There is a saying which states that the eyes are the window to a person's soul. It is important to know how to handle people's eyes in portrait photography, as the way the eyes are represented in a photo can make or break the photo.

For example, Steve McCurry's Afghan Girl photo, which appeared on the cover of the June 1984 National Geographic Magazine, was named "the most recognised photograph" in the history of the magazine. This was primarily due to her piercing sea-green eyes, staring straight at the camera, resulting in a very striking and appealing portrait.



With portrait photography, it is important to ensure the eyes are in focus. This is particularly important if shooting with a large aperture, when the depth-of-focus is small.
A portrait with the eyes in focus will have more impact, will be more appealing, and the eyes will help draw the viewer into the image.

Samantha

Canon EOS 50D, 70-200mm f/4L @70mm, 1/640 sec, f/4, ISO200

To ensure your camera focuses on the eyes, configure it to use only one focus point, and compose the shot with this focus point on the eyes, half-press the shutter button to focus, and then re-compose and take the photo.

The Department of Environment and Conservation are using one of my photos (with permission) on a new sign at the Mangrove Bay bird-hide in the Cape Range National Park, near Exmouth, in the north-west of Western Australia.

The photo being used is a white-faced heron that I photographed at Sepentine Falls a few years ago.

If you're ever Mangrove Bay, be sure to check out the sign!

left half of the sign

right half of the sign

sign detail

Photos of the sign provided by the Department of Environment and Conservation, and used here with permission.

Here's a list of free resources to help you learn how to better pose people for portrait photography.

1. The Zeltsman Approach to Traditional Classic Portraiture
   Sixteen chapters containing lots of detailed information on evaluating the face, posing men and women, groups, children, and much more. Each chapter contains many photographs demonstrating the posing techniques being described.
   This is a great resource, but it'll take you a while to read through the entire guide!
   
   
2. The 1-2-3 Posing Technique
   This is just one section of the comprehensive Benji's Studio Lighting and Posing Tutorial, and looks at the 1-2-3 posing technique for females.
   
   
3. The Portrait Photographer
   This blog contains many valuable posts on many different aspects of posing for portraits, and is worth browsing through.
   
   
4. Portrait Photography Tips
   A list of 22 posts from Digital Photography School on portrait photography, including a number of articles on posing.
   
   
5. Portrait Photography's Power Posing Part I: The Components
   This post looks at the various components that need to be considered when posing people, including the hands, feet, arms, head and chin, etc, with some comments on how techniques that can be used for each component to achieve different results.
   
   
6. Portrait Photography's Power Posing - Part II: The Poses
   A follow-up post to the one listed above, this time looking at a few different poses.
   
   
7. Simple Posing Tips for Better People Pictures
   This page provides a list of recommendations about posing a subject to provide natural-looking poses.
   
   
8. Posing the Question
   A brief look at the impact of body language on portraits, and how it should be used to ensure the pose portrays the correct context.
   
   
9. Portrait Photography - Posing the Subject
   A useful list of suggestions on posing a subject's shoulders, head, eyes, hands and more.
   
   
10. Posing Samples
    An 18 page PDF containing hundreds of sample poses for an individual female, individual male, and a couple.

And finally, just a quick plug for Digital Photography School's The Essential Guide to Portrait Photography eBook. While it's not a free resource like the others listed above, this USD$19.95 eBook is a collection of great tutorials and articles looking at many different aspects of portrait photography, and includes many articles on posing.

Are there any other free resources on posing people for photography that I've missed?

My 10 year old son Ashley received a letter in the mail today, indicating he had won first prize in the "Plant and Animal Habitats" category for Years 4 to 7 of Chevron Australia's Focus Environment photography competition.

As can be expected, he was pretty excited about the win, and is looking forward to the presentation ceremony in October.

Here's his winning photo, taken in our back yard with one of my favourite lenses, the Canon 100mm f/2.8 macro lens:

explorative spider

photo by Ashley, aged 10

back yard, Western Australia
Canon EOS 350D, 100mm f/2.8 macro @100mm, 1/125 sec, f/11, ISO200

Update (19 October 2009): We attended a presentation evening on 15 October, where Ashley received a certificate, and a cheque for $200, as well as $1500 for his school.
All the winning photos from the 2009 competition have now been published on Chevron's website, and the winning entries for each of the categories can be seen on these pages:
        People and the Environment
        Nature's Moods
        Plant and Animal Habitats

The Spirit of Tasmania, have announced a photography competition open to photos taken in Tasmania. The Spirit of Tasmania is a boat which sales between Melbourne and Devonport (Tasmania) on a daily basis.
Note that the competition is only open to Australian residents, and only photos taken in Tasmania within the last five years are eligible. Each person can submit up to three photos into this competition.

The prize pool is valued at nearly AUD$9000, and includes several Canon 1000D DSLR cameras, a return journey on board Spirit of Tasmania for two adults, and a seven-night Tasmanian accommodation package.

Prize categories include:

• Judge's Choice Award: chosen by a panel of judges.
• Tasmania's Choice Award: awarded to the photo that receives the highest number of votes from Tasmanian voters.
• People's Choice Award: awarded to the photo that receives the highest number of votes from the remainder of Australian voters.
• Best Kid's Photo Award: chosen by a panel of judges.
• 'My Favourite Tassie Devil' Award: awarded to the best photo taken of you and a Tasmanian devil as chosen by a panel of judges.

A prize will also be awarded to one person who votes for the submitted photos.

