If you are looking to create a real WOW factor in your portraits, it certainly helps to learn the rules. However, in the field of portrait photography, it is equally important to understand that just like any other rule in life, some rules for portrait photography can be bent, and others can be broken.
Rule to Break: Shooting at Eye Level - The first rule you should learn to break is always sticking to the traditional “eye level” angle. Many photographers believe that shooting a subject at eye level is the best way to capture a stunning portrait, which may be true in some cases, but do not be afraid to alter your perspective.
Changing the angle of your shot and breaking the eye level rule can give your portrait a truly tremendous WOW factor. Two great ways to achieve this are by getting high above your subject and shooting down on them or getting as close to the ground as you can while shooting up. Either way, you are bound to create some added interest in your portrait.
Rule to Break: The Rule of Thirds - One of the first of many “golden rules” a photographer will learn is the Rule of Thirds. According to this rule, a photographer must intentionally place points of interest within the constraints of a 9-part grid in order to create sense of balance in the portrait. As beneficial as this rule may be to portrait photography, it can prove highly effective to break it. Subjects placed in the dead center of a portrait or along the very edge of the frame can produce some truly stunning portraits. Experiment with this concept and practice it often until you get the hang of breaking the Rule of Thirds.
Rule to Break: Crystal- Clear Clarity - If you asked a portrait photographer about the importance of focus in a shot, they may tell you that it is imperative. What they may not tell you is that crystal-clear, sharp focus is not the only way to capture mood, emotion and beauty. Try focusing on one element in front of or behind your subject to blur your main point of interest. You can also try blurring the entire image by manually focusing well in front or behind your main point of interest. Unfocused images can create some truly powerful, dreamy and mysterious portraits.
Rule to Break: Looking Down the Lens- Another rule many portrait photographers tend to live by is always having their subject looking down the lens of the camera. It may be true that having a pair of eyes staring right at the viewer is a great way to create a sense of beauty, but you should not rule out the alternative. When the eyes of a subject are fixated on something outside of the portrait, it can create powerful feelings of candidness, intrigue and interest. Leaving your viewer open to their own interpretation, you can keep them wondering what the subject is looking at and why it made them smile, laugh or show some other type of emotion. Furthermore, it may also prove beneficial to shoot a portrait with your subject focusing on something within the frame such as a basketball, a dish of food or even another person. This technique creates both a point of interest and a relationship between the object and the primary subject, helping to create a “story” within the shot.
Rule to Break: Perfect Horizons - Portrait photographers put a lot of effort and time into shooting at flawlessly horizontal or vertical angles, keeping their subject perfectly in line with the frame. Holding your camera at an angle and purposely making the lines of the shot crooked can add a tremendous sense of fun and energy in your portrait. Do not be afraid to break the rule of perfect horizons.
Rule to Break: Small Focal Lengths - Many photographers also associate portrait photography with small angles and small focal lengths. However, shooting with a wide angle attached to your lens can create some powerful shots with some interesting distortion. Wide angles generally enlarge the points of interest towards the edge of the frame more than what is in the center, creating a huge impact on your subject, especially when placed in an impressive setting.
Rule to Break: Comfort Zones - This next piece of advice is less of a rule and more like a preference among the subjects and photographers of a portrait photo. Generally, subjects prefer to remain in their comfort zone, posing for pictures at their office desk or leaning up against a classic Corvette to send out a message of interest. Sometimes in portrait photography, however, it is more interesting to see a subject outside of their comfort zone, doing things that a normal subject would not do. Examples of this concept are subjects jumping up and down on their beds, jumping into pools or performing any other type of spontaneous action. When the subject’s action becomes the new point of interest, the result can be some very powerful portraits. An additional method of taking your subject out of their comfort zone is zooming in on their face so that it is the only image in the portrait. Few people are comfortable with a close-up of this magnitude but when a subject’s face is the only thing in an image, the viewer does not have anywhere else to look. This is a great way to grab the attention of your viewer and keep them focused on your subject.
Rule to Break: Details…Details…Details - Some photographers live by the rule of including as much detail as possible in a portrait to create beauty and interest. Try keeping your portrait simple and do not be afraid to leave certain things out of your portrait. By focusing on one body part, as opposed to person’s entire body, you can leave the remainder of the subject open to the interpretation of the viewer and stir up their imagination and interest. On the other hand, you can leave very little to the imagination of the viewer by obscuring parts of the subject’s face or body with clothing or objects, or by framing part of the subject out of the image. Using this method, you can easily focus the attention of your viewer on the part of the subject you want them to focus on, creating stunning portrait images.
Rule to Break: Never Talk to Strangers - Far too many photographers limit their subjects to friends and family members when the truth is that the most interesting subjects can be complete strangers. You should not be afraid to walk up to a person on the street and ask them if they would mind having their picture taken. Simply tell the person that you find them interesting and with their permission, snap some shots. Eventually, you can develop an entire portfolio of portraits based on a series of incredibly interesting strangers.
Realistically, it would be a difficult task to embrace many of these techniques without a decent camera lens. I recommend using the Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM Autofocus Lens because it has a large aperture to help you bring your subject closer and creates excellent background blur when needed. Furthermore, the Canon EF 50mm lens affords a faster shutter speed ideal for freezing the action, has a natural angle of view and perspective and allows for the varying of distance, aperture and angle.
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