Portrait photography is a popular genre in the means of photography. It is also known as portraiture that captures personality and emotion. Portrait photography contains a vast area to work with your creativity. It can be artistic or clinical. Here we collect hundreds of creative portrait photography ideas for you. Let’s expose them.
We already shared some of the most exciting tips to beautify portrait photography in our earlier post. You may check to boost up your expertise.
Photogenic Smile
Looking for a photogenic character, you can try with a smiling face. Pose with a smile can be outstanding as a creative portrait photography idea. It helps you to capture the best image. You need to confirm your object to be smiled at naturally and avoiding a fake pose.
Struggling Face
Portraits carry the emotion. Struggling is something like this. You can choose a model with a struggling face. Here, you don’t need the whole scenario, only focus on the eyes or face that will give you one of the great portraiture.
Mirror Girl
Girls love to justify themselves in front of a mirror. The mirror never tells them anything, but as a portrait photographer, you tell their desired outcomes. You can set your model in front of a mirror and then capturing the mirror reflection. It can be a piece of artwork of portrait photography.
Celebration Portrait
A festival can be a great opportunity for you to capture a celebration portrait. General shot like joy, greetings, gift presenting, or lighting scenarios are common in portrait photography. So, you need to keep your eyes on the exceptional happening for capturing the best shot. Here, the trick is, blur the background and focus on the object.
Child’s Naughtiness
Children are a little bit mischievous by born and they love to execute their naughtiness. Capturing their playful naughtiness can be the eye-catchy. You have just put them the freedom to do whatever they like. You have to click the rare one.
Madness Portrait
The reality is, our mood is not always in general. Sometimes we want to be funky, want to jump and dance like a mad person. Capturing those can be unique that make us happy to see them again and again. To do this, guide your model to be casual and act with something crazy.
Featuring Dark Side
A man without any mistakes is impossible to find out in real life. Mistakes are part of our life. Everyone has some dark past. As a photographer, you can draw this on your portraiture by capturing your model from one side and keeping another side black.
Headless Portrait
There are various kinds of angles to do in portrait photography. You may focus on the headless subject. This seems unrealistic but possible. You can do it by taking a doll and dress up instead of a person.
Symbolic Series
Photos can speak thousands of words. You can take a symbolic series in your portraiture. Representing fear can be the best idea. You need to capture the three photos in a row like don’t see, don’t speak, don’t listen.
Wearing Mask
Mask can be a vital prop in portrait photography. Wearing a mask represents hiding you from reality and express the artificial message. Suggest your model wearing the mask. Hiding half of the face with the mask gives you something unique photograph.
Old One
A living old person is an experienced soul on earth. You may choose him as your photographic subject. Request your subject to express hiding emotion. It will be a masterpiece portrait.
Stripe Background
Sometimes background plays a bigger role than the subject. To make a twist in your photograph, choose a striped background. Take your subject in front of the camera wiring simple shirts. You can rely on this idea that it will give you an extra creative piece of portraiture.
Confronting Complexity
Life is full of complexity. It is hard for persons who confront the complexity. You can think of it as your portrait idea. Direct your models two stand face-to-face with hard-looking faces. Choose a man and a woman as your subject to capture your best copy.
Sister’s Love
Sisters are the blessing of God for each other. They love each other from the very deep of heart. You may have to take a photograph that represents the sister’s love. Just suggest them to be natural and express their love in front of the camera.
In the Seabeach
You may have seen lots of seabeach portrait. But ever you have seen as the upper one? It seems like a perfect alternative scenario that you can capture a portrait on the sea beach.
Hiding Face in Water
Water can be your photographic component. You can generate an idea by taking your subject into a pool and ask him to hide his half-face under the water. Surely, it will a masterpiece like the presented example.
Abandoned Car
Think about an abandoned car, it may seem useless to general people. But as a photographer, the car can be worthful to you. Direct your model to sit on to the covert and pose a smart look. You may have to focus on the whole scenario and capture the portrait
Natural Frame
Framing is one of the most used creative portrait photography ideas. All the time, You don’t need to use the camera frame. Rather is better to include a frame in the photograph. The natural frame like a flowering tree can give a fresh look to your photograph.
