Portrait Photography In-Depth Project

Creative portrait photography with the Fuji X-H1 - Fuji X Passion

Creative portrait photography with the Fuji X-H1

 

Welcome to my journey of portrait photography!

What is my In-depth Project?

The in-depth project I chose this year is portrait photography. During the time I get to work on this passion, I want to get a few things done. I first want to start by learning about my camera and the best settings/lenses. Then I would like to learn about lighting and how to make the model comfortable enough with me. Later, I would like to learn how to find the best poses for each individual and how to incorporate props into my photos. After learning these I hope that I could get some tips with editing my photos in lightroom.

 

Who is my mentor?

To lead me on my journey I have Mr. Ross as my mentor. He is the photography and yearbook teacher at Gleneagle secondary and has volunteered to help me learn portrait photography. I think that I can learn a lot from his years of experience with this chosen skill.

 

Why did I choose this In-depth project?

I chose portrait photography as my In-depth project because I already love photography, but I wanted to get better at portraits. I have worked on portraits before without any huge mentorship, but I don’t really know how to set up the camera and make things work just right. Not only do I want to work on camera settings, but I want to work on taking photos with a variety of individuals. This can make it so I can try out different styles that work with different people. With the help of Mr. Ross, I think that I can really improve this specific type of photography and hopefully get my best work.

 

When will this all take place?

I have not gone into full detail with my mentor but, I am going to try and meet with him at the very least once a week. This will most likely be online, with some occasional in-person meetings that follow Covid-19 protocols. I have made a rough timeline with everything that I would like to learn within the 5 months:

Learn about my camera with Mr. Ross (My dad can help me out a bit) 1st / 2nd week
Do some activities to practice with the camera 2nd / 3rd week
Lighting 4th week
Some practice with the skill 5th / 6th week
Poses / how to communicate with the model 7th / 8th / 9th week
Props 9th / 10th /11th week
Some practice with props/poses 11th / 12th / 13th week
Practice with everything together 14th / 15th /16th week
Learn Lightroom with Mr. Ross / Still take photos 17th / 18th /19th week
Edit photos / take less photos / sort photos 20th / 21st week

 

How am I going to pull this off?

I am going to be focusing on a few aspects of portrait photography. This will include, learning camera settings, lighting, poses/getting the model comfortable, props and if I have time, I want to learn some lightroom tricks to make my photos better. I think that the hardest part is going to be getting models during Covid-19. I may end up having to just take pictures of my family or I may be able to take photos of people with masks on which can give my photos a story. I am going to learn all of these with my mentor Mr. Ross, but if I have any confusion or need a little extra help, I have made a small list of resources where I can find most if not all the info I am trying to learn.

  1. Internet
  2. My dad’s photography magazines
  3. Social media accounts of professional photographers that give tips
  4. Books from the library
  5. YouTube videos
  6. Online workshops

What do I still need?

I think that I only need two things. Models and props. I think I may have props handled because my mentor said he had a wide selection I could possibly use. However, if I cant get there because of covid I might need to find some from my home. The models are a bit harder. I will try and get some friends by contacting them through social media. They will have to follow covid protocols. If covid gets worse I will photograph my family instead.

Some sources where I can get tips:

8 Portrait Photography Tips Every Photographer Should Know

10 Ways to Take Stunning Portraits

Wish me luck!