What is Portrait Photography?
Portrait photography is the process of capturing portrait photographs or ‘portraits’, specific photographs that are basically photographs of people. A portrait is a picture that showcases the expression, personality and mood of the subject in the most accurate and most elegant manner possible. The focus of almost all portraits is usually the face of the subject, although the both the body of the subject and the background in front of which they are standing are often included in portraits.
In most cases, portraits feature only one subject, the one person who is the absolute center of the entire photograph. However, some kinds of portraits are known to feature more than one person, or rather an entire group of people, their personalities, their setting and their moods. Portrait photography is one half of the couple of the most basic kinds of photographs in existence, with the other half of the couple being a specific kind of photograph referred to as a ‘landscape photograph’.
Portrait Photography: The High
Photography has been around for quite a significant amount of time, and when photography was first created, there were only a few different types and classifications of the then not so profound art. One of the very first classifications of photography to have ever been created was portrait photography, and ever since portrait photography has been created, it has been riding some of the highest waves in the world of photography. Portrait photography has been on quite a considerable roll ever since the day portrait photography came into being and was created.
Before portrait photography came and changed the world forever, if a person wanted to have a portrait of them done, they would have had to get an artist to draw a painting of them. However, portrait photography simplified the process of the procurement of a portrait, and the portraits that this form of photography produced were basically magnificent, which is why people have still not come off the high of portrait photography and why portrait photography is still extremely popular among the masses of the world.
The Most Common Kinds of Portrait Photographs
Portrait photography is one of the most common kinds of photography or portraiture in existence, and there are many different kinds of portraits that a person can have captured by a professional photographer. The following are some of the most common kinds of portrait photographs:
Solo portraits
The first, and quite possibly the most common, kind of portrait photographs are solo portraits. Solo portraits are portraits that feature only one person and are designed to bring out the best in their subjects. Solo portraits can be feature the subject’s entire body (with or without the background in front of which the subject is standing), the subject’s torso, or no more than the subject’s face. Having at least one solo portrait in one’s house has become quite a tradition as most people have started furnishing their walls and desks with solo portraits of themselves. Solo portraits, apart from arguably being the most common kind of portraits, are also the most successful kind of portraits to have ever been created.
Headshots
Actors, actresses, models and almost every other person in the entertainment business needs to have portraits, especially portraits that feature nothing except for their faces, captured so that they can present them to potential employers alongside their résumé and other pertinent documents. The portraits that actors and people in the entertainment business have taken are professionally referred to as ‘headshots’ and have become quite infamous.
As their name suggests, the typical headshots such as headshots NYC feature nothing except for a person’s head, with some headshots being noted to also include the upper half of a person’s body, or at least part of the upper half. Headshots not only hold a considerable amount of significance for people in the entertainment business but have also gone over rather well with the general public and the general masses. Headshots are designed to bring out the symmetry, the beauty and the perfection of a person’s face and showcase its appeal and attractiveness to anyone who views them.
Business portraits
A business portrait is a portrait of a person who is, in any way or by any connection, related to the business world and is a member of it. Businessmen are the people who most commonly have business portraits of them captured. Business portraits have become extremely popular in recent times as an extremely large number of businessmen all across the globe have started hanging professionally captured business portraits of themselves in their offices. Business portraits are quite similar to the portraits Emperors and Kings had artists draw of them in the era in which photography was but a distant, distant dream.
Business portraits are portrait photographs that are specifically designed to showcase the subject of the photograph in a light that portrays them as extremely influential, successful and powerful. Business portraits are tailored to make the average businessman look like a lion, for reasons that are obviously none other than to impress any person who looks at the portrait and for the portrait to act as a marketing medium for the business and the businessman.
Wedding portraits
Whenever two couples engage in holy matrimony, they definitely want to have a lot of pictures of their big day taken so that they can remember their big day for the rest of their lives. Wedding portraits, photographs that most commonly feature the bride, the groom, the bride and the groom, the bride’s immediate family, the groom’s immediate family or the immediate families of both the bride and the groom, have become extremely popular and have been adopted by almost all cultures all across the globe. People have started assigning a substantially large amount of value to wedding portraits and having a professional photographer capture wedding portraits at any wedding has become more of a necessity than something that people used to only consider doing if they had an excess amount of money to spend on their wedding.
