Outdoor Portraits

For outdoor portraits, we learned about using reflectors. Reflectors help subtly bounce light onto the subject, giving a look of rim lighting (highlights from the sun) and catch lights in the eyes. A great reflector is a light-colored building. Have your subject face the building. Use buildings, tree trunks, etc.. to shade yourself from the sun, thus avoiding lens flare (when the sun directly hits your lens).

What to wear - We discussed this a bit in our first class. Solids usually work best, dark solids on the bottom half are slenderizing. Three-quarter sleeves or long sleeves are more flattering on most women. Bold stripes and patterns draw attention to the clothing, rather than the person. BUT, for individual portraits, where you’re trying to capture a child or teen’s personality, it’s nice to let them decide what to wear. This individuality can help capture their interests at that point in time. It can also help them relax and have fun. It’s also fun to add a prop—something that helps define their personality. Some ideas: a ball, doll, trike, rock, skate board, musical instrument, etc… Bubbles are often fun and help capture natural smiles in kids. In the Fall, having a child hold a hand full of leaves, then throw them up on a certain count—using your multiple shot mode to capture the fun—results in some fun shots.

Time of Day – For outdoors, on a sunny day, the first couple hours after sunrise or the last hour before sunset are the ideal times—when the sun hits at an angle. In the evening, first have the subject face away from the sun, using a reflector or a flash to fill in. As the sun lowers enough that one can look towards it without squinting and just after sunset, have the subject face where the sun is. This gives you a last bit of warm light to finish out the photo session. Once the sun has dropped, this is a nice time for silhouettes with the beautiful sunset in the background. Don’t use a flash or fill light for silhouettes. Use a flash or reflector if you want to see the face AND the sunset

Remember, the eyes are the most important part if your subject is looking at the camera, so lock focus on the iris, then compose your shot. The task sheet below is full of ideas you can try. Several can be used in one photo. See “Assignment #3” in our class album for the homework assignments. Have fun!!


Outdoor Portraits Task Sheet
Use reflector on all shots unless noted,
sun behind subject, shade lens
to avoid lens flare) Most shots vertical

Head shot – face or face & shoulders
Full length shot-
¾ shot—hips up
Detailed shot (shoes, guitar pick, etc..)
Rim lighting (highlights behind)
Angled shot
Vertical shot
Horizontal shot
Subject looking over the shoulder
Action shot
Candid (not posed, not looking at camera)
Worms eye view (camera down low)
Bird’s eye view (stand on bucket)
Side lighting with reflector bouncing off side
Lens flare (let sun hit lens)
Silhouette (no flash, sky behind subject,
subject appears as shadow)
Subject sitting or lounging
Frame subject with flowers or architecture
Background showing depth—pillars, street
Emphasis on prop