Some tips to keep in mind

Change your perspective Play with eye contact Vary the placement of your subject Take a series of shots Fill the frame Use Lighting in unique ways

Most portraits are taken at eye level Change your perspective for a unique twist

Most portraits are taken with the subject facing forward Have the subject focus on something off-camera to create interest

Change where the subject appears in the frame Can be full-frame On the edge of the frame Or even cut off part of the subject’s head in the frame Leaves something to the imagination And focuses attention on parts of your subject that you want to be focused upon

Use “continuous shooting” mode and fire off more than one shot at a time. Create a series of images that could be presented together instead of just one static image.

One way to ensure that your subject captures the attention of the viewer of your portrait is to fill the frame with their face. It’s not something that you’d do in every shot that you take

If your subject is the only feature in the shot - there’s really nowhere else to look.

Some ideas to consider

Dennis Maitland has a unique take on the self- portrait He uses aerial views of Detroit to showcase his self-portraits It combines a birds-eye view and parts of him

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Use light to create an interesting portrait: Side lit Portraits Black backgrounds White backgrounds

Take a series of portraits to experiment Take a picture for each of the following portrait components: Perspective Eye Contact Subject placement Series of shots Fill the Frame Self-portrait Unique Lighting Side lit Portrait Use a White or Black background and play around with lighting