Portrait Lessons - 3/4 Length

A 3/4 length shot actually is less of a measurement of the amount of the person in the photo and more of a way of saying, "A photo of a person that is not full-length but is more than a headshot."  There are no 1/3 or 1/2 lengths, so anything between a full-length and a headshot is generally called a 3/4 shot.  Usually, to be the most flattering to a subject, 3/4 of the subject is shown, but this is not always the case.  Below are a few examples of 3/4 shots with some information on each one.

A general rule when cropping portraits, is to never cut off a person at the joint.  This can include directly at the knees, waist, ankles or neck.  As always, though, when you know why a rule is in place, it is easy to find ways to break it without it looking bad.  When you cut a person off at a natural joint, they tend to look "chopped."  It looks less like you meant to do it that way and more like it was an accident.  It can also make the person look shorter or more "squashed."  One time when it sort of works out is when the person's joints are bent (as in the above photo).  She is cut off at the knees, but since we can see that the leg just below the knee is bent, our eye can complete the leg with no problem.  If it is not obvious where the rest of the limb is going, it is hard to complete the photo in your head and it just looks like it was lazily cropped.

Angles can work in pretty much any photo, not just in headshots as seen here.  If you are going to angle a photo, make sure that you make it obvious that it is SUPPOSED to be that way and not just that you have one leg shorter than the other or that you can't hold your camera straight.  Whenever you do something that will break a normal mold, make sure that it is obvious that you are doing it on purpose.  If you can't take a straight photo, that's fine, but tilt it enough that people will think you wanted it angled and not that you just can't take a photo.

Remember that people don't have to be standing when you take their photo.  For some reason, when people start off with portraiture, they stand their subject in front of something they think is pretty and snap some photos.  The subject can stand, sit, lay or any combination!  When taking a 3/4 shot I would not recommend them sitting in a chair facing directly at you or something because you will be taking a straight-on shot and their thighs are going to look huge, I'm telling you now!  This is a good example of a good angle and crop for a 3/4 length sitting position.

Don't be afraid to use space when creating a portrait.  See the rule of thirds here for information on interesting negative space.