Window Frame
A window is the best option for the photographic frame also. Ask your model for sitting on the window bar and capture him including the window from outside.
Creating Smoke
All we know that smoking cigarettes is injurious to health. Here that’s not the issue. Smoking can be a perfect subject of your portrait photoshoot. It looks like an artistic photograph.
Old House fashion
An abandoned old house seems useless. But it is an important location for a portrait photographer. Ask your model to stand before inside the house. Your job is to capture your model from different angles of view.
Expression of Eye
The eye has its own language to express emotion. You, as a photographer, have many angles to do with the expression of the eye. Take a close-up shot of the eye as your subject of portraiture.
Waiting Moment
Wait for someone or something can be the subject of your photography. You may take a long short. Ask your model to sit on a chair at the corner of a long place. Try for the black and white photograph. It will represent the deep meaning of being waited.
Reading Room
The reading room is the most precious place for one who is passionate about learning new things. You may capture the scenario of a reading room. Ask your subject to sit on the chair in front of the table with a book. Now, photoshoot the moment. It will be a masterpiece.
Photograph the Photographer
Photo carries a thousand words. Photographers are the storyteller of the moment. You can add a photographer as your portrait photography subject. It will be fun surely.
Self-Portrait Photography
The self-portrait is one of the most uses photography genres. It creates plenty of inspiration for you either as a photographer or hobbyist. You get the best opportunity to make your moment photo-worthy. Let’s talk about some inspirational ideas of self-portraiture.
Silhouette
Silhouette is one of the best options for self-portrait photography. It looks like a bokeh. You can try it to create a dramatic feel. A silhouette can be applied both in the studio or outdoor shooting. You need to stand in front of a bright light source to capture your creative portrait.
Double Exposures Portraiture
Double exposure is artistic self-portrait photography. You need to make a dark outline against a bright background. It can be captured in-camera as film photography or you can do it during the editing process. It requires deep technical knowledge, but don’t worry digital photography makes it simple. Once you create a double exposure photograph no one peel their eyes away from it.
Personality Branding
What are your interests? Playing the guitar, reading, and exploring something, try to connect them in your photography. Capturing your personality is a great opportunity for self-portrait photography where the crucial challenge is to make your vision unique by bringing life into your images.
Using Costumes and Wigs
Are you don’t feel attractive enough? Let’s transform yourself, get a wig and cover your body in colorful costumes for an impactful image that will be immediate stand-out portraiture. So, if you are looking for impressive self-portrait photos, you can use costumes and wigs.
Focus on Details
Self-portrait photography is not just about faces. It can be a small part of your body. To do so, find a detail that catches your eye. You can focus on certain physical traits like hair, hands, or eyes and capture an extreme close-up shot.
Be Silly
You can practice different expressions in the self-portrait photography session when you feel awkward. Let’s accept your flaws and comedy with different facial expressions, moving around, or laugh to be silly. Silly self-portrait photographs help you to reboot your creative mood.
Use Reflection
Do you know reflection portraiture are limitless? Not only a mirror but also a window, a puddle of water, a screen, or a metallic surface can be used for reflection in your self-portrait photograph. Let’s try, using a big metallic surface, standing at the corner, and capture an interesting shot of yourself in the reflection.
Hiding Parts of Face
Partially hiding your face can be the eye-catchy and intriguing portraiture. Try it simply by hiding your face behind curtains, hair, and blurred foregrounds. Surely, it will be the coolest self-portrait.
Black & White
Black and white is a special genre in portraiture that holds a feeling of timelessness. You can try it easily for yourself. To do so you need to shoot against a background with a rough texture like a plain wall. No doubt, it’s one of the most creative portrait photography ideas.
Portrait with Pet
Involving pets in the shooting process is common in portrait photography. Pets are photogenic. It’s can be more fun to take a self-portrait photo with your beloved pet. Don’t be serious about your pet reaction, you just have tried to involve in your photograph.
Diptych
A self-portrait photograph can express your feelings and emotions. But, is it enough? You may tell your story with two or more photos in a row. Try with a diptych, add your two photographs side by side that will give a different taste.
