The Rule of Thirds Applied In Portraiture

The rule of thirds may be the most popular composition rule in photography. Very often though, this rule is attributed to landscapes. However, if applied to portraiture, this rule substantially improve the aesthetics of the image.

What is the rule of third? This can sound a little tricky to the uninitiated so let me delve on it a little.. Here are three simple steps on how to apply the rule.

1. Divide your entire frame into three equal parts vertically, and three equal parts horizontally. Remember where those imaginary dividing lines lie and where they meet (red dots).

2. Identify the main subject of interest in the image you are trying to capture. I call this main subject of interest as center of visual impact. This is the core of the image… the main story.

3. Position your main subject of interest as close as possible to where the imaginary lines meet, where the imaginary red dots are.

In portraiture, the main subject of interest or the center of visual impact is usually the face of the person being photographed. If the photo is taken close enough, the main

subject of interest is focused further to the eyes.

Noticed how the face of the person being photographed in the image above is being placed as close as possible to where one of the red dots are supposed to be. This is how the Rule of Thirds is being applied.

Presented below are samples of how this rule have is being observed.

Perhaps you can imagine how these images will look like if they were taken differently. The best way to understand and learn this rule is to go out and take some portraits, first by the usual way you've been taking your photos, then take more clicks by consciously observing this rule and compare your outputs afterwards. Notice how much the "story" of your photos is improved by observing this simple rule.

Happy shooting!

10 Tips Setting up an Outdoor Portraiture

Here are some tips on how to get yourself set for an outdoor portraiture photo session. I use this and memorize this list that it has gone down as a mental checklist to me.

1. Come prepared. Needless to say this but sometimes even those who have been into photography for a while tends to forget . Ready your gears at least an hour before going to the shoot. See to it that your batteries are loaded and your memory cards empty. Clean your trusted lens for portraiture as well as your camera. A prime lens with shallow depth of field (f/1.8 or f/2.8) would be ideal for this task. To beginners, I would strongly recommend you get a 50mm f/1.8. This is one amazing lens that's worth every cent. Don't forget also to bring your reflectors…. and small lights or flash if you are fond of using them.

2. Coordinate. Talk to your clients before the shoot. Discuss with him/her the general theme of the shoot and the clothes and props that will fit the location. This is the best point to establish a good rapport with your subject and to gain his or her trust. Let him/her feel that you know what you are doing. If you don't, don't give away any hint.

3. Wear Dark. Often you will see yourself imaged in the eyes of your subject. It is best that you appear in silhouette rather than in fancy colorful clothes.

4. Come early. By coming a few minutes early to the location, you will be able to scan the venue for best spots to take portraits. Look for patterns and lines. Examine also the lighting condition of the location. Shadows can help improve the impact of your image if used properly, so consider it when looking for spots.

5. Wear your best mood. Keep a friendly atmosphere between you and your subject. Keep him/her feel comfortable. This will help a lot in the output of the shoot. If you drive your subject out of mood early on, the entire shoot will be a disaster and you will not be able to recover it during the shoot duration. And no matter who's at fault, the output of the shoot will always be your responsibility.

6. Bring extra hands. It is always desirable in the shoot to tag along someone who can assist in setting up stuff, clearing the spot of the shoot, holding reflectors and running errands when necessary.

7. Go Natural. Use natural light as much as possible using only reflector or reflectors to fill in lights where needed. This keeps the drama of the scenery on the image. This also lessens the stress on the subject caused by delays in light set up, metering and trial shots. This gives a continuity to the shoot keeping the subject 'IN' the shoot all the time.

8. Review composition basics. Even you have been doing the shoot several times, looking back at your notes on composition basics brings into surface a lot of ideas you have not thought of before. This pumps up the flow of your creative juices which will keep on coming during the session itself.

9. Capture RAW. It always pay to shoot RAW. With the amount of information you can control in post processing, this will save a lot of images which could otherwise be wasted if it was taken in JPEG.

10. Have fun. People are beautiful. Have fun taking photos and interacting with your subject. Be real and honest and then go home with photos, money and -- who knows -- some well meaning friends.

