I am so excited to welcome Jose Carlier to the blog today. Born in Holland and raised in Iran, Jordan, Egypt, France and other assorted locales, Jose is a New York-based photographer whose nomadic sense of adventure is evident in her every frame. Whether she is shooting fashion for a magazine or environmental portraits of kids, Jose’s pictures are whimsical, bold, and unexpected. Trained at Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara and published globally, Jose, a mother of two, has most recently focused her lens on kids. She starts with an unexpected outdoor scene, places high-energy children in it, and captures the can’t miss moments. Check out her work on her website, Instagram and Facebook.
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10 tips for shooting portraits with your phone camera
(I use the iPhone 6)
1. My #1 rule would be to take a step back. Phone lenses are wide lenses, and they distort the face when you get up too close. Shoot from further away, and you can always crop your image later during your editing process.
2. Keep the background simple. It’s easy to lose your model in a busy background. If they have light hair and/or clothing, try a darker background so that they will pop out and a lighter background if your subjects are darker. Also, be careful that you don’t have branches, poles etc. sticking out of your model’s head (when using a busier background). I love old walls as a background (they have tons of character). I don’t love graffiti (way too busy unless clothing is styled specifically with the graffiti in mind).
3. We have always learnt to keep the sun behind us while shooting so that we don’t get shadows on our models’ faces. I recommend that, but it’s also very popular at the moment to shoot with the sun behind the model while exposing for the model’s face (press on the face on the phone screen to expose for it prior to shooting). Experiment with the position of the sun and you can get fun flare effects.
4. Shoot from above. If you are lower than your model’s face you will have a bigger chance of capturing multiple chins 😉
5. I find that lots of kids’ eyes are sensitive to sunlight and you will end up with lots of images with 1/2 closed eyes. If I notice that they are blinking a lot, I will ask them to close their eyes, I will count till 3, and then shoot when they open their eyes at 3. Prevents discomfort and bad images.
6. When you are setting up your shot you can touch the screen to set your focus and exposure. Play around with the exposure. As you touch different areas of the scene on your screen you will notice the image getting darker or lighter.
7. Don’t ZOOM in! Remember as you zoom in you will lose a lot of photo quality. It’s better to crop the image later or step in a little closer to your subject. Don’t get too close or you will get distortion (see tip #1).
8. I never use flash. I don’t like the effect you get at all. The newer phones are incredible, and you can get great results in low light situations. Try tip #6 to expose for the darker areas.
9. I was amazed to discover that most of my friends didn’t realize how many editing options we have on our phones. On my iPhone 6 I can go to edit on a photo and press on the 3rd icon (looks like a clock), ignore the options, and go to the 3 horizontal lines (list icon) and click on that. It then opens up light, color and b/w options so you can get really specific. For example getting rid of the dark shadows without changing the rest of the image. Most photo addicts have other photo editing aps (I love Snapseed) but I use them less and less as each new phone camera gets better quality and editing options.
10. Filters. Lots of photographers stay away from filters because they feel it’s a crutch. I think that if you have a good image to start with, you can improve it with some filters and it’s fun to play around with them. Actually if you have a bad image you can also use filters to save it 🙂 Just don’t go too crazy. Pick a few favorites and stick with those and create your own style.
4 Mothers 