Family Portrait Photography
People love to keep their memorable moments. Family portraiture is one of the memorable and funniest captures. As a photographer, you need some unique ideas. Let’s find out some ideas for family portrait photography-
Family Portraiture with the Pet
People consider their pets as a part of the family. So, you can include family pets in your photograph. It adds some uniqueness to your capture. Pets are not only dogs, they can be cats or kittens, dogs, puppies, parrots, hamsters, or aquarium fish. It can be funny as well as memorable too.
Capturing Funny Moment
Family life is full of joys and sorrows. It is funny too. Think about a holiday, people are going for an outing with the family member. It is an opportunity for you as a photographer. Just give them the freedom to do some natural funny activities and shoot the best moment.
Play with the Little One
People love to expend their time with their families like playing, storytelling, watching animation, and so on with the little member of the family. You can click your shutter button for capturing the most adorable moment between parents and children. It can be your best capture ever.
Party Time
People want to share their achievements or some sort of milestone with their family and friend, to do so, they arrange a celebration party that is common in their day-to-day life. They are in a joyous mood at these parties. Capturing the party moment can be your unique piece of art.
Family Shadow
Capturing family shadow is a trendy portrait photography idea among creative photographers. You can try for it. It will give you a different angle in your shooting. Shadow represents the family bonding and capturing shadow represents your uniqueness.
Color Matching
Are you Looking for a different type of idea for your family portrait photography? You can play with color. But, how is it work? All the family members are wearing color-matching dresses and be flexible with a smiley face in front of the camera. This type of photograph can express your family you have to unity and boldness.
Artistic Family Photograph
Artistic photographs with black and white moods still have a demand in family portrait photography. You can try for it as a photographer. It does not need to create a black and white background rather do it in the editing. Surely, it is a real creative work indeed.
Focus on Newborn
A newly born baby fulfills a family. Photograph the newcomer with its parents have an inner meaning. You can focus on the baby in a family portrait photoshoot to cover the family’s emotions. Just keep the baby lying in the middle around its parents and click them.
Parents’ Love
Parents love their child and you love to shoot. So, here is a win-win situation. It can be a great idea for family portrait photography. You capture the most adorable moment of a family when they express their love to the child. Here, you don’t need to create an artificial appearance of parents.
Happy Family
A happy family is a blessing of God. Capturing the happy moment of a family can be a masterpiece of family portrait photography. You need to give enough space to the family for expressing their real happiness and then capturing the desired photo.
Capturing Kiss or Hug
Physical contact is part of love. Family members express their love for each other by kissing or hugging. You, as a photographer, can capture the closest moment in your portrait photography. So, don’t be shy to urge family members to get a little bit closer, hold hands, kissing each other or gather up for a group hug.
Photoshoot the Action
Pose for photoshooting is not always good as you think as a photograph. You give direction to the family members to run, jump or play and you have to capture the middle of the action. It will be lively family portrait photography.
Baby Portrait Photography
Babies are adorable and attractive characters. They are considered a famous subject of portrait photographers. You need to know, creative baby portrait photography takes heart, soul, patience, time, and imagination whereas doesn’t take specific props, lights, or instructions. Here, some photography ideas…
Sleeping Baby
Babies sleep most of their time. They look pretty at sleeping time. You have just waited for them to sleep, then capture their sleeping beauty. Here is a great chance to show your photographic creativity. Don’t be panic and capture the silent beauty of the beautiful creatures.
Sibling Love
You may have two children with a newborn one. Sibling loves their senior and junior. Take them both in one frame and capture the precious piece of a portrait photograph. Don’t direct them to do any movement rather give them freedom of natural act. It will amaze you surely.
Lying Baby on Tummy
Lying your baby on the tummy when he/she can’t sit or stand but want to move by crawling. This is the perfect adorable pose for baby portrait photography. This will help you to capture one of the best memories of your baby.
Baby on cradle
Using a cradle for capturing your baby is an amazing idea for baby portrait photography. Take a cradle, cover it with a soft pillow, and keep your baby on it, then click the camera. The photo will perform when you choose a newly born baby.
Photoshoot when Sitting
When a baby has learned to sit without any support, you can capture the moment. To do so, you need to keep your baby on a chair or something like this, make him laugh, and wait for clicking your camera. The portrait photograph will give a fresh and lively looking.
