Portrait

KlodaX

What makes a good photographic portrait?

Monkey

the nose

Shrimp

It's not all about the person, composition, colour, tone, contrast, etc..

KlodaX

Possibly the most useless replies to a thread I have ever recieved!!!

Merrion

A good portrait is one that makes you think "I'd like to meet that person".

My opinions:

• For 90% of cases black and white photography is prefereable to colour in portraiture.
• For children or young people (or where a youthful look is desired) a green filter can give a smoother skin tone
• For older people (especially those with wisdom wrinkles) an amber filter will increase the contrast and make a more interesting shot
• The most important thing to be in focus is the eyes - and these should be looking directly into the camera (thus directly at the viewer) for best effect.

OBrien

A good portrait is one the evokes an emotional response in the viewer - 'that's beautiful', 'that's sad', 'funny', whatever. It's not about rules or composition necessarily, though it does help to know the general rules and understand the techniques. Merrion is right in that 99% of the time the eyes have it.

KlodaX

Thanks very much. Most helpfull!

b&w, eye contact, blue tones for youth and red for age, and to evoke an emotional responce.

I'll try to add these, thanks.