait painting: with good shadows you will get an easier grip on the likeness.
If you are a beginner keep the lighting simple. A window where no direct sunlight comes in is good for a simple lighting. Place yourself almost near the window and put your model in front of you. Take care that three thirds of the face is in the light.
Put your camera at the same level as the model´s head, unless you want to emphasize that the model looks up to you or looks loftily. Think about that.
Don´t get your camera too close to the model´s face because of the wide angle distortion: Big nose and small ears, not a very flattering picture. So keep some distance.
Don´t put your model so far away that the whole body fills your image if you only need the face. That is a waste of all the lost pixels.
In the future I will pay more attention to photography. Good photography is fundamental.
See also: Portrait painting lessons (1)
Thanks a lot for the very welcome advice!
I am always eager to learn…..
Nice to see some sketched instructions. I enjoyed that. It’s like the difference between seeing a real painting and a print…much more engaging.
Hi Mr L, could you explain what you mean by “three thirds of the face is in the light”
Thanks
If light comes completely from one side, half of the face will be in the shadow. A dark side and a light side. Better to turn the face more towards the light in that way that more light comes on the face. Two thirds in the light and one third in the shadow.
Perdoname, voi escrevir en portugues, pues no puedo limitar el encantamento que sinto, a mi pobre espanõl:
Estava pesquisando em internet, para meus estudos de pintura, quando vi seu trabalho no youtube. Fiquei encantadíssima e fui procurar mais de você, trabalhos feitos, blog, site…
Antes de ler o post de como se inter-relaciona com o modelo, para, captando a sua alma, saber fotografá-lo, cheguei a pensar que no seu ateliê tinha uma placa dizendo mais ou menos assim: Só pinto pessoas felizes!
Você consegue pintar o melhor delas, mais que a forma perfeita, organizada, você realmente parece captar suas almas, expressões lindas, sorrindo ou não, todos que vi, parecem muito bem, muito felizes.
Fiquei encantada realmente. Parabéns pelo belo trabalho. Gostaria de saber mais sobre seus tutoriais e como adquiri-los.
Felicitaciones!
Hola Sandra. Gracias por tus palabras tan amables. No sé que decirte. Hago lo que puedo. Mi próximo tutorial vendra con subtítulos en Español. Espero que no tarda mucho.
Un saludo y gracias.
Ben
I appreciate your wonderful educational website. It is just what I needed – so full of treasure (pancakes too!). I just completed a 3/4 length portrait, which I did from photography. One thing that helped make our photo session fun and productive was bringing along a few old polaroids of myself modeling for fashion illustrators when I was younger; they gave my subject a clue about hands and attitude. It also became a lot of fun for both of us to literally play model and photographer. Thank you so much for all the time you must spend sharing your expertise.
Hi, Mr L, great website, I was watching your video on starting a portrait. You use a measuring rod, I was wondering where you got it. Checked Art supplies shops in Holland, U.S.A and U.K. non listed. Many thanks, Mike
Look at ecobra.de. I use a HAFF but I think they dont make them anymore.
Many thanks Ben, they are called a Beam Compass. Hope to make one of your clinics in France, Regards Mike,
Salobrena Spain.
…the poor lost pixels… 🙂 🙂 🙂
Very useful – thanks 🙂
Hi Ben,
I would love to see a video on how to take good reference photo’s because its all part of the portrait creation process at the end of the day. When you say you use your “professional photographer´s kit”, what does it entail?. Do you use off camera flash or strobes?.
You are without doubt one of the best portrait artists of our time in my opinion. You have been an inspiration for me, so for that I say thank you and god bless.
Hi Sam.
Thank you for your kind words. Making a profound video instruction of all that is involved in photography is my wish. And it is not only about the camera, but also on what to do in the computer.
If the time is given to me the video will come. For my commissions I travelled with camera and artificial lights. Later I worked with a flash light shining into a reflector umbrella. Now I only take my camera with me an trust there is enough light at the sitters home. In my studio I use a softbox.
I really look forward to that Ben. I along with many others I am sure would be very interested in this part of the creative process.
God bless,
Sam
Ben love your work, money is short, can you suggest an affordable camera for portraits?
Nowadays almost all cameras are of good quality. For instance this one. Panasonic DMC-TZ80 18MP 4K Negra
But even cheaper ones can be good, like Panasonic Lumix DMC-SZ10 16MP Negra Wifi
Hola sr ben lustehouwer ,para mi un referente en la pintura al oleo, del que aprendo mucho y me gustaria aprender mas,con sus eseñanzas por videos,su ejemplo de profesionalidad me inspira en mi deseo de mejorar mis obras,y mejorar en cuestiones de fotografia tomando yo mismo las imagenes,podria decirme de que se compone su equipo fografico y modelo de camara fotografica ,seria de gran ayuda al menos disponer de la informacion ,para en un futuro poder hacerme con un equipo profesional para retrato,muchas gracias por sus consejos en este blog son de grandisima ayuda para este oficio,sin mas un saludo desde Andalucia, huelva.