For better portraits, be your own art director By Alfred DeBat When you see professional photographs in slick magazine advertisements, the subject and the scene always look perfect. In most cases, the reason is the photographer works closely with a talented art director, and together they plan the image well in advance.     The art director often selects the model’s clothes, as well as the location and/or studio setting. Amateur photographers can take much better photographs by learning to be their own art directors. That means planning photos ahead of time – before you pick up a camera – as well as training your eyes to recognize visual “mistakes” and eliminating them before you squeeze the shutter release.     That may sound overwhelming, but it can be accomplished in only a few minutes by paying attention to the dozens of small details that make up the photograph. If you want to make an attractive, professional-looking portrait of a family member that is more than a snapshot, you have to think about background, clothing, props, styling, and lighting. Let’s start.     • Background: Since you want the subject to stand out in the photograph, select a plain or low-key background. This could mean an upholstered chair with a “quiet” fabric pattern. Or, drape a subdued colored shawl or afghan over the back of a chair. In this way, the background won’t overpower or distract from the subject. Pay attention to your subject’s hair color. In the portrait, you will want to separate the hair from the background by selecting a contrasting color palette, such as a dark background for blonds and a lighter background for brunettes.   • Clothing: Hopefully, your subjects are aware that a portrait session is “scheduled” so that they can wear appropriate clothing. For example, a woman might put on a pastel-colored sweater or a man could wear a simple, patterned sport shirt or jacket. Whatever the garb, it should not compete with the subject or the background. Colors should be complementary so that the clothing doesn’t “fight” with the background, which provides a setting for the portrait subject. If the background were dark brown, a light beige sweater would be perfect.   • Props: Props are anything that add to or define the character of the subject. This can be jewelry, such as a simple strand of pearls that goes well with the woman’s sweater. If a man smokes a pipe, that’s a perfect “prop” for the subject. A prop might also indicate the subject’s hobbies or vocation, such as a camera, football, or model sailboat. Just don’t make it so complicated that the props distract from the subject’s face – the main point of interest.   • Styling: Styling means almost anything that improves the subject’s attractiveness. It could be a woman’s makeup or hairstyle. In a man, it might be the way his hair is combed so that it doesn’t look disheveled. Try to obtain as natural a look as possible in the subject’s styling and don’t get too artificial or go “Hollywood”. One tip for photographing both women and men is a very light dusting of a face powder base on the subject’s face. This will smooth out the skin, as well as eliminate any facial shiny or oily spots in the portrait. (If your male subjects object, just tell them they do this for television actors all the time.)   • Lighting: Lighting is a complex subject. First, don’t use the camera’s built-in flash unit indoors. Turn the flash off, since it produces a very unattractive illumination in portraits (not to mention the red-eye it often creates). A better solution is to place the subject near a window with soft daylight; you’re looking for a soft light, not a beam of direct, eye-squinting sunlight. Even so, the side of the subject that faces the window will be “brighter” than the shadow side. Your job is to lighten up the shadow side. This is not as hard as it seems. One trick is to place a large piece of white cloth or white cardboard near the subject’s face on the shadow side (but outside the camera’s view), so that the window light reflects onto the dark side of the face. A more advanced trick is to cover a sheet of cardboard with crinkled aluminum kitchen foil, which will produce a stronger reflected light. If your camera warns you that a slow shutter speed may produce a shaky hand-held exposure, you might consider putting the camera on a tripod.          One way to get a different look to the portrait is to adjust the digital camera’s white balance. In most window light situations, try placing the white balance on “Cloudy;” this will make the colors and skin tone warmer. In any case, try “Manual” and “Cloudy” white balance settings to see which one you prefer. Don’t mix daylight with indoor light bulb illumination, since both have a different “color” and can’t be “balanced” together.     Once you practice seeing the possibilities, the above steps can be accomplished in a few minutes, and they will improve your portrait pictures dramatically.     Finally, move in close to the subject’s face and fill the viewfinder for an intimate close-up portrait. After the ultra close-up, try a head-and-shoulders shot and a medium-distance photo that includes more of the props the subject is holding. You will get three completely different looking photos at these distances.     Another tip when shooting with a zoom-lens camera is to put the zoom on a telephoto setting for portraits. Telephoto settings make the face appear more attractive, and they do not distort features in the unnatural way that wide-angle lens settings do. Portrait photographers usually prefer the look that results when the lens is at an equivalent lens focal length of between 90mm and 135mm.     Don’t be afraid to shoot a series of photos during the portrait session, since you can later select the winning shots on your computer. Use humor to coax a smile from a shy subject, or employ your best communication skills to capture a meaningful or enigmatic expression from more sophisticated subjects.