Portrait photography tip: Take your time

Thursday 18 June 2020, 16:08 by Elja Trum | 5,215 views | 0 comments

This article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.

To take the best portrait photos, you need to take your time. When you arrange to take photos with a model, tell them in advance how long you expect to be shooting. I usually plan 3 hours for a shoot.

Sanne - f/2.8, 1/80s, 640 ISO @ 195mm
My best photos are usually taken towards the end of those three hours. It simply takes a little time to get used to each other and to get the 'standard' photos out of the way.

You often only really tap into your creativity later in a session. That's when you start trying things, which helps you create both the photos that genuinely fail and the ones that really stand out.

At the end of a shoot like that, both you and your model are often willing to experiment a bit more. For example, you can ask your model if they want to go into the water of a lake, like Sanne in the photo above.

In my experience, three hours is also about the maximum. After that, both you and your model get tired, and you'll see that reflected in your photos.

Have you arranged make-up for your photo session? Then allow an extra hour for the shoot. That's the minimum amount of time a make-up artist often needs.

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