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30 Unconventional Portraits That Defy Clichés

classiclori — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 12:47:13 +0000

We have all seen the standard portrait; face forward, smiling, soft focus maybe. While the standard portrait formula works well and produces nice images, it’s often a good exercise to think outside the box.

This grouping of unconventional portraits (including self portraits) is creative work by photographers willing to take the risk to produce something memorable. While you might not find them all pleasing, they do offer a fresh take on an old format.

Author: Peter Carey

Hello, my name is Peter West Carey and I am a freelance writer and photographer living in the Puget Sound region of the USA. Photography has been a passion of mine for many decades and I live by the motto Explore-Inspire-Educate. Photography and my love for travel are conspiring to take me to Africa, Nepal and Iceland this coming year and I encourage you to follow along at The Carey Adventures.Com where I also host a Photo Of The Day feed.

A shot within a shot, this image uses technology to enhance the picture. This image was first shot with the iPhone in the foreground and then shot with strobes aimed at the background to give the silhouette effect. I like how it shifts focus from the foreground to the background and back again, searching for the main subject.

Reflections are a great way to present the ordinary in a new light. They can be tricky however as lighting needs to be considered for two subjects. In this case, the hand and mirror as well as the woman’s face. This image appears to be from a single light source and is taken with a point and shoot camera, showing that simplicity works well.

Another example of unique framing using a real frame. If you click on the image you will be able to explore a number of Kevin’s other photos where he experiments with the use of a frame within the frame.

I love the action and stillness in this photo. This shot was taken with available light and while the image might have been touched up in Photoshop, it is easy to see how the light streaming in from behind the woman is reflected off the ball of wool to help illuminate her face. This photo also does a tremendous job of relating the reality of the work the woman performs.

While this is an HDR image, I feel the artist does a good job of using it to highlight the captain and not overdo it. The timing of the photo is key here to relating a sense of what it must have been like on the water that day. The subject’s total uninterest in the camera also solidifies this portrait.

Everyone has their vices and it’s a good idea to use them in a portrait to help describe the person in a non-verbal manner. In this case, a self portrait of Ben with a nice isolating light engrossed in his MacBook. If you look closely at his right hand, you can see the wireless remote used to fire the camera. Using a grid on the beauty dish (a particular type of flash reflector) helps isolate the light and keep it concentrated on the subject.

While Mike’s portrait is not that unconventional, the story behind the shot is, which I believe adds to the value. Click on the photo to get the whole story. I like what he’s done with the contrast and general ‘grainy’ feel of the photo to help tell the story of this homeless man.

Another of Mike’s photos, completely different from the first showing his versatility. And again, it’s perspective that makes this portrait unconventional. This type of shot requires just a bit of planning and an eye for perspective. Set the camera on the floor, get the camera focused, pick a nice f-stop of cover the needed range and set the self timer (or use a wireless remote).

No one says you have to light the entire face in a portrait. Or open your eyes and smile. This shot does a great job of adding mystery to the photo by removing what we are accustomed to finding in a portrait. Taking the image black and white is a fine choice for this shot.

For the life of me I still can’t figure out exactly how this portrait was shot. Is the subject falling out of the tree? Did he really jump about four and a half feet in the air as his pointed foot suggests? Either way, the photographer’s decision to abandon the conventional strobe and backdrop while still including them in the photo (and the tents as well)is wonderful.

This image is a perfect example of the saying, ‘Don’t try this at home.’ As the photographer notes, this is a self portrait with a high power flash and not something that leaves a good taste in your mouth. But it is a very unique photo and a great tutorial on how certain cavities of the head are connected. Unconventional indeed.

The focus on this could have been a bit tighter on the photographer, but I alike the approach to once again using a reflective surface to mix the main subject with another.

Josh obviously put some forethought into this fun self portrait. It’s a relatively easy setup (except for finding the Superman shirt) and adds a lot of energy to what could be a boring shot. He also employs a radio remote, or sometimes referred to as an infrared remote, depending on the model. As the picture is obviously shot into a mirror, the bounce on the flash helps illuminate without overpowering. Nice work, Josh.

