
Portrait photography tip: Let your surroundings play a part in your photo
Thursday 26 September 2024, 15:51 by Elja Trum | 2,214 views | 0 commentsThis article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.
A good portrait photo is often about more than just the person in the photo. The surroundings can play an important role. They give the photo context. For example, think of a cobbler in his workshop.

To include the background in the photo, you usually use a wider lens, such as a 35mm. With this type of photo, you probably also want more of the surroundings to be in focus. So use a smaller aperture opening, meaning a higher aperture number.
Try to include only things in your photo that genuinely add to its story. You do not want to distract from the subject, but instead add context to the person you are photographing.

About the author
Elja Trum is the founder of Photofacts and online photography course website Photofacts Academy. He has been writing about photography since 2006. Elja is also the author of (Dutch) books on composition, black-and-white photography, flash photography and portrait photography.
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Elja Trum

