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Many people now own digital cameras and if there is one thing they love doing it is taking pictures of family and friends. And it is here that things start to go awry because the typical amateur snapper does not know the basics of portrait photography.

Many of us do not know the basics of portrait photography, so our pictures appear with head shots cropped and the photo centring on an elbow. All of this can be avoided if we take a little time to learn some of the basics.

With a digital camera the problem of missing heads shouldn’t be too difficult to solve. Always use the LCD screen to help compose the shot. Ensure everything you want to capture is centred in the screen as the photo produced will be exactly as you see it in the LCD screen.

Unless you are trying to take a professional style close up portrait don’t worry about the background. In fact you should use the background to produce a really interesting shot. Now, I’m sure the person whose portrait you are taking is very interesting in their own right, but by allowing the background to add context to the shot the photograph will be enhanced and will really tell a tale about that person and their environment.

Good portrait shots do not have to be posed. That will only make your subject look stiff and uncomfortable. One of the basics of portrait photography is to make the picture look natural and you can do that by being spontaneous, just taking the picture without waiting for your subject to adopt a pose. If that doesn’t work out, you can erase the shot and try again.

Whether the picture is posed or taken off the cuff, it is important that photo fills the frame. That is important as it will add character to the picture.

When snapping photographs lighting is very important. Many people photograph outdoors so lighting is not such a big issue. But if you are taking your pictures at an indoor location, including your home, you need to consider lighting.

If there is natural light coming through a window it can be used to disseminate the shot by adding some nice gentle shadows. Be careful though, if the light is too bright the shadows will too strong though, if the portrait is a posed one, you could use white card to reflect the shadows.

Finally, when taking a portrait remember to focus on the eyes as they are a persons most important, and revealing, feature.

Insight Photographers are specialist Hull wedding photographers and portrait photographers Insight are located in HUll, East Yorkshire and provide a full portfolio of services including weddings, publicity shots, portraits and corporate photography