Portrait photography tip: Watch the hands in the frame
Sunday 17 July 2022, 15:51 by Elja Trum | 3,909 views | 1 commentThis article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.
Hands can be tricky in a photo. They often stand out a lot and can quickly look strange. This is also often because the hands are closer to your camera than the rest of the body. As a result, the hands will look relatively large.
In a photo, hands often look best when they are relaxed. Tense hands create a sense of unease. The angle at which the hand is shown is also important. A hand looks much slimmer from the side, so it does not create such a noticeable 'block' in your photo.
A good way to get hands looking natural in a photo is to give your subject something to hold. In a portrait, for example, you can have the person hold something that suits them. A musical instrument, for example. You can also have the hands rest on something, such as a leg or the arm of a chair.
Can't you get the hands looking right in the frame? Then simply leave them out of the photo, for example by taking a tighter portrait showing only the head and upper body.
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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1 comment
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Lauran wrote on Tuesday 19 July 2022 at 11:10 | replyIk werk alleen met professionele modellen en dan heb je daar toch minder last van al moet je toch soms corrigerend optreden. Maar met een stuk enthousiasme en fatsoen komt het altijd weer wel goed.
This comment was written in another language and has not been translated yet.
Echter begrijp ik het probleem wel.
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Elja Trum
Photofacts; everything to do with photography!
Would you like to take better photos and keep up with what is happening in photography? Photofacts publishes articles that teach you something about photography — from a product announcement to a practical shooting tip or a look at a website. Photofacts covers photography every day and is a hobby project of Elja Trum's that got out of hand. The articles are written by a team of volunteer authors. If you would enjoy writing one or more articles for Photofacts, do get in touch.More about PhotofactsPhotofacts is made possible in part by