An unconventional portrait can take place when you swap traditional gender roles. Take for instance this shot by eXe_Qt.

Not all portraits need to be happy, smiley photos. In this case Chris does a good job of mixing available light from behind the subject, placing her in an unlikely spot and then balancing the scene with a fill flash that helps add catch light to her eyes.

Changing perspectives again, this shot from above, with the spin thrown in, and the general lack of expression on the model’s face makes this an interesting photo for me. None of these elements alone really would have had the punch all three together can bring to a shot.

Most people would not dream of having their children’s portrait taken in front of armed guards. But that’s what this shot pulls off fairly well. Having one of the guards looking towards the child also adds some attachment to the photo. While the lighting is a bit harsh, the port-production work done to minimize it and draw attention to the child through the use of color appeals to me.

I like this shot for the fact that it does hide the subject but not completely. With the hands making a dark contrast against the screen, the eyes are almost completely hidden, adding a bit of mystery to the scene. Using available light also helped soften the image in a way a flash could not.

Another shot by Derrickt which also uses a number of the elements from pictures above. First, the model is out of focus. Second, the ring in the foreground is used as a frame. And third, the ring is also used to draw attention through the photo. Leaving the model’s face with just enough definition for us to recognize it as such, but blurring it beyond recognition leaves a lasting impression on me.

Silhouettes make excellent portraits when done well. I believe Steph has done an excellent job of providing both a traditional silhouette while letting it define her self portrait. There is clear definition in her facial features and the pose is very elegant. The use of available light from the left makes this a simple setup with great execution.

Tiago ran a Photo365 project, taking and posting one photo a day for an entire year. Near the end of that project he started a series on phobias and I really like what his did with this image depicting, in a comical way, the fear of being photographed.

A portrait within a portrait within.it takes a while to get this one straight. The shot is not edited in Photoshop (except for some sharpening of the inside image, as noted by the photographer) and is a great exercise in truly thinking out a portrait before it is shot. While this shot borders on portraiture, because of the mixed subject matter, I believe it still pulls it off because of the attention drawn to the photo holder.

Self portraits are helped by the fact that it’s fairly easy to be spontaneous. In this case, Erin describes her photograph as ‘I was planning on being productive and clean the kitchen but got distracted’. Placing subjects in their everyday life settings, but in a different manner, helps make a portrait unconventional.

Another picture in a picture, this time using two different expressions. Fairly easy to set up and execute, there is a lot of room for experimenting with this type of self portrait.

Most people would be upset if a shot was taken of them crosseyed. Kim uses the look to add some comedy to this self portrait while grabbing an unlikely prop.

Unconventional can also mean frightening. As with the previous photo, most people would not volunteer to have their photo taken with their mouth wide, wide open. Shot at f/2.8 with a Sony DSC-H1, I’m impressed with the depth of field. I’m also thankful he clipped his nose hairs.

Anthony’s self portrait borders on conventional but what I believe takes it outside the norm is his decision to cover most of his face and crop off the rest. Eyes are key to most any portrait and he has chosen to make them the focus, almost exclusively, in this photo while experimenting with lighting the table from below.

And then we have this example from Kapungo where the focus is more than obviously on the eye(s). Exaggerating any part of the portrait easily takes it out of the conventional realm. As with many of the images here, this is also a self portrait.

There are also times when removing the eyes from the picture works well. As gerlos explains, this photo took a number of tries to get it right, as it is a self portrait. With some vignette added, as well as contrast and saturation, the photo is well framed while exaggerating the size of the binoculars.

Lastly, we end with another self portrait taken with the help of a tripod and self timer. This shot is taken nearly directly at the sun to fully silhouette the model while the forced perspective gives him a larger than life feel. I can only imagine how many shots it must have taken to get this portrait.

Creating a Stunning High Pass, “lll Effect” Portrait

classiclori — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 04:46:24 +0000

Step 1

In every portrait work, the original photo is the most important part, so make sure to choose your image wisely. I am going to use a photo of my friend Kevin I took in a studio environment, but since we are going to get rid of the background eventually, the whole studio thing isn’t necessary. Just choose a picture you feel is the best for your project and start working!

