Equipment Essential For Portrait Photography

Portrait photography is fun and not as tough as many new photographers thought. All you need is to learn how to engage your subjects, get the correct equipment and most importantly lots of practice.

Basic photography fundamentals like "Rule of Third", "Depth of Field", etc are still applicable and important when taking portraits. Therefore it is crucial that you have a good foundation of basic photography in order to produce results like a professional.

There is some what I deem as essential photography equipment when it comes to taking portraits. Items like fast lenses, reflector and external flash gun are important and necessary for me to capture good portraits that clients and I can be proud of.

When taking portraits, many photographers like the subject to be sharp with the background being out of focus. This is commonly known as shallow depth of field (DoF) effect and it can be easily achieved by shooting with a wide aperture.

With the help of fast lenses, you are able to achieve shallow DoF effect. The most commonly used ones for portraits are 50mm f/1.8 and 85mm f/1.8. They deliver great results and will not burn a big hole in your pockets.

You may find a reflector helpful under certain conditions to balance the light, filling in the shadows on your subject. A reflector is relatively inexpensive and easy to carry around due to its light weight. You may wish to use the golden side of the reflector to achieve a "warm" finish for your portraits.

External flash gun in my opinion is a very important piece of kit for portrait photography. Pop-up or built-in flash has limited power and flexibility to acquire good shots of your subject. Therefore an external flash gun is very crucial if you are really keen and serious into portrait photography. Of course you may wish to purchase studio lighting kits if budget is not an issue.

There are many different techniques and ways you can adopt when using external flash gun to achieve great different results. Off-shoe mount is a popular technique used for portraits, which can deliver amazing results up to your creativity!