Project Educate: Photographing Infants + ChildrenPhotographing infants and children can either be really painful and frustrating, or incredibly fun and rewarding. It depends entirely on the child. I kid, sort of. It's what you make of it and how you treat the moment. Children are fast, sometimes moody, sometimes hyper and nearly always think they know what you want them to do when you turn the camera on them. Either run, or crack that huge fake camera smile that they've been taught to do for their school photographs. Don't force a smile. If the child doesn't want to smile, don't make them. You'll end up with the fake smile. However having said that, you can try and be funny, but again don't push it. They're smarter than many give them credit for. If you're not getting a smile but you're getting a rude funny face, then accept it. Those sorts of shots can be awesome as well. Learn to accept imperfections. Whether the children are strangers to you or not, you can't have it perfect all of the time. Messy hair,
Project Educate: Classic Portrait PhotographyClassic Portraits are Photographs of people in traditional pose. These are often formal, refined and restrained in style. As you will see within the Gallery they often involve a plain and simple background which is a popular feature of Classic Portraiture. One of the most notable things within the Classic Portrait Photography Gallery is that there are a lot of art nudes. This actually occurs across the board with People & Portraits and I cannot stress enough - that if your work features nudity, it belongs within the artistic nude gallery! Conversion to black and white with concentration on bringing out tones and shadows creates that timeless classic look and is often favoured by the elite artists that submit to the People & Portraits - Classic Gallery. Whilst D-SLR's have a monochrome function, for the most part (mine h
Project Educate: Expressing and EmotingEssentially, these are mostly the same thing with a few minor differences which are explained below. But before we move onto that, there's an important message to share when it comes to categorising your work. To get the best out of the photography galleries it's vitally important that you categorise your work properly. That' why these weeks exist in some respects, to help educate you through that. With regards to Daily Deviations - Community Volunteers will not give features to pieces of work that are mis-categorised. They might assist you by moving your work or explaining where it should go, but seeing a deliberate miscat is a bit off-putting when it comes to choosing pieces to showcase. Take some time to have a look through your gallery (I'm going to do the same!) and figure out if everything is in the right place. If you're struggling, just ask. We're here to help. What we won't do is rearrange your whole gallery for you. We will however, work with you to try and straighten things
Project Educate: Improving Spontaneity Spontaneous Portraiture Here on deviantART there is a whole gallery for your casual, candid, secretive shots. I don't mean fetish. The Spontaneous People & Portrait Photography Gallery is where you should go if you are wanting to things that are less arranged, less planned and much more spontaneous. Have a browse here to see what's popular but keep in mind that miscats are in abundance, and that's why these education weeks exist - to try and educate and put the record straight.I prefer to shoot all of my portraiture and people photography as candidly as possible. I believe that capturing people unawares gives them no time to organize their facial expressions and consider arranging their emotions. Eyes, are the windows to the soul - as they say, and if you're making someone stand and pose (which works well a lot of the time) you're closing off the honest
People + Portraits: Capturing WeddingsThe Weddings category within the People & Portraits Photography gallery is often misused and misunderstood. It's not for capturing those generic wedding shots of shoes, cakes, decorations and rings. The idea is that there needs to be a person or people captured in the shot to make it portraiture photography. There also (and i know it's mind blowing) needs to be a wedding theme going on! Simply cropping in close on hands or shoes or a part of a dress isn't enough to get it into the gallery. If the gallery were simply 'Weddings' then it would be different of course. You should consider the use of the Photojournalism - Weddings Gallery too and if your shots are journalistic in style they need to be pushed towards that gallery. Fiddle with your settings to ensure you capture the bright white of the wedding dress (as this is the common colour anyway). A lot of cameras will over compensate if you've got this large white area in your view finder and expose the dress as being
People + Portraits - The Pin-Up and GlamourPin Up & Glamour is a huge part of the People and Portrait Photography Gallery here on deviantart. ^DistortedSmile did a fantastically in-depth week of Pin Up and Glamour education which you can find the complete folder of here. Pinup and Glamour Groups Origins Interview with Schwarzwieebenhol Men in Pinup and Glamour
Project Educate: Artistic Nude + Fetish RecapThis journal contains mature content. For ease of access we've started to put all of the previous Project Educate articles into the relevant folders within our gallery. This means that if you want to read up on a certain topic that has been covered during Project Educate, you can head over and find it really quickly. Within People & Portraits there are several sub-categories that are managed by specific Community Volunteers, one of these is Artistic Nude. You should direct all of your Artistic Nude Photography suggestions towards ^Nyx-Valentine rather than a general photography CV such as myself or ^3wyl Additionally, ^Nyx-Valentine covers the Fetish Photography Galleries, so again, direct your suggestions to her.Artistic Nude Recap
