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Portraiture has been an important part of personal and business promotion for thousands of years; through a variety of mediums, spanning paintings, sketches, mosaics, and even sculpture, the creation of a person’s likeness is a time-honored tradition with many basic principles that have endured throughout the ages. Portrait photography has comprised one of the most prevalent and popular uses for the camera since its invention, capturing images of people from their very first years and through their lives. Marking important occasions or life milestones, or simply creating an image to be used professionally or displayed at home, portrait photography is employed at some point or another by most people, and carries with it a rich history of professional trends and ideas. With the proliferation of digital cameras as well as modern artistic sensibilities, the face of portrait photography is in a state of change, morphing to meet the needs of modern subjects and to take advantage of modern technologies.

Perhaps the most exciting feature of today’s portrait photography is the ability of digital film to allow photographers to quickly, easily, and inexpensively take as many shots as are necessary to get the right look. While older formats were often most efficiently operated by shooting a limited and usually small number of photographs per subject, sometimes resulting in a choice between the lesser of a set of evils, digital photographers can take extensive sets that are immediately viewable to make sure that a client is satisfied before printing takes place. Quick adjustments, such as a wardrobe change, the removal or addition of a background object, and other modifications, can be made between frames, giving clients a great range of options without having to commit to a single look or setting.

In tandem with this new capability available through digital film and devices, the demand for less conventional portraiture is becoming more intense. While some business environments and personal preferences still call for basic, unadorned, studio-style portraits, just as some web designers are called to create simplistic web design sites on occasion and SEO experts may be asked to perform only the bare minimums of search engine optimization, a growing number of photographers are able to add creative settings and perspectives to portraits. Incorporating famous Austin Texas landmarks in the background of the portrait of an important Austin Tx public figure or snapping a shot of a professional observing an element or event off-screen can add depth, meaning, and interest to a portrait that goes beyond communicating the simple appearance of the subject.

Breaking away from the traditional studio format and incorporating the ability to shoot a subject until the perfect image is achieved are remarkable yet successful objectives in modern portrait photography. As this special category of photography takes on new trends and continues to be important among cultures throughout the world, photographers who make the effort to master portraiture are likely to find their skills in other photographic areas improved, as well.

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Austin, TX 78731
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If you’ve ever spent time around a photography buff, you’ve likely heard your fair share of banter about the concept of an “exposure.” In fact, photography, for the most part, centers on the idea of the exposure, which controls light, one of the most important elements of an image. But if you begin to investigate the precise meaning of an exposure, you can quickly become mired in technical specifications with foreign designations that don’t seem too intuitive on the spot. Exposure is composed, however, of two relatively simple components: shutter speed and aperture. These two components can be compared to keyword selection and density within the realm of search engine optimization, and just as these elements are crucial to effective SEO, shutter speed and aperture are essential elements of a photograph. Photographers and web designers who want to add a personal touch to their web design by creating their own images can use shutter speed and aperture to control the amount of light in a photograph, rendering the image to their precise specifications.

The shutter on a camera is a device which blocks all light from outside of the device and prevents it from reaching the film. When the shutter is retracted, it allows light to enter the camera, thereby creating an image. The amount of time that the shutter is open is part of the determination of how much light reaches the film; a “short” exposure will allow a small amount of light in, while a “long” exposure permits a larger amount of light to enter the camera. Shutter speeds are measured in units called “stops.” The stops for shutter speed are described in terms of one second and fractions of one second, and are delineated as follows: 1, 1/2, 1/15, 1/30, 1/60, 1/125, 1/250, 1/500, and 1/1000. A long exposure of one second will allow a large amount of light in; while a short exposure of 1/1000th s of a second will permit only a small amount to reach the film.

In tandem with shutter speed, the aperture of the camera’s lens, which operates in a similar fashion to an eye’s pupil, can be opened to various degrees to control light and focus. The aperture is measured in “F-stops,” and smaller numbers signify a wider opening, whereas larger numbers correspond with more tightly-closed apertures. The schedule of F-stops, from the largest to the smallest openings, is: F2.8, F4, F5.6, F8, F11, F16, and F22. Once the nature and manipulation of shutter speed and aperture are understood, a photographer can begin to create correct exposures by balancing these two components. Balance is achieved by compensating for rises or declines in shutter speed with the opening and closing of the aperture to achieve the desired result. For instance, if shooting a country pasture just before sundown in Austin Texas, a photographer might set the aperture to F2.8 to allow for sufficient light in the Austin TX dusk, while the shutter speed could be set to 1/125 to prevent any blurriness due to a long exposure. Finding the right combination can be a bit trick for beginners, but knowing how to expose a scene with these two factors will result in better photographs every time.

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NuArtisan
7000 N Mo Pac Expy Ste 200
Austin, TX 78731
(512) 712-5359