Family portraits
Family portraits are a classification of portrait photography that has become more of a tradition on an extremely large number of occasions. From the birthday of someone in the family to the birth of baby and from the announcement of a couple’s engagement to one of a number of different religion, political or cultural events, families have portraits of themselves captured on an extremely wide variety of occasions. Family portraits are the kinds of portraits that feature an entire group of subjects. Family portraits are designed to portray and showcase an entire family in the best way they possibly can.
Family portraits not only exhibit the personalities of every single member of the family in the portrait but also bring out the best in every member of the family who is included in the photo. Family portraits make for amazing mementos and memories.
How tough is it For a Person to Learn Portrait Photography?
Every single person knows that, if they want to have any hopes of becoming professional portraiture photographers, they need to learn everything there is to learn when it comes to portrait photography. Learning about a completely new concept can be both time consuming and tedious, which is why many people wonder exactly how tough it is for a person to learn portrait photography. Well, learning portrait photography is quite simple and easy process, provided that a person really puts their heart into the process and focuses on actually learning portrait photography instead of simply killing time. Many people believe that portrait photography is something that is extremely hard to learn. However, contrary to common belief, this is not at all the case of portrait photography is actually pretty easy for a person to learn.
Portrait photography is quite easy for a person to learn regardless of whether they are completely new to the concept of photography or is more than aware of basic photography skills and knows how the photography industry works, unlike most other kinds of photography. It is equally easy for both rookie photographers and experienced photographers to introduce their camera modules to the concept of portrait photography and thoroughly and truly master the infamous type of photography.
The Scope for Portrait Photography
Portrait photography, as stated before, is extremely infamous and is one of the most popular kinds of photography in existence. This is the reason why many people wonder what the scope for portrait photography is and how successfully portrait photographers typically are. Well, portrait photography is on quite a bit of a roll right now, which is the reason why there is a lot of scope for portrait photography. Professional portraiture photographers have extremely significant chances of making it and having successfully careers in the world of portrait photography.
In addition, perhaps the cherry on top of the ice cream sundae that is portrait photography is the fact that the scope for portrait photography is at an all time high right now, which means that right now is the golden time for anyone and everyone who wants to break into the portrait photography industry to breach the industry’s boundaries with their guns blazing. However, as more and more portrait photography firms start making a name in the portrait photography industry, the scope for portrait photography will continue to diminish as the need for new portrait photography firms will also start declining.
Becoming a Portraiture Photographer: The Process
Because of the more than impressive scope of portraiture photography, many people want to become portraiture photographers, which is the reason why they wonder exactly how they can become portraiture photographers. The following are the steps that a person must complete in order to become a professional portraiture photographer:
Step 1: Study portraiture photography and become qualified
Before a person can actually practice art, they must learn all there is to learn both about art and about practicing the form of art they have chosen. The first step a person needs to complete in order to work towards becoming a professional portraiture photographer is to study portraiture photography and obtain all of the qualifications they need to proceed. There are a number of different qualifications that a person requires to be able to become a portraiture photographer, and a person needs to obtain all of these qualifications.
Step 2: Learn from a professional
Once a person is done with studying to become a portraiture photographer, they must gather all the experience that they need in order to break into the world of portrait photography. This is the reason why the next step a person needs to complete is to learn from and work under a professional while both learning the ropes of the portrait photography business and industry and gathering the experience they need to make a name for themselves in the portrait photography world.
Step 3: Start going solo
There comes a time while working under a professional in the field of portrait photography that a person feels that they have gathered enough experience and are now qualified to join the best of the best of the portrait photography industry on the frontlines. When such a time comes, a person needs to become the baby bird flying out of its nest for the first time by going off solo on the sidelines while, at the same time, continuing working for the professional portraiture photographer of their choice. At this stage, a person should only go on a few portrait photography gigs on their own.
Step 4: Give birth to your very own photography firm
Once a person has learned from a professional portrait photographer and has studied under them while gathering experience and has also accumulated a substantial amount of experience as a standalone portraiture photographer, it is finally time for the student to become the master. The last step a person needs to complete in order to become a professional portraiture photographer is to create their own photography firm that, among a number of different services, offers portraiture photography to clients.