There are few people who haven’t done even the most basic portrait photography. How is that possible? Because every camera owner usually ends up taking a group photograph, or capturing a friend or family member in a “picture”, meaning they have taken a portrait. The differences between such casual images and formal portrait photography may seem numerous, but in fact are really only a matter of setting and attention to detail.

Excellent formal portrait photography can be done on even the most basic consumer camera equipment, even an everyday “point and click”, if the scene is composed and well-lit. How do you compose and light a portrait photograph? If the image is intended to be a “standard” portrait, the frame must focus on the person, or persons, in the photograph. Most photographers aim for eighty percent of the scene to be the actual subject, with the remainder as the background.

Some formal portrait photography is done in front of a painted backdrop, but other portraits are taken with a shallow depth of field, which requires the aperture of the lens or the “f-stop” be at a wider setting (lower number). The shallow depth of field actually blurs the background, but must be used carefully to avoid producing a portrait image which accentuates certain areas of the face of the subject while allowing others to become blurred as well.

Most professional photographers use a telephoto lens for their portrait images, traditionally an 80mm to a 110mm lens. For owners of automatic digital cameras, there are two choices – the portrait setting on the camera or the manual settings which allow the aperture and focus to be set by hand.

Regardless of the type of camera, the photographer will need to work at capturing their subject in the most flattering manner possible, and often this requires work with the lighting of the scene. Bright, unfiltered lighting can eliminate under eye circles or flaws in the appearance of the subject, but it can also wash out the color of their complexion, this is the reason that balanced lighting is so critical to a good portrait.

Studio photographers usually use a combination of diffused or reflected light sources as well as one or two direct lights which eliminate shadows in the scene. An amateur photographer is able to create equally good lighting effects using a hand-held flash or a flash gun which can flood a room with light, without pointing directly at the subject.

Balancing the composition and lighting it in a balanced and flattering manner are the two best ways of ensuring professional results in even the most casual portrait photograph.

Amy Renfrey writes a bi-weekly/occasional article for The Corner Blog. Amy is a digital photographer, a photography teacher, and author of the popular Digital Photography Success package as well as her ebook Powerful Landscape Photography. For more information, or to purchase her Photography Package, visit her site: Digital Photography Success and Powerful Landscape Photography. Amy also publishes a monthly photography ezine called Focus eMagazine which includes dozen of articles and tutorials, as well as hours of video each month. Click here to find out more and subscribe to Focus eMagazine.