Photography Blog

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Sometimes it can be difficult to create a family portrait that is unique or different. The standard portrait with the family standing in front of some fake, fabricated scene can feel drab and boring. Taking the photo yourself may be impossible, and you probably don’t have a professional photographer in the family. The following are a few ideas for some unique and meaningful family portraits that could easily become a family heirloom for many years to come.

Add a Pet Portrait to the Family Photo Wall



When putting together a family portrait wall filled with individual photos of members of the family, don’t forget to include the member of the family who often goes overlooked – the family pet! While taking a photo yourself, framing it, and putting it up on the wall will do the trick – nothing is quite as eye-catching as a painted portrait created of your much-loved family pet. This is becoming a very popular method of capturing the character and personality of the family pet in a format that is often breathtaking.

You can find the best style of pet portraits from Nikky Hughes of Los Angeles. The great thing about these pet portraits is that they can be done from a photograph – so it is possible to purchase artwork like this from skilled artists like Nikky regardless of distance.

Nikky was classically trained at the Mission Renaissance art school. Her art is soft and romantic – with a dreamy quality to them. They are lifelike and impressive representations of everything that makes a pet beautiful in the eyes of its owner. The aspect of her paintings that truly make Nikky’s art stand out from the crowd is the setting in which she places the animals. The surroundings are sometimes whimsical, other times wonderfully surreal, but always intriguing. Nikky’s art represents the work of a rising artist, so purchasing one of these portraits would be an excellent investment, and a wonderful addition to your home décor.



Make a Video Family Portrait

If you, or someone in the family, are somewhat savvy with the digital camcorder – creating a family video may be an option. Digital recording technology has advanced to the point where regular folks can generate some impressive movie content. Additionally, video editing software has made it so that anyone with even general computer knowledge can create some of the most intricate movies – complete with video, audio, and voiceover streams that would impress even amateur movie-makers.

There are also a number of video professionals, such as teleportraits.com who can capture memories and testimonials from your family that can become a timeless record of the personalities and memories for many years. A professional videographer will typically record all of the raw video, edit all of the video and produce a high quality DVD for you that you can enjoy anytime you choose, or at events such as family gatherings. Using video is one of the most fascinating and non-conventional ways to create a family portrait.

Have an Outdoor Portrait Done



If you are going to have a standard photo portrait done of the family, the best option to create an authentic and inspirational photo is to use a natural background outdoors. If you don’t live in a place where there is a large backyard, then have the photo taken at a park where a beautiful backdrop of a field, lake, or if you are lucky enough, a mountain. Sometimes other outdoor settings can work very well, such as a city skyline or the large span of an architecturally beautiful bridge. The possibilities are endless, but if standard photo portraits are preferred, natural backdrops can turn a boring photo into an exciting one.

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A portrait basically represents a painting, photograph, sculpture or any other artistic representation of a person, where the face and its expressions predominant. Through it the likeness, personality and mood of the person is expressed. The history of portrait trails behind to Egyptian culture where the portraits were made of funeral rather than kings or emperors. It flourished during the Roman culture. Later canvas of elite kings, priests, warriors and even distinguished artisans were made representing several stages of their lives. One of the most renowned paintings worldwide is of Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci and Picasso’s The Old Guitarist.

Portrait Photography

With the dawn of photography, the face of portrait has changed massively. Photography came into existence since the 19th century. And it revolutionized the oil painting phase. It became comparatively inexpensive and time saving affair. With just 30 sec. exposure time, and better quality output as compare to canvas painting, it soon became mass appeal. Trends have changed a lot since and we are into a new phase of commission portrait where recreation of the photograph into canvas is done with same perseverance of the essence of the original photo. Portrait photography has become a popular commercial industry all over the world nowadays. Many people want professional made family portraits to hang in their homes, or special photos to honor special events as weddings and graduation etc.

Techniques for Portrait Photography

•    Quality of lighting has major impact on final output of photograph with respect to quality. Good lighting leads to proper visibility of the subject. The better the visibility the clearer the photograph.

•    The subject backdrop is equally relevant in context to lighting. Contrast backdrop colour is essential for good output of the image. There are three types of lighting namely key lighting, fill lighting and hair lighting. The key light is the main light for the subject. The fill light fills in shadow appearing on the subject’s face caused by key lighting. Hair lighting illuminates the subject from above so that it visually distinguishes the subject from the backdrop.

Advantages of Photography over Painting

Portraits made in canvas are no doubt a prized collection. But they are yet not common man’s cup of tea. Canvas paintings are tough to preserve for long time. And they are very expensive with respect to money and time. In case of portrait photography, hardly thirty seconds are required to capture the precious moments. They are printed on paper so need less storage capacity. They don’t need extra precautions for their perseverance. They have longer life, cheaper and better with respect to output. And the best thing about it is that even an amateur can handle it, yielding comparatively good result.