Creating Movement in Portraits

I'm so embarrassed to post these first two portraits, but these are from

my FIRST portrait shoot EVER!  I had been learning photography for about a year

and was bored with landscape and flower photos.

I longed to shoot portraits, but they seemed so complicated.

This was my first feeble attempt at posing my lovely daughter Lindsay.

We took the little bench prop to a nearby park and I had no idea how to pose her.

This is very typical of portraits I see online...the subject sits or stands

and smiles at the camera.

I knew these early portraits of mine were BORING!

I couldn't even think up any good poses!

I studied poses online,

but when we were out for a photo shoot,

I couldn't remember ANY!

I continued to photograph my daughter and continued to get

BORING portraits

UNTIL....

One day, it was REAL WINDY!

Dang it, wind! STOP BLOWING!  I'm trying to practice here!

OMG! 

This windy day is when my portraits changed FOREVER!

These photos in the wind were ALIVE!

They were magical with movement and spunk!

 Lindsay wasn't just standing there smiling...she was moving

and reacting to the wind!

I still use this next photo on my business cards:

After this windy day...I made it my mission to

CREATE MOVEMENT in my portraits.

Yes, I still get a few of her sitting pretty...

but compare this shot, which IS lovely...

to the vitality of this next shot:

Her dress and hair fluttering shows

MOVEMENT!

ACTION!

LIFE!

I actually look for clothing at thrift stores

that will MOVE.

When I found this yellow top...I KNEW it would flow

out like that when my subject jumped!

Seriously, the posed photo on the left is lovely...

but which one makes you stare and study every detail of the photo?

Which photo would you want hanging on your wall

because you would never get tired of looking at it???

Which one is ART and which is the snapshot?

I constantly challenge myself to

GO BEYOND THE SNAPSHOT!

Running is a great way to create movement.

Any motion in the clothing or hair

will bring life to a portrait.

I did this photo shoot with six-year-old Bella this winter.

  She was just standing in this photo, but

I asked her to swirl a bit to give her coat some movement.

It was cold outside, but I still took the time

to set my camera for shooting MOVEMENT.

This may seem complicated, but once you take the time to

learn and understand how to set your camera...you will

LOVE photographing with movement!

This is how to set your DSLR camera to shoot motion.

First, you MUST learn and understand how to use Focus Points on your camera.

This is different for every camera, so take the time to sit

with your manual and learn how to use focus points.  It will tremendously

 improve your portrait work. 

 I rarely have a portrait out of focus using Focus Points!

CORRECT FOCUS IS EVERYTHING IN

MOVEMENT PORTRAITS!

Next, set your camera's auto focus (AF) mode on Al-Servo. Read your

own camera manual to learn how to do this with your camera.

As you aim your focus point at your subject's face, Al Servo

will refocus continuously as the subject moves.

This is a great mode to shoot sports!

Next, set your Drive Mode to High Speed Continuous.

In this mode, you can hold your finger down on the shutter

and it will rapidly take a burst of multiple photos in a row.

You may be limited by the size of your memory card

or amount of battery left.

I use a 16 GB memory card.

Of course, set your camera for proper exposure, also.

With my camera set...I had Bella stand with her back towards me.

I placed myself where I could get all of her body in the shot.

I clicked halfway down and using my focus point, I

grabbed focus on her head then had Bella twirl around.

As she began to twirl, I held down on the shutter and multiple shots

were fired capturing a variety of moments in her twirl:

Not all of them will be worthy.  Sometimes, I have the

subject repeat the twirl or run several times.

I always check to see if I got any that I like.

I usually hold these "movement" shots until the end of my

portrait shoot because they do require lots of battery and space on your

memory card...especially if you're shooting in RAW as I always do!

If you are new to photography...I know this sounds a bit overwhelming.

But it's worth it to push yourself beyond your comfort zone

to learn this particular technique.

After you have practiced several times, you will understand

how to do it.

This is the technique that changed my portrait work DRAMATICALLY!

Another form of movement is natural facial expression.

In other words, NOT a pose at all...just capturing what

is naturally happening.

When Bella scooped up her kitty, I snapped away

because her natural love was glowing!

A great big, natural laugh is better than a posed smile.

I just ask the person to "Laugh as big as you can!"

Challenge yourself to go beyond the boring people shots

and create some MEMORABLE portraits

with movement and PIZAZZ!