First Step
Any kind of the first activity of a baby means a lot for parents. It can be the first step or first speech or something else. You cannot take a photo of your baby’s first speech but you can capture the moment of the first step. Capturing this type of baby portraiture is one of the best ideas for a photographer.
Baby Sitting with Props
Babies are growing up day by day. You also have the opportunity to take various types of baby portrait photography. Think about a baby, is sitting with props like books, toys, or others. Your role is to photograph him, you can add someone to sit beside the baby.
Baby Chef
Make some professional-looking of your baby. Dress up your child as a professional chef, doctor, or something like a pro. Take the baby in front of your camera. Suppose, your baby is wearing a chef hat, kitchen rob, and play with the costume. You have to capture the right moment for your portrait photo.
First Taste of Food
Growing up baby is a matter of too much excitation for parents. Every little success of your baby makes you emotional. You can capture the emotion with portraiture. It can be the baby’s first taste of food. Stand with your baby in front of the camera while feeding them general food to take the portrait photograph.
Represent Personality
You might have a lot more dreams about your baby. He/she is the future successor. Let’s take a photo of your baby costuming them be like a real champ. Dressing up him with an elegant looking to represent his/her personality. Put some books with a telephone and sit him on a tiny sofa, then took the portraiture.
Love of Grandpa
Grandpa means a lot to your baby. The two-generation love each other. It’s an opportunity for you to save the memory of them. Take them as your photographic subject and give them freedom in front of the camera to express the love. The idea makes your portrait photography classy.
Fun with Baby
Babies are a kinda funny subject for your baby portrait photography. You can capture a funny photo by using the home appliance. Suppose, you want to make a seabeach scenario. To do so, take a blue blanket as the seawater, another grey blanket as the beach, costume your child, and add some props. Now, capture the funny portraiture.
Bridal Portrait Photography
Bridal portrait photography is a highly demandable genre of wedding photography. There are thousands of ways to shoot the photograph. Here some different types of ideas are given below.
Long Way to Go
Marriage is the commitment between two persons to lead the existing life jointly. Often, it’s considered a lifelong journey. You can symbolize the fact by capturing the newly married bride-groom in your portrait photograph. Suggest them to walk in the road and enjoy the moment. Then capture them randomly.
Expression of Love
Love is the key fact of married life. You, as a photographer, have an enormous opportunity to do with the fact. Suggest the bride-groom to express their love with each other. Ask them to be intimated. The natural environment helps you to capture their loveable scenario.
Mixed up with Nature
Marriage means a fresh start to the bridegroom’s life. Nature is the symbol of freshness. You can use natural beauty as props for your portraiture. Choose a place full of green trees and grass, take the bride on your frame, and guide her to mix up with nature. It will give a fresh-looking to your photograph.
On Stair
The bridegroom starts their new life with a lot of hope. Marriage is the first step of their life-long journey. You may use the stair as your photograph location to represent the bridegroom’s new achievement. Ask them to climb up on the stairs and you need to capture them in your portrait photograph.
Bride Groom Dance
Dance is another big part of a wedding. The bridegroom often dances in front of the guest. You can cover them in your photograph. It will be a great idea for portrait photography. You may add some lights to expand the fun more colorful.
With Flower
Many times, props become the subject of the photograph itself. Flowers are the most powerful prop for bridal photography. You can focus on the flowers rather than the bride. This photograph will give different angles of view of your portraiture.
Focus on Hair
Bridal portrait photography has plenty of opportunities to express the photographer’s talent. You can focus on the bride’s dress, face, body, eyes, ornaments, or even on hair. Cover the hair with flowers. Focus on her hair and capture it from the back can be a unique idea.
Studio Portrait Photograph
A studio is the best option for portrait photography. If you are looking for some unique studio portrait photography ideas, here will give you some ideas that can be applied to both male and female models.
Shadow
Work with shadow has an enormous angle of opportunity in studio portrait photography. Take your model in your low-light studio. Set the light from a different angle. Shadow will drop on the alter side. Now, click your camera for the portraiture. You can apply various types of photography ideas with shadow.
Reflection of Color
You have a lot to do with the reflection of color in studio portrait photography. Keep your subject middle of the dark studio. Set low light both from the right and left. Cover the light with colored paper. Now, focus your camera on the face of your model.