Upcoming Workshops

Schedule of Courses

MAY 2011

Introduction to Digital Photography

This is a basic photography course that's truly basic. This is a course that will help you make sense of the the functions and settings of your camera. This will give you the confidence of shooting outside the program or auto modes and incorporate more of your creativity in your images.

It is a light course with enough activities to support the concepts being introduced. The first day is mostly a mix of lecture and hands-on application of the topics. The second day is part portraiture photo shoot and part discussion and evaluation of the outputs of the participants.

May 7-8, 2011 - Introduction to Digital Photography (GenSan City)
Venue : Amandari Cove, Mabuhay Road
Registration Fee : P2,500

May 14-15, 2011 - Portraiture Weekend : Photoshoot + Photoshop (GenSan City)

Venue : Amandari Cove, Mabuhay Road
Registraiton fee : P2, 800.00

May 28-29, 2011 -Introduction to Digital Photography (GenSan City)
Venue : Del Rio Water Splash Resort
Registration Fee : P2,500

June 4&5, 2011 - Introduction to Digital Photography - DAVAO CITY

Venue : To be announce at a later date

Registration Fee : P2,800.00

PORTRAITURE WEEKEND : Photoshoot + Photoshop

This course focuses on creating impressive portraiture images. The session will open with a review on the basics of image capturing -- the exposure triangle, white balance setting, etc. This will be followed by a discussion on basics on use of light -- both artificial and natural -- and the fundamentals of setting up your subject for a portrait shoot. This will also tackle the guidelines on portraiture and the basics on posing.

Morning discussions will be followed by a photo shoot session with model. Output of the shoot will be used for the next part which will be on post processing.

The second day will be an Introduction to Post Processing of portrait photos. Different post processing softwares will be introduced with emphasis on the use of Photoshop CS (at least CS3). Post processing topics will include, among others, color adjustment and enhancement, sharpening, use of layers, exposure adjustment, white balance correction, cropping and retouching to remove unwanted hair strands and blemishes. The session will close with an evaluation and discussion of the participants outputs.

May 14-15, 2011 - Portraiture Weekend : Photoshoot + Photoshop - GENSAN

Venue : Amandari Cove, Mabuhay Road

Registraiton fee : P3, 500.00 (Previous participants to other courses to pay only P 2,800.00)

Payment Details :

Pay through any BPI Branch
Account Name : Erwin D Altares
Account Number : 3029 0374 84
Account Type : Savings

For other inquiries.

Text or call ED Altares.
CP 0920 908 5332
Or Email at edaltares@gmail.com

or Marx Talacan

CP 0920 506 9300

Previous Participants' Comments

Previous participants made the following comments about this workshop :

"

I really appreciate your down-to-earth seminar approach. What would otherwise be too technical were explained in simple and no-frills language." - Atty Noy Rojas

"The Exposure Triangle. Aperture, ISO, Shutter speed were presented in a NOT-INTIMIDATING manner. We were given examples and tips but just enough for starters....

All in all it was a very refreshing experience and I'm glad I attended the workshop." - Ms. Junette Hortado

"E.D. Altares Photography rocks!" - Jay Mariano

Basic Photography Workshop QC

Basic Photography Workshop QC

March 26 & 27, 2011

2nd Floor PHESCO Building

Quezon Avenue, Quezon City

Day 1 8am to 5pm

Introduction to Photography

Photography Terminologies

Camera and Accessories

Basic Camera Settings and Functions

Exposure Control : The Light Triangle

(ISO, Aperture and Shutter Speed)

Aperture and Depth of Field

Slow Shutter and Low Light Photography

Introduction to Composition

Workshop on Still Life Photography

(Concepts Application)

Homework :

Low light and Still Life photos

Day 2

AM 8 am to 12 pm

Basic Protraiture with Model Shoot

Outdoor (Location :TBA)

PM 2pm to 6 pm

Critique and Open Forum

Mini competition with prizes

> Still Life

> Portraiture

> Slow Shutter

Fee : Php 2,500.00 | LIMITED SLOTS

DSLR Required

50% for slot reservation

50% 3 days before the Workshop

Early Birds : Less 200.00 Paying in full on or before March 18, 2011

Pay through any BPI Branch

Account Name : Erwin D Altares

Account Number : 3029 0374 84

Account Type : Savings

Please text me as soon as you have made any deposit.

