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Background Ideas for Outdoor Portrait Photography

BackgroundThere can hardly be any better option than selecting the outdoors for a portrait photography session. The outdoor provides a plethora of options for the best outcomes. However, utilizing the beauty of the surroundings can be quite challenging.

Various factors come into play while choosing the perfect background for shooting an outdoor portrait photograph. Some of these include light, depth of field, uniformity and so on.

Let’s take a look at some of the aspects of the background for taking the best outdoor portrait photograph.

Choosing the Right Background

There is a variety of background options available for shooting portrait photographs. An interesting background option for shooting portrait photographs in the outdoor can be an old building. Doorways of local buildings can turn out to be wonderful frames for the photos. Also, this location ensures that the background will be deserted. As a result, the focus remains on the subject.

Apart from that, forests in bright sunny days can be one of the best backdrops of portrait photographs. The lush green leaves and the dark barks on the background are quite stunning. You can consider shooting the subject through the flowers or the leaves. A thick forest where not much lights penetrates can produce a dark background for an interesting portrait photography session.

You can also consider choosing a colorful background. For example, graffiti art on the wall can be highly fascinating. However, such a choice may require you to be extremely careful in shooting the model in a way that eliminates the background distractions.

Light

Photographing your subject in bright patches of sunlight can be a great idea. Natural light is the best option for outdoor portrait photographs. You should take into account the best times of the day to shoot the photograph. The late afternoon light can be quite stunning.

You can also consider shooting portrait photographs on a bright sunny day. But shooting the subject in the shade is important. It can produce some interesting outcomes.

Light shining through the trees and falling on parts of the subject’s face can produce fascinating portraits.

Shooting from Above

One of the best ways to make the outdoor portrait photographs unique is by taking the picture from the above. The subject can be positioned on a bed of leaves for an interesting outcome. This technique becomes all the more effective if the subject is tall. Shooting from above works as an advantage for the photographer in such a case.

Choosing the Right Photography Equipment

Carrying the right photography gear with you is crucial while shooting a portrait outdoor. Choosing the right lens is important. For this, it is wise to visit the location in advance and find out more about the light conditions. This will give you an idea about the type of lens that you would need for the best outcome.

You can carry a wide angle lens with you to ensure that the setting is also taken into consideration while shooting the picture. Another method would be to use a lens with a long focus which will focus more on the model than the background.

In addition to that, you can carry a tripod with you to take sharp images. If you are shooting in dark backgrounds, you can consider carrying an external flash. If the light of the flash is too bright, you can soften it up by using a diffuser.

In case the shadows ruin the picture, you can use a reflector to fill in those patches.

Crop the Distractions Out

It isn’t uncommon to feel disappointed about certain distractions in the perfect backdrop. For examples, distractions like power lines, poles, street signs and other unwanted elements can be quite annoying. These can shift the focus from the subject and ruin the entire photograph.

One of the easiest ways to get rid of these distractions is by cropping them out of the picture. Therefore, it is crucial to look through the viewfinder and understand how the background will look in the picture and choose the best angle. You can also crop out the distraction post-processing.

It is crucial to be skilled in the basics of photography to produce the best outcomes. If you live in Abu Dhabi, you can consider joining photo workshops Abu Dhabi for the same.

Contributed by: http://gulfphotoplus.com/

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