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.   

Portrait Lessons - Headshots

When taking headshots, the subject should be cropped no lower than the shoulders.  This is pretty much the criteria that sets a "headshot," but there are a lot of ways to make them look better or worse.  Here are a couple of examples of headshots with some information about them.

The subject does not have to be facing the camera, but the close-up is what is focused on with the headshot.  The low DOF (see this older post for more information on DOF) helps to bring the subject out of the background and more into the main focus of the photo.

A "catch light" is there there is a small light in the eyes of the subject.  This helps to brighten the eyes and draw focus there, when done right.  If the catch light is too large or if there is more than one light (like from more than one light in the room combined with the light from a flash), it can just be distracting.

The angle of the shot also does not have to be right on.  With a headshot, especially with an unobtrusive background, you can angle it quite a bit to add interest.  When there is not a lot going on in a photo, you have to make what is there really stand out.

Hats are something that a lot of people have to deal with when taking photos.  Use a fill-flash or change your exposure to make sure that the shadowed part of the face is still very visible.  Also, make sure to take the photo from a low enough angle that the eyes are visible under the brim of the hat.

An important part of a headshot is sharpness or focus.  Because the photo is going to be so close to the subject, there is little to no room for error here.  Even of nothing else, the eyes should be sharp.  That is a good way to decide if your subject is in perfect focus.  

Assignment 3 Submissions

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Assignment 4

I am posting this assignment early so you can start making any preparations you may need to make.  This, to some, will be a more difficult assignment than some of the others.  It is very easy to take a picture of a random thing in your room, yard or nearby, but it is much more difficult to take a portrait.  I am not looking for anything crazy, I just want 3 examples of a portrait.  I will post the actual criteria on Sunday when the current assignment is due, but I just want you to be thinking about who you can take a portrait of and making any plans necessary to meet with them.  This isn't something that should be too difficult, but want to see that you take the instructions that I post and use them when taking the portraits.  If you can do that, then you did it right!  This one will be due July 3.

Mess-Up

I just realized that I put the due date as June 12th and said it would be Father's Day.  I was obviously sleepy when I wrote that.  I meant it to be due on the 19th (even though it was more than 2 weeks away) so that it could be due on Father's Day.  Thanks to those of you who have submitted photos already, but I will just keep them on file until next Sunday when they will all be due!

Critiques

Don't forget to comment on the submissions on the last assignment!!!

Assignment 3 Submissions

Framing:

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Leading Lines:

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Depth of Field:

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Perspective:

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Rule of Thirds:

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