For inquiries.

Text or call ED Altares.

CP 0920 908 5332

Or Email at edaltares@gmail.com

1. For reservation, 50% downpayment is required.

2. The D/P is non-refundable within 5 days prior to date of workshop.

3. Registration must be paid in full, 3 days before the date of workshop, otherwise slot will be given to the wait listed participants.

Registration Fee includes:

1. Workshop Fee

2. Instruction Material

3. 4 Sets of Snacks

4. Printing of photos for critique session

5 .Certificate of Attendance

Basic Photography Workshop 2

Workshop on Basic Photography
March 5 & 6, 2011
Amandari Cove,
General Santos City

The workshop turned out a huge success. I am so happy and grateful for everyone who attended - participants, models, visitors and co-organizers.

This workshop was participated by 24 in

dividuals with various backgrounds and of different age levels. We have so

me students in the group, some are businessmen and entrepreneurs. There are also a some civil servants and

privately hired professionals. This group also has a lawyer who's getting into photography as a means of relaxing himself from the burdens of everyday tasks. Amazingly, many of the participants in this workshop got only their DSLR with in the past 60 days.

Following the same format I had in the first workshop, me and my co-organizer, Edmar Talacan, made it a point that we are able to close the gaps that we had previously. We added 2 more models in the workshop from the original 3 so as to give participants more opportunity to

practice on portraiture. We also prepared more

materials for still life photography session

which was really enjoyed by the participants.

We had two challenges for this workshop. The first one was that there's also another workshop on basic photography that was held on the same date organized by GenSan Camera Club. I do not know what twist of fate had happened that our schedules fell on the same date. Me and my partner had earlier worries that we will have lesser participants on this workshop since our registration fee is higher that that of the other. I should thank the participants of the prior workshop for really backing us up here and helping us promote this event. With 24 participants coming, this told me

that I did a descent job on the prior workshop and that my partner and friends are helpi

ng me promote this one.

The other challenge that we encountered was the power outage during the second day. I would like to express my deepest gratitude yet again to the management of Amandari Cove for making our stay as comfortable as possible -- with or without electricity.

The participants to this workshop are Adelfa Santillan Arca; Amerah Polog Mamongcara; Anwar Salvador; Arnel Labao; Remigio P Rojas; Bryan Garcia; Glory Del Cadano; Cherry Faith V Aboro; Cheryl F. Torralba; Cleng Monuz; Danielle Franco; Gerome Patrick Odango; Joanna Genoviva Lorenzo; Johanne Lu; Jose Gabriel Francisco; Joseph B Arguelles; Jostin Vega; Raul F Miramon Jr; Karen Aimee Payunan; Laarni M. Asa; Faustino Anos; Randy Cabangbang; Reynaldo M. Farrofo Jr; Samer Paporo.

Thanks to all the participants, to our models -- Ms Caroline Lim, Ms Hanyline Nono, Ms Christine Taporoc, Ms Frances Gonzales and Mr Genel Labiana, our HMUA - Fele Pareno, to Mr Darvin Cajuaro for the visit, to Mr. Ricky Almanzor and all his staff at Amandari Cove, to my project partner -- Marx Talacan -- and to The Great and Majestic God in the heavens.

Participants' Feedback BPW1

Here are some comments from the participants on Workshop on Basic Photography 1 that I was able to gather from Facebook. Some comments I was not able to note immediately. Kindly click on the image for a better view.

