Bite Size Tips: 3 Free Ebooks That Will Bring Your Portraiture Up To Scratch

Portraiture can be a very rewarding skill if you get the lighting, perspective and technical details correct. But creating compelling portraits is not an easy task, but comes with practice and experimenting with different styles and techniques.

Image by Nissor

Here are three ebooks that will bring your portraiture up to scratch.

8 Steps To Better Outdoor Portraits by David Veldman: In order to get good outdoor portraits one needs to understand the type of light, the direction of light and all-round best lighting conditions in order to get started. Added to this, you will also need to know when and how to make use of reflectors or any artificial light to avoid unwanted shadows or harsh light. Besides this, you should learn to take advantage of the seasonal conditions and make use of relevant props to get those creative results. All these are covered in this ebook for you to benefit from.

10 Tips For Exciting Portraits by Kent DuFault: Portrait photography requires skills that include handling the equipment, lighting the subject, choosing a pose, choosing the right lens, composition, wardrobe, props and interaction with the model. Once you have got all that right, you do not even need expensive gear – a standard camera and lens can help you get some stunning portraits even without an extra lighting. This ebook covers 10 tips that can help you make some exciting portraits.

Headshots 101 by Kent DuFault: When you are a portrait photographer, often there are times when you are requested to do headshots – this could be for a portfolio or a business card or a newsletter article or author bio etc. Making headshots is not as simple as you think and you need to have good knowledge of setting up the scene, lighting, formats, correct skin tones/textures, perspectives and client expectations. This guide here is packed with information on all these areas along with examples and illustrations.

Now those free ebooks will give you a very good start, but if you want to get in-depth into portrait photography, develop your skills and get professional level shots yourself, be sure to check out The Art of Portrait Photography by Photzy.