Pointers for Pleasing Portraits

by: Bruce Stein
There are many aspects to consider when judging what comprises a great portrait.
 
First and most importantly, the photographer must have the patience to wait for a pleasing facial expression and the eye to recognize the right expression. Assuming you’ve mastered those aspects (I don’t have the patience).

The technical aspect that eludes most amateur photographers is the lighting and today I’ll give you an inexpensive tip that will greatly improve the quality of your portrait lighting.

Photo without a Diffuser

The non-diffused flash portrait has many bright or “hot” spots on his face, whereas the shot with the diffuser has a more even and softer lighting effect. Similar diffusers are available for the external flashes that are sold for most cameras.

Diffuser used with this photo

If you look at the two samples you’ll see a big difference in the uniformity and overall quality of the light on my son’s face which I achieved by using a $20 flash diffuser in front of the built-in flash on my Nikon camera.