How to Take Good Reference Photographs

CLARE SIEFFERT
124 CHRISTIAN AVE. NE, ROANOKE, VA 24012-3102  •  (540)563-5911

sieffertportraits@earthlink.net

  • To see my minimal requirements for reference photographs, click on the PHOTOS MUST navigation button.
  • GET EYE LEVEL WITH YOUR PET. Get on your knees or your stomach if necessary, or put small pets on tables.
  • It's easier to photograph a pet with a helper to handle the pet and get it to look in various directions and to get it to look alert by making strange noises. You might also try taking your pet's picture at a distance, using telephoto setting, so he does not get spooked by your camera.
  • LIGHTING IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF GOOD PHOTOGRAPHY!
    • FLASH PHOTOGRAPHS ARE TERRIBLE for making good reference photos for portraits! Flash light flattens out faces and eliminates most of their 3D qualities.
    • THE BEST LIGHTING is mild and comes from a definite direction.
    • DIRECTIONAL LIGHT means you can see what direction the light is coming from just from looking at the face you are photographing.
    • I SUGGEST you use the mild light from a window that faces away from the sun, or faces an overcast sun.
    • BRIGHT SUNSHINE IS USUALLY TOO HARSH. The camera sees things differently than our eyes do and bright sunshine usually produces overbright light areas and black shadows on faces. Only photograph portraits outdoors early in the morning or late in the afternoon when the light is mild and coming from low in the sky.
    • DON'T PHOTOGRAPH OUTDOORS - In overcast sunshine or in shadow, your light comes from the whole sky. It is not directional and gives little visual information about the 3D shapes of faces. Only photograph portraits outdoors early in the morning or late in the afternoon when the light is mild and coming from low in the sky.
Directional light shows us the shape of the cat's head under his fur. We can tell the front of his muzzle and cheek from the side of his muzzle and cheek because the direction of the light makes areas of light and shadow that shows us. A flash photograph would only tell us that the cat is orange striped and would not show us the shape of the bones under the fur.
  • DRESS YOUR SUBJECT in solid, light colored clothes. Dark colors make the shadows of the folds of cloth hard to see. And patterns make the artist's life miserable.
  • EXPERIMENT - Try lots of different poses and expressions.
  • A PORTRAIT IS MORE INTERESTING if the subject is not facing the camera straight on. Ask your subject to turn his head slightly away and only look at you with his eyes, not his head.
  • BACKGROUNDS are not important. Lighting is far more important. But if you have a choice of background, a light, solid one may help me see the subject's silhouette more clearly.
  • EYEGLASSES - If you want them included, photograph your subject at the same angle wearing his glasses and not wearing them. Then I can draw his face undistorted by the lenses and add the frames back on afterward.
Click on Portrait