Basic Photography Workshop 2

March 5 & 6, 2011

Amandari Cove

Mabuhay Road,

Gen Santos City

Day 1 8am to 4pm
Introduction to Photography
Photography Terminologies
Camera and Accessories
Basic Camera Settings and Functions
Exposure Control : The Light Triangle
(ISO, Aperture and Shutter Speed)
Introduction to Composition
Aperture and Depth of Field
Slow Shutter and Low Light Photography

Homework :
Low light and Still Life photos

Day 2
AM 8 am to 12 pm
Basic Protraiture with Model Shoot

PM 5pm to 9 pm
Critique and Open Forum
Mini competition with prizes

Fee : Php 2,500.00 inclusive of
2 Meals and 4 Snacks
LIMITED SLOTS

DSLR Required

50% for slot reservation
50% 3 days before the Workshop
Early Birds : Less 200.00 Paying in full before February 18, 2011

For payment details and other inquiries.

Text or call ED Altares.
CP 0920 908 5332

or Marx Talacan
C.P. 0920 506 9300

1. For reservation, 50% downpayment is required.
2. The D/P is non-refundable within 5 days prior to seminar/workshop.
3. Registration must be paid in full, 3 days before the seminar, otherwise slot will be given to the wait listed participants.

Generally, your 2 days (Saturday & Sunday) workshop fee includes:
1. Instruction Material
2. 4 snacks and 2 meals
3. Printing of photos for critique
4 .Certificate of Attendance

Basic Photography Workshop 1

January 29 & 30, 2011

Amandari Cove

Mabuhay Road,

Gen Santos City

I held my first Workshop on Basic Photography in GenSan last January 29 and 30, 2011 at Amandari Cove. This is mainly due to the encouragement of a former colleague, Edmar Talacan. I reconnected with Edmar mid of November last year. With our new shared passion for photography, we sensed that there's a need for inputs in the locality for basic concepts in photography. For the previous months, most of those workshops held were rather on advance topics like portraiture, lights and post processing but not much on the fundamentals. Edmar encouraged me to hold a workshop with the commitment to gather participants. I spent several years in the academe myself so teaching is not a new field to me. The fact is that when the use of computers was still new in the city and when the people educated in the use of the technology was still limited to a few, was already teaching Lotus 123, WordStar and DBase III+ in a vocational school which by that time was a hit. I was then a 17 year old kid teaching computers to people twice or thrice as old as I was. And with this new opportunity to be in the position again of sharing my knowledge, I felt elated and excited.

The workshop turned out successful although with little glitches along the way. It was attended by 19 participants with different backgrounds and age brackets. Some had owned their DSLR for quite a while already while other got hold only of their units in the past couple of months.

I tried to keep the workshop as light but as informative as possible. I kept the topics to the bare basics with the intention of giving the participants a true introductory course into photography. I prepared activities that will supplement the inputs I gave with the aim that the participants go home being able to put into application the learnings that they get. Part of the workshop was a session on still life photography in the afternoon of the first day and a session on portrait photography on the morning of the second day.

Amandari Cove provided a very fitted venue for what I wanted to achieve during the workshop. The management gave us enough space to work on and for that I will be forever grateful to Mr. Ricky Almanzor and all his staff -- specially Nina -- at Amandari Cove.

It's also worth noting that other than the accommodation, they also provided us with delicious meals and snacks abundant enough for our appetite.

The response we got from the participants was very humbling. The produced outputs that surpassed all expectations. We also got inquiries after the workshop as to our next schedule so that we are considering.

With the aim of sharing the passion for photography, the participants decided to bond together and for a group. With the leadership of Edmar Talacan, the PixLit Photographers' Society was born.

Participants to the said workshop are

Arapoc, Princess; Arellano, Kimberly; Balayo, Jo Barrie; Campaner, Gabriel; Cuevas, Bon Jon; Del Anno, Fritz; Dolor, John David; Doronilla, Rogen; Edjic, Mary Roxette; Gil, Elizabeth Palma; Kintanar, Jeffrey Luy, Peter; Mariano, Jay R; Mutia, McDonnil; Nebran, Erick Gerald; Pascual, Alma Sid; Salubre, Jerwin Trabado, RD; ~, Francis

I am now arranging future schedule of workshops for those who are already making inquiries.