Photography Tips
When choosing or taking a photo for me to work from for your commissioned portrait, please follow the tips below to ensure a great photograph and hence a great portrait. The better the photo, the better the finished piece! Another critical point is that the chosen photo accurately and faithfully represents the subject's personality and character - a dog or horse with his ears pinned back is not going to look very happy in his portrait. Likewise, a child pulling a comical camera grin may not thank you for memorialising that look in a portrait on the wall in later life!
Firstly, the best photographs are taken on a digital camera and in high resolution - please make sure the photograph is crisp, sharp and showing a high level of detail.
When taking a photograph make sure you are taking it in natural light (preferably outside) and the subject is not back-lit, in patchy shadows or squinting in full sun.
Firstly, the best photographs are taken on a digital camera and in high resolution - please make sure the photograph is crisp, sharp and showing a high level of detail.
When taking a photograph make sure you are taking it in natural light (preferably outside) and the subject is not back-lit, in patchy shadows or squinting in full sun.
The photograph should be taken at the subject's eye level for the most natural looking portrait, here is an example of a good photo at eye level and one taken from above. You can see the foreshortening effect the second photo has on the dog. However, if this is a look you are specifically wanting then I am happy to work with it!
The next point is to avoid flash photography - it creates excessive highlights in animals and flattens the features in children. Flash photography also affects the eyes, creating artificial reflections and losing a lot of the depth.
Finally, other points to note are aspect, focus and distance. Try to ensure the subject is well lit (you can see in the first photo below how the eyes are dark and dull, purely due to aspect), is in full focus and not too far from the camera. Often, if I need to zoom in much a lot of the detail is lost.
If you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact me, if you are unsure of your photo's suitability I am very happy to have a look and offer some advice.