Got any photography questions?

Thanks for sharing!

For black backdrops I use a fabric that is a bit like a thick lycra/knitted fabric. You want a fabric that doesn't wrinkle and doesn't catch too much dust.

As long as you sit the subject a little in front and focus on the face (in particularly the eyes!) You shouldn't have too much problem with the background.
I do occasionally edit and darken the background if it is still a bit grainy.

I try and make sure I take all my photos with natural light. Avoiding direct sunlight on the face.

If I have to take a photo at night and use the flash I like to hold a plain white piece of paper over the flash to diffuse the light, and will often have to tweak the colour once on my computer.

I agree with the face to 3/4 and I always try to keep at eye level. Saying that I will occasionally sit slightly higher and get them to look up to avoid wrinkles under the eyes and extra necks. You can play around with how you have the model sitting quite a bit. You can change the facial position for the mood of the painting, so if you are wanting a more 'fierce' photo I get them to put their head down a wee bit and look up at me with just their eyes.

Thanks Seahorse for the offer! I do have a photography question. My "studio" is in my basement and I do not have access to natural light source as I have no windows there. What would you recommend for lighting (eg spotlight) to simulate daylight? When I just take the shade off a lamp for extra light my faces turn out yellowish. I have a basic Sureshot digital camera. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Hello...When taking photos outside, how do you blur out / soften the background to have the photo stands out.

Aprilmayjune- I would suggest getting a daylight balanced bulb in the highest wattage you can get (usually about 100-120, just make sure whatever lamp you put it in will handle it) Different light sources have different color temperatures. Florescents are cool, your pictures will look blue under them. Most regular lightbulbs are warm and give off that yellow color. To soften it up oif you can find a chinese paper lantern to go over the bulb you'll have a softer shadow without loosing a lot of light.

nicole-the technical term for that is bokeh and a good portrait photographer spends a lot of time trying to master it. the blurry background is pretty hard to do consistently with a point and shoot. They are programmed to get as much in focus as possible. I have the best luck with my p&s by zooming in as far as the lens will go (optical zoom, not digital zoom), getting close to my subject so they fill most of the frame and making sure the backdrop/ground is as far away as possible. i get the yummiest bokeh w/ my 70-200 zoom lens but i doubt you'll be throwning down $1500 on something like that anytime soon. And you thought face paint was expensive

Welcome to the forum and thanks for the kind offer of information and your advice for everyone.

Your welcome. It's the least I can do

Nicole @ Face-a-Rama wrote:Hello...When taking photos outside, how do you blur out / soften the background to have the photo stands out.

Another option which works really well when using a basic digital camera is shooting in Macro mode... its the only mode I ever used to use when taking photos and it always gave me the lovely soft background and kept the main focal point nice and sharp.

Ok, I have a question... How do I use my camera?

I have a fancy one.. and it has M AV TV P ....and a bunch of other stuff. How do I use those? lol

I just use auto

its a canon rebel eos t3

I'd find a photo class through your city or county rec program. Or community college.

Get your hands on the book "Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson. Buy it, Love it. Take notes and practice.

Go through your manual one page at a time and take pictures.

Its just like face painting- you're not going to understand it without doing it over and over and over...

I HAVE A QUESTION!!!!!!!!!!

I have a NIKON d3someting so when I zoom in (not using the lense but like if I was using a digital side) I take a picture & when I see it, its not zoomed!!! What am I doing wrongs?
Thank u in advance for ur generosity

Hi Seahorse,
Thank you for sharing you knowledge. Others have already asked some interesting questions so I don't have a question right now, but I will keep this threat in mind for when I do.