Front Side Back Side
Want to do more with studio portraiture, try for both sides accommodated photo. Capture your model from the front side and back side individually. Then attach the two pictures side by side in the photo editing session. Your photograph now gets a new creative look.
Professional Appearance
Studio portrait photography is all about light-camera-action. So, don’t focus only on the light setting or camera setting. You need to work with your model. Direct them to play the various character role. One of the best poses is holding a professional look like a corporate job holder.
Photo with Props
Props give your photo a new way of looking. It does not need to be a big arrangement. A simple piece of prop turns your photograph more artistic. Take your model on the frame, set a flower vessel, try to keep white space as much as you can. Ta-da, this type of studio portrait photography can work with more ideas.
Light Experiment
Do you bore with traditional studio portrait photography ideas? Let’s try something new. Hang a curtain in front of a heavy light, create some open space into the curtain, and direct your model standing beside the setup. This type of experiment with light can enlarge the diversity of your photography experience.
Moody Girl
Girls are too moody by born. As a photographer, you can capture this. To do so, you need to direct your model to be moody. It will give extra taste to your portrait photograph.
Funky Boy
Man loves to act funky whereas age does not matter. Suggest your model use a wig and do something fun in front of the camera. It does not need to use a wig all the time to capture the portraiture.
Stripe on Face
You may have to look for an artistic piece of a portrait photograph. There are enormous ways to do so. Make your studio dark and direct the model to stand center of the frame. Set the light beside the subject. Take a window frame in front of the light. Now, your turn, click, and capture stripped face.
Covering Face with Hair
You as a photographer don’t need to focus on the full body all the time. You may work with any specific part of the body. Suggest your model cover her face with hair and then capture a close-up shot. The portraiture will hold a dramatic appearance.
Outdoor Portrait Photography
Portrait Photography has a vast area to work with. You are not bound only in the studio. Outdoor is also a big part to take outstanding photos. I gather some ideas for outdoor portrait photography.
Backlight Portrait
Natural light plays a vital role in outdoor portrait photography. You can apply the backlight tactic. Set the subject in front of the sunlight and capture it from the back end. Here you need to focus on the subject and defocus the sunlight.
Capture Surrounding
If you choose outdoor for portrait photography, you may not rely only on your model. Try to include the surrounding area in your photograph. Choose a location with the combination of mountain, seashore, flower garden, or kind of natural beauty and guide your model to mix with the surrounding
Effect of Light and Shadow
Play with the shadow has the highest scope doing something outstanding in outdoor portrait photography. Hiring a model who is capable to pose with a natural expression. You need to choose a place where sunlight drops on the leaf and leaf shadow reflect on the model’s face. Now, click the camera.
Lying on Grass
Try to be mixed with nature is another way to be creative in outdoor portrait photography. You need to direct your model for lying on the grass to do so. Ask her to close her eyes. Your job is to make your photograph playful with nature.
Be Lively
Outdoor portrait photography means you need to work with nature from various types of angles. Try to be lively is one of the best photography ideas. Ask your model to play with snow in the winter morning, take sunlight therapy on the seabeach, or enjoy the waterfall. Be careful to capture the natural pose of the model.
Try Something Different
Photography is all about trying to be unique in every shot. The photographer captures the emotion and story of the moment. That’s why you need to be different in every photoshoot. You may use a car as your portraiture. To be different you can capture the mirror as a frame where the reflection of the model appeared.
Capturing from Back
Most of the time portrait photographers think the face is needed to select as the main subject of the photograph. But this is not true all the time. You may capture the movement or even from the back of your model. Suggest the model to stand out facing towards nature and shoot from the back as a photographer. It expresses like exploring the beauty of nature.
Autumn Portrait Photography
Colored leaves, warm scarves, crisp mornings, carved pumpkins, and many more are the symbol of autumn. This season is individually having part of uniqueness whereas it is the best time for photographers for doing portrait photography. Here are some creative ideas for autumn portrait photography.
Kids with Autumn Leaves
Capturing the playfulness of kids is a bigger part of photography. Let them play with the beautiful autumn leaves and photoshoot the moment. Surely the piece of the photograph is the most memorable one. But you need to concern about their pose because if you ask them to pose, they may give a robotic smile and awkward posture.