Step 2

Since we are working with a portrait photo, let’s make sure that we have a tight close-up on the person. We can crop out all of the unnecessary bits of the picture using the Crop Tool (Shortcut – “C”). Crop out his left arm, so that we focus on his right arm only and leave no space above Kevin’s head. Now we have a nice close-up we can work with and the attention is mostly drawn to the face, not the body, which is what we need.

Step 3

Duplicate the original layer and leave it, because we might need it for later. It is a good practice to save the original, and if you don’t follow it, you should. Convert the layer you are working with to a smart object (Right-Click – Convert to Smart Object). Call your layer “S/H”

Step 4

Now go to Image – Adjustments – Shadows/Highlights. This is where the magic begins. The tool is basically adjusting the highlights and shadows to a point where the needed contrast between the values is achieved. Put up the values as in the picture below, and don’t worry about color correction as we will work on it later.

If you’re working with your own picture, you will adjust the values according to your picture. Don’t be afraid to spend a considerable amount of time on them, those are the values that require the longest time to perfect.

Step 5

Duplicate the original layer, call the new layer “Sharp” and put it on top of the “S/H”. Go to Filter – Sharpen – Smart Sharpen. Put up the amount to 150% and the Radius to 5,0 as shown in the picture. Click OK.

Feel free to change those figures: the larger the radius and amount, the sharper the picture will be. If needed, extra sharpness can be applied to chosen areas using the mask layer.

Step 6

Put the “Sharp” layer’s blending mode to Hard Light and lower its opacity to 40%. After these two basic adjustments, we have a nice, sharp and crisp image already.

Step 7

Beyond this step, the process becomes more creative. Any adjustments I make may need to be adjusted and changed for your specific image.

Create a new layer on top and fill it with 50% gray. Put the blending mode to Overlay (Layer – New – Layer. Mode: Overlay, tick the “Fill with Overlay-neutral color (50% gray) option). Call the layer “Burn”.

Choose the Burn tool (Shortcut “O”, if you still don’t see it, click and hold the Dodge tool and select Burn tool from the list). Put the brush size to 70px, the Exposure to 15% to over-do the burning and the Range to Highlights. Now using the Burn Tool on the Dodge/Burn layer, go over every wrinkle. Changing the range to Shadows go over the shadows – under the chin, under the eyes, etc. Work with the Burn tool until you achieve the result you want. Here is what I have had after 5-10 minutes of burning.

Step 8

Duplicate all of our three layers (Burn, Sharp, S/H) and merge the duplicates, leaving the originals untouched. Call the new merged layer “Hi-Pass”.

Go to Filter – Other – High Pass. Check that the preview is on, and try to make sure that the Radius figure is big but there is little or no color surrounding the object we are “high-passing”. Put the layer’s blending mode to Hard Light. I hope you like this “ultimate sharpening effect” that the filter gave us. Lower the layers opacity to 90%, so that the layer doesn’t look fake.

Step 9

Now that we are more or less finished with the textures, let’s work on the color and tones. Create a new Black & White adjustment layer (Layer – New Adjustment Layer – Black & White). Put up the values as shown in the picture and change the layer’s opacity to 30%. If you’re not exactly happy with the effect, you can try tweaking those sliders until you’re satisfied with the final result.

Step 10

After you’re done with Black and White adjustment, add another layer – this time the Hue/Saturation one. Lower the Saturation to -40 to color the picture down and make the person’s face pale. Apply mask to the adjustment layer, to hide everything but the body.

Don’t be too precise with the selection of the body or its edges will stand out and look fake . Select the areas roughly and then Alt-Click the mask layer’s thumbnail (will take you to the actual mask layer; to go back Alt-Click the thumbnail again) and apply Gaussian Blur Filter (50px) to the mask to make the transition smoother.

Step 11

Ctrl-Click the mask thumbnail to select the area that is filled. Now create a new adjustment layer – Levels. The adjustment will immediately apply to the unmasked area we selected. In the adjustments, increase the highlights (move the white slider to the right as shown in the picture).

Step 12

Now select the image background using pen tool. Create a new layer and apply the mask from selections made before to it. After that, go to Filter – Render – Clouds. Lower the layer’s opacity to 40% so that the clouds don’t give away that they are clouds too much.

