Location portraiture photography

Lighting on location can often influence the way a photograph is taken.

Adjusting the aperture to obtain a shallow (narrow) depth of field is often used.  This has the following advantages:

• Can be used to throw the background out of focus
• Will allow you to shoot in dimmer lighting conditions as the shutter speeds at say f4.0, f 5.6, f 8 will be faster compared to shooting at f16, f22.
• If you struggle with image blur change the ISO from 200 to e.g. 400 or 800.   This will also allow you to operate at higher shutter speeds in order to freeze movement.
• You may choose to operate the camera in manual focus mode and try to get a sharp focus by focussing on the eyes or face.
• If you struggle with harsh shadows you may choose to use a reflector to bounce light back onto a subject… this can be quite effective however you will need to have an assistant working with you.

Image Bank:

How i tried the technique:

I selected a location for my model to stand in and set my tripod up. I then took photos at different f stops to change the depth of field. I used f4, f8 and f.16. Th object of the test was to show how the higher the f stop the more focused the background would be.

My images:

Evaluation:

The photos weren't my best and the technique didn't wont the way it was meant too. Due to borrowing a camera, I wasn't familiar with the way to use it. This meant the ISO and the focus was off. Instead of the focus being on the model, the focus was on the roof in the background behind her. This meant that i didnt get the effect of the background and depth of field change i would have liked. For example, in the first photo below, the f stop is 4. The second photo is f stop 8, you can tell the depth of field theory has worked as the model is more in focused on the second image.
If i was to do this again I would make sure the model is the focus point.