Links for 'Capture the Spirit' competition:

• information about the competition
• competition entry page
• gallery of photos submitted
• terms and conditions (and also here)

Entries for this competition close on 30 November 2009, and judging will take place on 11 December, with winners being announced on 16 December.

Having written recently about Getting Your Kids Started In Photography, here's a list of reasons why you should get your kids into photography.

Ashley (my 10 year old son)
Mandurah foreshore, Western Australia


1. Encourage Creativity
   
   Photography encourages a child's creativity by making them think about colours, composition, framing, light, depth-of-field, etc. The creativity is not just limited to the photography either, but also extends to how the child uses the photos they take. For example, photos can be used by the children for scrapbooking, making bookmarks, making cards, etc.
   
   
2. Keep Them Entertained
   
   Photography has the potential to keep children occupied for many hours. This includes the action of taking the photos, as well as post-processing, learning more about photography by reading, etc.
   
   
3. Get Them Outdoors
   
   Today's children often spend too much time indoors, behind the tv / computer / game console. Outdoor photography provides another reason for them to enjoy the outdoors, both close-to-home in your back yard, and the greater outdoors, in parks, forest, etc.
   
   
4. Share Your Passion
   
   As you're reading this photography blog, I assume you have at least a passing interest in photography yourself. Getting your kids into photography allows you to share your passion with them, as well as sharing your photography gear with them.
   
   
5. Photography is a Great Social Activity
   
   Photography can be a great social event, particularly if there are multiple photographers in the family. I regularly take my two older children (aged 8 and 10) on photography outings.
   I also have taken my children on a number of photowalks with other friends and colleagues.
   
   
6. Capture Memories
   
   Photography allows children to capture their own memories from their own viewpoint of significant events, such as birthdays, family outings, holidays, etc. These photos can mean a lot more to the children than just the photos taken by a parent, as the children will often see different things to photograph, and will see them in a different way.
   
   
7. Potential Source of Income
   
   In the longer term, photography can potentially provide some income to the child, either via micro-stock agencies, print-on-demand prints (such as redbubble.com), or by taking photos of events and people and selling prints. As the children's photography prowess improves, there may be opportunities for doing family/group photos of friends and family, and possibly also weddings of friends and family.
   
   
8. Photography Doesn't Have To Be Expensive
   
   You don't need to spend a lot of money to start your children in photography. A cheap new or second-hand point-n-shoot camera is all that's needed to get started. With digital cameras, the on-going costs are minimal, as there's no film-developing costs.
   
   
9. Photography Requires Less Manual Dexterity than Other Visual Arts
   
   Compared to other visual arts such, as painting and sculpture, photography depends least on manual dexterity, making it ideal for kids of all ages.
   
   
10. Photography Has No Age Boundaries
    
    There are no age limits for starting photography. Children of any age can enjoy it.

Nicholas (my 5 year old son), Mandurah foreshore, Western Australia

Someone emailed this to me, and I thought it was quite appropriate, given the big focus on Santa and gift-giving at this time of the year, with many people forgetting the true meaning of Christmas.

I believe this poem was originally penned by Rev James Spellman of Ohio (ref).

Having recently written about getting your kids started in photography, I decided to sit down with my 10 year old son Ashley, and my 8 year old daughter Michelle, and get some feedback from them about their thoughts on photography.
Here are the results.


Q. How long have you been taking photos?

10yo: Err...I don't know...from when I was about six or seven.

8yo: About two and a half years or something, when I was about six.


Q. How did you learn how to take photos?

10yo: My dad told me how to, and I just tried.

8yo: Dad taught me. He taught me how to hold the camera still, how to focus, and how to press the button.


Q. How complex was the first camera that you used?

10yo: I just needed to get used to it, and then it was pretty easy. Then other similar cameras are pretty easy to use.

8yo: It was pretty simple.

With technology continually advancing, digital cameras are becoming cheaper, with manufacturers packing more powerful electronics into smaller and cheaper cameras. I think it's fair to say that most households in western society would own one or more digital cameras.

Digital photography is great for children, because the ongoing costs are very low, compared to the costs of buying and processing film. When using a digital camera, children also get instant feedback, as they're able to see the photo they've just take on the LCD screen on the back of the camera.

Point Peron, Rockingham, Western Australia

I introduced my children to photography at a fairly young age, and in this post, I want to share some ideas and suggestions for getting your children into photography.

I recently received an email from a photo researcher, on behalf of her client, a book publishing company, requesting use of one of my photos ("Numbat" - shown below) for inclusion in a college textbook.

The email included some details on how the image would be used (1/4 page), the size of the print run (40,000 copies), and the distribution of the book (US and Canada), and requested details of my reproduction rights for the photo, indicating that if they were approved, I could then submit an invoice.

As I've had similar requests in the past, I responded with details of the reproduction rights, as well as a price for the use of the requested photo.

The conditions I specified, including the price, were considered acceptable, the photo researcher then requested an invoice, payment was arranged, and I provided a high-resolution copy of the photo.

I suspect the photo researcher found my photo in my photo gallery while searching the internet for suitable photos.



Selling photos in this way can be as easy as described above. You just need to publish your photos on the web, either on any of the many photo-sharing websites, a social networking site, or in your own photo gallery on your website. Tagged each image with appropriate keywords, and an appropriate description, to ensure search engines will know the context of the photo, and can direct appropriate visitors to your photos.

It's important to point out that you need to make sure your contact details are easy to find, else a prospective buyer will not be able to contact you to purchase a photo!