Apply the Gradient Overlay Style to the layer (to do so, click the “fx” button at the bottom of the layers tab and choose Gradient Overlay). Create a new gradient to work with using #8e5c25 and rich black (#000000) colors. Put opacity to 70%, Style – Radial, Angle – 90, Scale – 65%.

Step 13

With the result we have right now, the image is finished. The sky is the limit for you now, as there are enormous amounts of adjustments you can apply depending on the result you’re looking for. Work with filters, adjustment layers, precise selections and more to find what you’re looking for.

Final Step

Now in terms of the picture I have finalized here, and not to get into the detail, for my result I have adjusted color balance and the gradient layer, added more burning to the skin, adjusted the exposure and many more little tweaks that make the final result so different and individual

Conclusion

This technique I’ve shown you creates a very strong effect – the use of which can be endless. To finish off I would to showcase more examples of this effect in action. Below you can see 4 more pictures that were created using the very same technique shown above:

9 Tips for a Perfect Portrait Background

classiclori — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 23:27:31 +0000

his tutorial is a grab-bag of helpful ideas for photographers of any level. I’ve written them with the idea that once you master them all, you will have a bag of tricks at your disposal. Pull out one or combine several, and you’ll be able to quickly adapt to all kinds of lighting and subject situations and walk away with a wonderful portrait. Many of the techniques, however, work best with just one or two subjects. As a group becomes larger, you’ll find your available options becoming fewer. Such is the life of a portrait photographer!

Do you have some tried-and-true techniques to add? Let us know in the comments!

Step 1: Crop Out Distractions

Have you ever looked around you and been disappointed about your subject’s location? Maybe it’s a messy home interior or an unremarkable backyard. A location might appear boring at first, but you can improve it by thinking about what your camera “sees”. Look through your viewfinder and pay attention to what’s visible in the background. Get down low or up high. Get in close and to the side. Notice the effect of your movement on what you see in the viewfinder.

One of the most important things you can do to get rid of background distractions is to get in closer to your subject. This is thought of as “in-camera cropping”.

In the two images below, check out how the image was transformed when I got in close and cropped out the parent. All possible disractions were removed and the complete focus of the image was on the baby. One other important thing that happened is that the parent’s solid dark purple sweater looks almost like a professional backdrop.

Lighting: Indirect window light. It is a north-facing window, but that’s not as important as the fact that it was just not the direction the sun was shining directly in.

Lens: 85mm fixed lens at aperture 1.8. Shutter speed doesn’t really matter. Just has to be fast enough to avoid camera shake.

Step 2: Look Down or Up

In almost every situation, if you get above your subject and look down, you’ll likely find a decent – or even great – background. At the very least you’ll avoid power lines, street signs, or any other distractions. I’m not very tall, so sometimes this means that I need to have my subject get on the ground, kneel, crouch, or otherwise. Or, I’ve been known to climb trees or stand on walls, chairs, park benches, etc. Taking pictures of a child or baby? You’re all set! One other approach is to look up and use tree leaves or the sky for your background.

This isn’t a background tip, but If you’re trying to slim someone, looking down at them and having them extend their chin slightly can be quite effective.

Step 3: Blur, Baby

This step is critical, but your options change depending on the lens you’re using in two ways: aperture and focal length. Blur increases with the length of the lens and the size of your lens opening. Regardless of your lens, however, moving in close to your subject and positioning them further from the background will increase the amount of blurring you can get. Open up your lens and shoot with the aperture as wide as you can. If you’ve got just one subject, you can shoot at f1.8 or f2. Blurring the background as much as you can will allow you to make the ground, a wall, anything far away from your subject, turn into a pleasant background.

Step 4: Exposure Trickery

I remember being amazed when I first learned that you can make a background go completely black or white just by how you make your exposure. What a cool trick! By taking advantage of bright skies or dark shadows, you can be anywhere and no one would ever know that you didn’t use a professional backdrop. This trick can be a tutorial or even book of its own, but I’m going to keep it simple: your camera can only record a limited range of light. So start with the light falling on your subject. Now think about the comparative amount of light on your background. If there’s a big difference, either much more or much less light, what your camera records will either be solid black or solid white.

