7 tips for perfect holiday portraits
Monday 1 July 2019, 23:32 by Elja Trum | 7,425 views | 3 commentsThis article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.
You usually don't go on holiday alone. It's great to take photos of your travel companions too. For example, lovely portraits that you can hang on the wall at home as a lasting reminder of that wonderful trip.
1. Make use of the evening light
You often stay outside for a long time in the evening when you're on holiday. Make use of the beautiful, soft evening light by taking lots of photos in it.
2. Photograph against the sun
You can also use that same evening light as backlight. Make sure you photograph against the sun (with the sun behind your subject) and you'll get a lovely rim of light around your subject.
You'll probably need to overexpose your camera manually, because the internal light meter will probably say that there's too much light.
The overexposure also immediately makes it a cheerful and bright holiday portrait.
3. Include the surroundings
Some portraits could have been taken anywhere. When you're on holiday, you also want the surroundings to play a role in your photo.
So don't always use that typical 85mm portrait lens, but go wider sometimes, so you include the surroundings in your photo.
And, as in this photo, you don't always have to photograph someone from the front. A view from behind can also make a nice change. Anyone who knows your subject will recognise them anyway.
4. Photograph in the shade
When you're on holiday, you're often out and about in the middle of the day too. The light is often hard and bright then. In these conditions, it's smart to take your portraits in the shade instead.
In shady spots, the light is often lovely and soft. Look carefully at the direction the light is coming from. Make sure the main light comes from one side (from the side is often very nice) and not from all directions.
Shade is what gives your image depth. So light on one side and shade on the other gives your portrait depth.
5. Photograph without posing
Avoid making all the portraits you take posed. That can quickly become boring. 'Your wife in front of the Eiffel Tower', 'Your wife in front of the burnt-out Notre Dame', 'Your wife in front of the Louvre'.
Also take photos in which your subjects don't realise you're photographing them. Or after they've finished posing. You'll get more spontaneous photos that give a more realistic impression of the situation.
When you have children with you on holiday, this is even easier. You can simply let them play while taking photos.
6. Photograph when it's dark too
You need light for photography, but modern cameras can take perfectly good photos in low light. Especially when you combine them with a fast lens (for example, a 50mm f/1.8).
You can then take perfectly good photos in the dark, which can produce lovely portraits. For example, when you're wandering through a town in the evening.
7. Try photographing underwater too
I used to take a disposable underwater camera with me on holiday sometimes. A plastic thing with a roll of film inside and 12 or 24 exposures. The photos were never really anything special.
These days, many smartphones and action cameras are waterproof. You can often take perfectly good photos with them in and around the water. The rest of the family will probably want to spend plenty of time in and around the water, so you can keep yourself occupied with your photography hobby.
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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3 comments
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Peter Doodeman wrote on Tuesday 2 July 2019 at 16:37 | replyHello,
Translated from Dutch.
What beautiful photos above. I myself am just an amateur photographer with a Nikon camera. I am part of the photography team at the Bethel church in Drachten and they are very happy with my photos for social media, Bethel magazine, Instagram and so on. Together with five other photographers, we do our best. One has a camera with a lens costing €3000.00. I don't. Wife and children, you know. What I would really like to know is which settings for aperture, shutter speed and ISO value were used respectively for the photos above. I am writing a little handbook for my wife (who has a Canon) and me with tips, ideas and settings that we can quickly look up when necessary to ensure the most beautiful picture. We already have cheat sheets from the internet, but beautiful photos with the corresponding settings are just a little easier for us.
Regards,
Peter Doodeman -
Jolanda Vening wrote on Wednesday 3 July 2019 at 16:18 | replyWhat a good book that is, 'The Portrait Bible'. I've already put many good tips into practice.
Translated from Dutch. -
Elja Trum
wrote on Wednesday 3 July 2019 at 16:40
| reply
@Peter; Thank you. I have already added the settings to two of the photos. In my book (the Portrait Bible), which is also mentioned above, I do include the settings for every photo, by the way.
Translated from Dutch.
@Jolanda; Thank you, nice to hear that you can use the book well in practice!
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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
