Amateur Photographer – 13 July 2019

24 13 July 2019 I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk I subscribe 0330 333 1113

KIT LIST

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ALL PICTURES ON THIS PAGE © CL AIRE GILLO

Clothing

Clothing, hair and make-up

are all big considerations

to take into account when

planning a portrait shoot.

Carry a number of outfi ts

so you can experiment

and match your subject’s

outfi t to the setting. In this

instance the ruffl ed skirt

mimics the grey rocks.

Touches like this give your

images that extra depth.

Technique PORTRAIT TIPS

Claire Gillo

Claire Gillo is AP’s acting technique editor,

a freelance writer, and a photographer based

in Devon. During the past decade she has

worked across a number of photography

magazines. Find out more about her work

at http://www.clairegillo.com.

Action portraits

Claire Gillo shows you how to freeze

a ballerina in action using minimal kit

The

Photographer’s

Ephemeris app

This is my first port of call for

any location photoshoot. The

Photographer’s Ephemeris app

enables me to plan for the

light direction and sunrise

and sunset times.

Go wide

Portraiture and wideangle don’t often get

mentioned in the same sentence, but I have

a very old 15-35mm Sigma lens,

which I love and perfect for

this approach. Technically the

lens is flawed (the corners

vignette), but I find the effect

a good characteristic.

Food and drink

When out on location, it’s vital

to take supplies. If it’s a hot

day pack plenty of water; if

it’s cold, a flask of tea and

some biscuits will prove to

be popular with your model.

You’ll need to keep energy

levels up so they perform well.

Dance with the setting

One of the key elements to shooting portraits on location

is getting the right location. Be prepared to do some

research, recces and forward planning so when the

conditions are right you can just jump (excuse the pun)

right into it. For this shoot we headed down to an isolated

beach in Devon, and had it to ourselves. It would have

been a real pain to clone people out of the background.

Using the light

I got asked if this image had been taken using fl ash

and the answer is ‘no’! Using the natural sunlight

as it begins to soften and drop in the sky creates

amazing opportunities for striking portraits. The

shadows cast over one side of the dancer’s body

create a more sculptural look.

Timed to perfection

With action portraiture it’s tricky to capture the

optimum moment, so I set my camera up to make

the job easier. First I put my focus setting to the

tracking feature, then the camera into the burst

mode (for the jumps, this is vital) and always count

the model in to the jumps. Take a test shot before

they start any movement to check light direction,

exposure and overall effect. Don’t be afraid to keep

your model waiting while you perfect these aspects,

because if you have something like the exposure or

light direction wrong you won’t have a usable image.

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