If your background is a shadow area, for example, there won’t be enough light reflected back into the camera to register anything on your sensor. If your background is a bright, even blue, sky that’s much brigher than your subject, so much light will get into your sensor, it’ll just record all white. I should mention that getting a white background is different from what’s called “blowing” out your highlights, which is considered a technical error that occurs when your camera’s sensor gets too much light and doesn’t get anything at all in a range of pixels. You want the sensor to record white, not nothing, if that makes sense.

Just remember to measure the exposure of your subject, not the background, and you’ll be on your way!

Step 5: Make the Most of Available Backdrops

You can probably see how this trick builds upon the previous one. Say you don’t have the large range in exposure between your subject and background that Step 4 requires. You can cheat a bit by using available items that are dark or light as backdrops. These will either absorb light, keeping it from reflecting through your lens, or add extra light. You’re still relying on the fact that your camera can only sense a limited exposure range and you can easily still get the same effect as in Step 4.

Look around you for solid dark or light walls. Create a backdrop by asking a client if they have a light-colored solid sheet or a black velvet dress (velvet is ideal because it absorbs even more light than regular black). Even just a dark or light t-shirt can be used to great effect.

Step 6: Subject-to-Background Distance

It’s often a great idea to increase the distance between your subject and your background. Benefits include increasing blur (Step 3) and increasing the likelihood that the background will go to white or black [increased difference between the amount of light on your subject compared to the amount of light on your background (Step 4 and 5)]. You’ll also add depth to your image, which makes for a more interesting composition.

Step 7: Mottled or Blurred Light

Bright sunlit patches or blurred lights can make for a very pleasing background. Mottled sunlight can spell disaster when it falls on your subject’s face or even body if you’re not using it intentionally. But if you’re careful, and you’re outside on a sunny day, use the light shining through trees to your advantage in the background.

Photos sourced from Marta Potoczek‘s blog.

Step 8: Feed the Flare

When I was in photo school, I was taught that lens flare was the result of bad compositional technique, and I’m sure there are people who still hate it any time they see it in an image. However, especially in wedding and engagement portraiture, lens flare is used intentionally to add interest to what might otherwise be a boring background or to obscure a distracting one. The best part is that your cheaper lenses work better since the expensive ones have been engineered to reduce the likelihood of flare.

Tips:

Position the sun so it’s in the frame (but don’t look at the sun because I don’t want to be sued after someone read this and went blind!)
Use a cheap lens.
Use a smaller aperture to get a more star-like shape to the flare.

Photo sourced from Justin and Mary Marantz‘s blog.

Step 9: Complement the Subject’s Eye Color

Finally, find colors that will flatter your subject, usually by bringing out their eyes. Bark groundcover or even dirt or sand can make a person with brown eyes look vibrant. Green leaves or plants blurred out or a blue sky can highlight blue and green eyes.

Some Inspiration

Here’s a shout out to some truly skilled photographers who inspire me (including those mentioned above). You’ll find all of the above techniques and more in their masterful images.

Learn by Doing

There’s a lot of theory and science in photography, and sometimes that can feel overwhelming. If you’re like me and apt to skip to the end and try some of these techniques, you’ll still learn a lot. Then when you’ve tried them out and studied your resulting images, you can go back to a technical explanation and understand it better.

So here’s a quick assignment:

Black Background Using Natural Light

If you’re inside, find a window and place your subject so that the light is coming from the side and hitting them in the cheek. This works best with indirect light, so find a window away from direct sun or just have your subject take a step backward so that the direct light is just in front of them. Doing this alone should make for a very flattering portrait, especially in combination with a wide aperture.
Place the subject close to the window and far from the background. If there’s a dark colored wall, this will help, or use black cloth if available. But even just having a shadow area behind your subject will work, such as having them stand in front of an opened garage door.

Extra credit baby shot: Try this with someone wearing a black t-shirt holding a baby.

Post a link to your images in the comments or in the PhotoTuts+ Flickr group. Can’t wait to see what you come up with!