Morning in Autumn
A foggy morning in autumn is a blessing of nature. You can capture the moment in your portrait photograph. Here the best idea is to choose couples as your model and ask them to enjoy the morning as their own. Work with the natural dim sunlight. Now click an amazing photoshoot.
Walking in Forest
Forest is the best place to enjoy the beauty of autumn. It can be the best location for your portrait photography. You may arrange a small family picnic. Ask the member to act naturally. As a photographer, you can take a long short of two guys walking in the forest.
Falling Leaves
Falling leaves from trees is a very common scenario of the autumn season. Capturing the moment can be a great idea for portrait photography. As a portrait photographer, you may direct your model to go back to her childhood and throw the fallen leaves in the air. You just have to click your camera randomly.
Dramatic Outfit
Let’s add a little spicy to your portraiture. But, how to do that? You can try it using the dramatic outfit. Ask your model to wear an autumnal dress. Suggest him to play with the head by dancing the hair in the air and feel nature from the deep of her heart. You have to capture the emotion in your photograph.
Waterfall in Autumn
Autumn and waterfall are the perfect combinations for the portrait photographer. You get a lot of room for creativity in the waterfall. Dressed up her with light color. Ask your model to mix up with the fallen water. Don’t worry, the flow of water stays calms in the autumn.
Love in Autumn
Express of love can be an awesome idea for autumn portrait photography. Make sure your models don’t mind getting a little bit intimate in front of the camera. Ask them to kiss each other softly. You, as a photographer, capture the loveable scene by clicking your camera
Tree Girl
Trees make an excellent scene in the autumn. Place your model between the rusty trees. Ask her to pose straight forward. Your job is to make a stunning autumn portrait photoshoot. Don’t be worried about the location. It’s almost everywhere you will the shaded trees in the autumn.
With Bridal Props
Using props like a basket, mufflers, or umbrella is common in portrait photography. You can also try the bridal props with autumn flavor. Suggest your model taking the bridal get up and lying on the ground. Sprinkle some colorful leaves around the props. You now capture the most beautiful piece of photograph.
Close-Up with Autumn Leaf
Leaves are falling here and there from the tree in the autumn. You can take a close-up shot of your model with the fallen colorful leaves. It will make your portrait photograph even more meaningful
In the end, here are some categorical portrait photography ideas…
Traditional Portrait
Very often we think portrait photography is all about pose. Models are posing following the photographer’s direction. Posing for photography is known as a traditional portrait. But, here is the reminder that portraiture is not all about posing.
Lifestyle Portrait
Here the example- portrait is not all about posing. You can capture the real-life scenario also that is called lifestyle portrait photography. Direct your model to act realistically. Your job is to capture randomly. You can choose the family environment, players playing on the field, and so on.
Conceptual Portrait
Capture an idea within portraiture is possible by conceptual portrait photography. To do so, you may need to use props, setting, or photo editing to establish the idea. It offers you an endless possibility to do better for the photograph.
Candid Portrait
Candid portrait photography is full of excitation. You don’t know the outcome. Even You don’t plan for candid or take candid of strangers. It doesn’t use any direction or posing from the photographer although some photographers use a mix of posing and prompts to encourage candid moments.
Street Portrait
Street portrait photography is the best example of featuring people. Photographers often don’t have the opportunity for any setup rather take the portraiture by getting inspiration from the position of the person they meet.
Glamour Portrait
Glamour portrait photography captures the beauty of the subject that’s why it is often called a beauty portrait. It is also some kind of sensual too because you may need to shoot your model in lingerie or even nude. But the main focus of the glamour photoshoot is the person, not the dress they are wearing.
Surreal Portrait
You may imagine a scenario that does not exist. How do you capture the scene? Here is the way you do with surreal portrait photography. It is an artistic photography style that often needs to be done in Photoshop. You can also capture the photograph with some photo tricks. It’s not easy but after doing so it will be outstanding portraiture.
Creative Portrait Photography Ideas- To Conclude
You should always start by considering what kind of photography style you want to use for the portraits you take. After that, you should select the right type of lens, lighting, and backdrop to help you get the best results. Hopefully, our creative ideas for portrait photoshoot will assist you in multiple ways, especially to enhance photography skills.
