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I am a portrait artist who paints portraits base on photos. For me to paint a good portrait I need a good photograph to work from. Here are thoughts on how to take a good portrait photograph.

Firstly you need to have an interest in your subject and be able to capture some of what is special about the subject. For example their interests, their environment or their personality. It is good to use a background that adds to the portraits but you want it to be fairly simple so that it does not distract from the person that you but instead draws the eye to them. If the backdrop is going to be too distracting then you can use a fast long telephoto to blur the back whilst leaving the subject in sharp focus.

The other mose important thing to get right to get a portrait that is good is lighting. The best way for the amateur who doesnt have a lighting rig is to put the portrait person next to a sunny window with a white card on the other side of them to reflect even white light around them.