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Guide to Outdoor Photography

There are pros and cons to take into consideration whether in or out of the studio, but a lot of portrait photographers will extol the virtues of getting outside of the sterile studio environment. Photographing on location adds a sense of spontaneity, room to manoeuvre and opens up creative shooting possibilities. It also helps to make your subject feel less ‘enclosed’ and self-conscious, giving them a familiar environment to interact with.
Your choice of location will largely depend on your subject. The whole idea of portraiture is to capture the essence of a person, to identify and bring out whatever makes them an individual, revealing their natural beauty. This may sound like a daunting task, but if you spend time getting to know your client and their expectations, you’ll soon learn the art of creating flattering portraits that reflect your subject’s personality.

Once you’ve got to know your subject, you’re in a far better position to make decisions about everything from the location of the shoot, to the style of photography to adopt. This will also help you narrow down things like which lenses to take and whether you’ll need any artificial light sources to complement the available light. Even if you do arrive at a location and discover you’ve left some piece of equipment behind, rather than cancel the shoot, don’t be afraid to improvise – unless it’s your camera that you’ve forgotten! Portraiture is really less about getting the lighting right and using the most expensive equipment, and more about the people that you’re photographing.

When shooting outdoor portraits, you don’t have much control over the quality or intensity of natural sunlight at any given time, but you can make the most of what’s available by picking your locations carefully and having the right tools on hand. Your first port of call is to talk to your subject: find out if there’s a particular location that’s special to them or fits in with their personality or look they want to convey. This applies whether you’re shooting an engagement portrait of a happy couple, an edgy image of a model wanting to expand his or her portfolio or a family picture. Find an environment where your subject feels comfortable, as it’ll help to put them at ease and encourage them to be themselves. Make sure you have some privacy: you don’t want your model to feel self-conscious because there are pedestrians rubber-necking as they walk by.

Don’t forget the rules when it comes to composing your shot either. Check your background isn’t too cluttered and look out for any natural or architectural features that you can use to frame your subject. Impressive archways and other structural features that form part of old buildings are ideal for adding drama to your shots. Use a wide-angle lens to accentuate the strong lines created by the building, but don’t forget about your subject: you need to ensure that they still remain the centre of attention, without becoming too small or ‘lost’ in the frame. You can help to maintain their status as the focal point of the image with a bit of digital manipulation, using post-processing techniques such as selective colouring and desaturation, for example.

Although it’s the norm to stick with the rule of thirds when working out where to place your subject for the most impact, there are occasions when it’s necessary to deviate from the standard guidelines. Often in portraiture, a subject’s expressions can change fleetingly, leaving you very little time to react and capture that perfect moment before it’s gone again. In these situations, you may come away with shots that have your subject centred in the frame, or with part of their face or body hidden or outside of the frame, but if you’ve caught an expression, emotion or gesture that fits their personality, then you’ve still got a successful photograph in the bag.

Sometimes, the ambient light at your chosen location needs a bit of a boost in order for you to create the look you want in your final image. In these cases introducing some complementary artificial lighting can work wonders.

You can make artificial lighting look natural, as long as you don’t get carried away with too many lights, which equals too many shadows. The secret to making your portraits look natural is to use only one light source on your subject with possibly, but not necessarily, a reflector on the opposite side of the subject to the light. If you’re going to introduce an artificial light source, take the time to ensure that it complements the intensity of the ambient light to stop it looking unnatural.

Using on-camera flash to fill-in the shadows is often a more convenient option when shooting outdoors, particularly at social events like weddings when there isn’t the time to position reflectors or direct your subjects. Most contemporary flashguns have an auto setting that calculates the correct exposure for you, however those who prefer greater control can dial in settings manually. As a general guide for natural-looking results, stick to around two stops under your metered exposure and try to make use of backlighting to highlight your subject’s hair and outline.

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