People + Portraits Photography: Body Art RecapWithin the People and Portraits Photography Gallery there are various galleries that have their own Community Volunteer and go to person for Daily Deviation suggestions and so on. Body Art has its own niche within the People & Portraits Gallery and this has been the case since 2010. `Exillior explains the changes more fully in this journal.The Photography Body Art Gallery is for Photographers who would like to showcase the Body Art that has been executed by somebody else. If you've created the Body Art or you have the permission to post the creation of somebody else's Body Art then you need to submit it to Traditional Art -> Body Art. Check out `JZino's latest Daily Deviations Roundup for more information on her Daily Deviation suggestion guidelines. Below is a recap of useful Body Art Blogs and Features
People + Portraits Photography - Uncovering Talent*JaredWingate has been on deviantART for over a year and has a rather varied Gallery. You may have recently seen him quoted in Photography Weekly as his reasons for taking up Photography as a hobby are quite poignant. He shoots with a Nikon d5100 and a Nikon d800 with an array of Tamron and Nikon lens. *JaredWingate uses photo editing software for light retouching depending on what his subject desires. Firstly, and most importantly - Why people?Well, as a lot of people already know here... I have Autism, and like most people with Autism we have a lot of problems understanding people & facial expressions.... I believe I was drawn towards people to learn more about this. I gravitate towards Street Photography specifically people in the street because people are alive and moving which makes them harder subjects than say, still life. What do you find are the challenges of staging y
People + Portraits Photography: TroubleshootingWe're getting well underway with People & Portraits Photography week and lots of people have noted me asking questions about categorising their work and various tips and hints for People & Portrait Photographs. Therefore as with the Still Life Photography week I'm opening up a blog here where you can ask questions and at the end of the week we'll combine the responses and put together a handy article. It's all very well me writing articles for you - but if it doesn't cover an issue you might actually have then my intentions are not being carried out!So what are your issues? Do you find it difficult to categorise your work? Do you find lighting a troublesome issue for you? Let me know and equally, if you have an answer to a query - drop it below as well!
Project Educate: Permission to Photograph People Permission to Photograph People It's a tough topic and one that most of us like to shy away from rather than embrace, but the honest truth is that the shots of people that you get - the best kind - are the ones that are candid, journalistic or spontaneous. That usually means asking permission afterwards, or not asking permission at all - which can appear quite odd, to some. One of my biggest concerns and anxieties is having my camera out in public. I recently went to a beach, of all places, and was shooting the coastline when a horrible feeling crept over me and I realised that there were lots of people around and that I was invading, a little bit, on their privacy. These guidelines are useful for shooting on the street, at public gatherings and events and at more formal occasions such as weddings. If the person is going to be the main subject of your photo - then it's kind to ask permission, get perm
People + Portraits Photography Talent Spotlight`Kendra-Paige has been on deviantART for over eight years now and has made a strong mark on the people and portraits gallery especially with her fashion work. Her kit consists of a Canon 5D Mark II and a Canon EF 85mm 1.2L II lens using various other lenses and focal lengths but repeatedly gravitating towards the 85mm. She uses a combination of lightroom and photoshop to post-process her work although she keeps her editing as minimal as possible as she doesn't enjoy the post-processing bit of photography! Why did you choose people as a photographical interest? I have always found people to be fascinating, and I have a particular interest in expressions and eyes. The eyes tend to be the focal point in a lot of my work, and typically dictate the image. Aside from this, it’s the collaborative effort that I enjoy in portraiture. When you take images of animals and nature, there is only so much control you have with the subject - a lot of it is luck
Project Educate: Being a People PersonSo you've got the equipment, you've got the top notch camera, the lighting, the studio, the backdrop and even the perfect weather - everything you need for a portrait photography shoot right? Wrong. The key behind all photographs that contain a living and breathing subject is to have the natural look. Just like the key to a conceptual shot is having the idea, the key to portraiture photography is having the eye. Co-operative subjects help too!I have especially found in the past, that people develop a pained and strained look on their face when the camera is pointed in their direction. Interestingly enough, it happens more often at Weddings. The bride and groom quite often develop the look that they might have when they've just finished writing out the cheque for me to photograph their big day...Then, quite suddenly one day, I got it. It was when a stunning bridesmaid at a wedding lifted her hands in front of her face and squealed when I clicked the camera in her
Project Educate: People and Portraits IntroductionPortrait or Portraiture Photography is about a person or a group of people arranged in a certain way to convey the mood, emotions and possibly even a story. On DeviantART there are many sub-categories within the People & Portraits Gallery and some of those are self explanatory whilst others take a little bit more planning and thinking about to achieve. Throughout this week, we'll be working to hopefully clean up misconceptions and straighten out parts of the People & Portrait Galleries. So here's what's happening...Shoot Yourself - Photography Contest Open Forum - Throw your questions to the photography CVs and expect the answers (as much as possible) by the end of the week! Getting your Emotive on - Definition
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Don't force a smile. If the child doesn't want to smile, don't make them. You'll end up with the fake smile. However having said that, you can try and be funny, but again don't push it. They're smarter than many give them credit for. If you're not getting a smile but you're getting a rude funny face, then accept it. Those sorts of shots can be awesome as well.
