Compositions to Try for Your Next Portrait Clicks

Portraits. The word alone conjures up images of a person looking straight ahead into the camera with their soul reflecting through their eyes, doesn’t it? As a photographer, you might feel that portrait photography is one of the easiest genres to practice. However, that’s not always the case.

- NITYAPRIYA KALIYATH

Portrait photography extends far beyond capturing pictures of people with intense expressions. It involves conveying a combination of three things – personality, character and mood – through a single photograph. Sounds pretty challenging now, doesn’t it? Well, we have got you covered.

Here are some composition ideas that you can try during your next portrait photography session for some stunning results!

Frame the Portrait with Shoulders

How many times have you clicked a head shot only to realise that the resulting image resembles an eerie head floating through space? If you are guilty of clicking such portrait pictures, we have got an easy fix for you.

To frame the headshot and not make it appear like a floating head, all you have to do is, make it a point to include the shoulders in the picture. It’s as easy as that!

Ask your subject to change the positioning of their shoulders for different results. Rather than keeping the shoulders squared, ask them to lean to one side or the other and keep their shoulders angled to draw the eye of the viewer to the focal point of the picture.

Incorporate Texture

In photography, texture refers to the visual quality of the surface of any object differentiated on the basis of variances in shape, tone and colour depth. Texture adds a dynamic and vibrant quality to the image. Hence, if you want to make your portrait clicks look more intriguing, incorporating texture is one of the best ways to do so.

So, how can you incorporate texture in a portrait picture?