Kied Photography

Portrait Hints

Dark clothing tends to slenderize

Darker clothing helps to blend the bodies with the background, so that the faces are the most important part of the photograph. Dark colors definitely tend to slenderize the subject. Light colors seem to add weight to the bodies.

The color of the clothing should always be toned down. Bright colors attract attention away from the face. Colors MUST be dark and not bright. This is ESSENTIAL! Prints and any kind of pattern, no matter how small, may become a distraction.

Avoid short sleeve clothing and short pants

Long sleeved clothing is a desired! For casual portraits it is equally important to wear long pants instead of shorts. When arms and legs are exposed to the camera there will be more flesh in the photograph in those areas than on the face itself. This is a major distraction.

White shirts and/or blouses under a dark jacket are perfect. A scarf loosely tied around the neck also helps to frame a face beautifully when a collarless blouse or sweater is worn. Neckties should definitely be toned down in color with a minimum of pattern.

Proper necklines for a portrait

The most flattering neckline for anyone is something that comes up close to the neck. A wide-open neckline tends to thicken the neck in a photograph. On the other hand, a neckline that comes up to the base of the neck- a turtleneck or a v-neck top is the most flattering. It tends to slim down the person and frames the face beautifully.

Finally, lay out all the clothing onto a bed. Shoes, socks, stockings - everything should be included…shoes too! Then, take a careful look at the collection. If your eye goes to any one item in particular, you can be certain that the same thing will happen in the photograph. That item should be changed.

Clothing should not be too tight or too loose. Clothing below the waistline should be darker than above. Otherwise, even light colored jeans worn below a darker top could easily attract attention to the lower part of the body and away from the face.

Hair style and makeup

Hair styles should be SIMPLE and MUST be off the face. Hair falling down onto the sides of the face (currently very much in style) creates distracting shadows. Bangs that come down too low onto the face will keep light from getting into the subject's eyes-the very most important part of the face. Eye makeup should be blended – no sharp demarcation lines between colors. AVOID WHITE above or below the eyes. It does not photograph well at all. Too much color above and below the eyes attracts attention to itself. It actually takes attention away from the eyes, rather than attracting the viewer to the eyes. Foundation makeup should be blended at the jaw line, so that there is no demarcation between the face and the neck

Glasses

Eye glasses may or may not be worn. Non-reflective lenses, of course, are a big help. Better yet, sometimes it’s possible to obtain a matching set of frames without any lenses. This is particularly helpful, if your lenses sometimes distort the outline of your face.