How to take good pictures of people

This is how to take good pictures of people. The first rule you should follow is the rule of thirds. When you are taking pictures of people, don't place their face in the middle of the frame unless you have a very good reason to do so. This is typically an amateur mistake that photographers make. Portrait photos look best when the subject is on the left third or the right third. If the person's face is close to the camera then it makes sense to place their face in the middle.

If you really want to take good pictures of people then make sure there are no distractions, like a tree, immediately behind your subject's head.

Lighting is so important. Make sure your subject's face is correctly lit from the front or side.

Get my free sample pack of Landscape Presets for Lightroom and Photoshop CC:

Join my TimsPhotos Academy Facebook group to learn more:

Get the $9.99 per month subscription for both Lightroom Classic CC and Photoshop CC:

The camera I use - Nikon D850

My favorite all-around lens I use for almost everything - Nikkor 24-70 f/2.8

My tripod head - Acratech Long Lens Head - part 1 of 2

My tripod head - Acratech Leveling Base - part 2 of 2

My tripod - Feisol CT3441T

D850 L Bracket

See my portfolio:

#portraitphotography #howtotakegoodpicturesofpeople #learnphotography

[Heaview]

That guy casually delivered the most excellent "customers journey" I ever saw.

He smashes our face telling we have a problem, he shows the solution, teaches it, gives us a feeling of "we need more of this knowledge", them he became a authority in the topic since he explained well and revealed his career, and gives us the solution to every problem with photos we had in his hands, throughout his book, which we believed he is capable of throughout the journey.

You not only a goddamn great photographer, that was 200 IQ Marketing move right there.

[greenalien]

Side note: knowing the rule is important but it can be broken. He mentioned to never have a face on the bottom third but sometimes it does create a great photo so don’t always feel needed to follow the rule.

[Chuby_ubesie]

Straight to the point, no stupid intros and useless talk. Thanks.

[raymondislazy]

Exception: your girlfriend and her friends ask for a photo to show off their cute outfits. In this instance, you throw all the rules out the window.

[Zekushido]

Another pro tips:
- Make sure if someone ask you to do portrait, you should take a literal portrait photos, not landscapes
- Make sure if you are in a tourist area, they tend to be want a full body shot and include the place point of interest. ( you could direct them to move in specific place, to make your composition works
- If they have a group session about 10 people or so, make sure to take landscape photos to increase fidelity
- If you are capturing sunset or sunrise moment, you could apply three point of light with the sun as the key light. You could also set the camera a bit to the side, so the lighting only cover 1/3 of the subject, to make it look cinematic
- You have three angle at disposal, which is high, eye level end low. You could try every one of them that fits the best
- Don't tilt the camera, cause not all people like it
- Most people like wide angle lens, so try to use it, if they have the lens
- Most of the time, Auto mode is just perfect, so you don't make them waits you to set the camera (excepts for night times, because some phones does not have a stable camera for night uses, so you could direct them to a well lit areas)
- Make sure to takes a lot of pictures, because more is good and helps eliminates bad pictures

[someguy]

This is essentially a $300 course on basic photography. For free. Amazing

[TimXMan]

1. Rule of thirds
put your subject on the top right or left third and have them face the direction with the most space in the photo.
2. Don't let the background intrude on your subject. (things behind their head)
3. Blurring out the background depth of field

[arvinnadimi]

All my friends and family needs to watch this

[fakjbf]

Another thing, make sure your subject doesn’t look naked. This is most common with women when they are wearing a strapless dress, if your portrait only captures their head and the tops of their bare shoulders then the brain is going to naturally assume that since it doesn’t see any clothes that must mean she isn’t wearing any. This can be distracting for the viewer, and to prevent it you just need to make sure that at least a little bit of the subject’s dress is in the frame so the viewer’s brain has something to extrapolate from.

[donkey]

Probably the best photo composition tutorial I've seen here in YouTube, any people with different nationalities can understand what he's saying as long as you know English. So simple and straight forward, thank you sir I've learned a lot.

Greetings from the Philippines🇵🇭

[ryn]

At 4:04, imagine a person being shot with 300mm lense with a f1.4 Aperture. That background would most probably get too blurry and look fake. But, ofcourse a person with those two things together will probably know how to take a photo.

[Marynicole]

I have always loved photography but have been intimidated by the technical aspect. You put this is ways most people can understand and the labeling of recipes kinda helps break these techniques down into a format most of us are familiar with, cooking.

Subscribed!

[TinyMiniPixel]

There's a great example of how to break the rule of third on Mr.Robot. They tend to place the subject facing outward instead of inward, and that brings a sort of tension and unsettling feeling to the scene.
Very cool stuff.

[Tilnaor]

compact but not short, easy but not simplified. Perfect

[davidgoncalvesalvarez]

I had a couple that basically asked for this. He said he didn’t want a shitty photo, he wanted them to be on the left and the landmark on the right. He didn’t want a portrait tho. I’ve wanted to dip my toes on photography for some time and this is a nice and useful video to start.

[CrushingPhotography]

Excellent video, Tim. For total beginners, it'll be VERY easy to understand and apply these tips. Myself I am more of an enthusiast and keep learning everyday, especially if it involves harder photo topics. Anyway, am now a subscriber, thanks for sharing useful info with us, Tim!

[Bez]

This is very helpful! I'm a painter, and listening to photography tutorials and similar really gets my creative juices flowing! I'm pretty good at composition, but I always walk away knowing a new technique or a new approach after each video like this. Thanks!

[DanielLorey]

This needs to be mandatory viewing when you get a phone/camera. We visited Chichén Itzá and asked someone to take a photo… ended up with cut off legs and about 40 miles of sky above us 😢

[Iluvatar]

I tell people around me about the rule of third but all they ever want to do is to be positioned center in the photo. They even specifically say please position me in the center, not in the left/right side. And they do it in every scene.

[TheOriginalFayari]

Single best composition guide I've ever watched. Simple to understand, quick to implement, helps not just with photos but also art.