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.