People Photography: Make It Unique
Unique approach to people photography in this portrait above Paradise Harbour, Antarctica.
Here's how unique people photography tells the story of your life and preserves the memories of those you love most.
Let’s uncover some simple, fun and unique ways to photograph people in the landscape and, while doing so, explore our relationship with the natural world.
As we move through this post we’ll also delve into the notions of absence and presence in people photography.
“There are two ways by which our photos can speak to us of people: through their absence and through their presence.”
Why are the notions of absence and presence important when photography people?
The way you think about photography effects the way you approach the photos you make.
Thinking somewhat out of the box is key to creating more unique people based photography.
Fantastic Outdoor Photography Of People
One of the best ways to make fantastic outdoor photography of people is by depicting them in a landscape in which they seem to belong.
It’s a great way to explore the notion of presence in people based photography.
Take a look at the above photo of Terry, the barman, from my Aurora Expeditions Antarctica cruise.
Terry was a great guy and it was a pleasure for me to make his photo on top of a hill overlooking the magnificent Paradise Harbour in Antarctica.
I think you’ll agree he looks very much at home in this wild and beautiful location.
Notice how his red jacket and blue trousers refer to similar colors in the distant research station buildings and the clouds and waters around Paradise Harbour.
I photographed this image of Terry with a wide angle lens so as to ensure I included a significant amount of the surrounding environment into the composition.
Can you see how the narrow angle of view associated with a telephoto lens just would not have worked for this particular image?
Tele lenses are great for isolating the subject from their environment and drawing (most) faces in a flattering manner.
But this photo is all about placing Terry within the environment of Paradise Harbour. That’s why a wide angle focal length was the correct choice.
The ability of a wide angle lens to include more information and, thereby, tell a more comprehensive story, in a single picture, made all the difference.
Here’s a link to a very informative post I wrote on how to use a wide angle lens.
Group portrait of people in the landscape at Eqi Glacier in Greenland.
Presence Of People In The Landscape
In the case of the above photo the landscape, though magnificent, is very much playing second fiddle to this group of friends, on the edge of the wilderness, in Greenland.
While the surroundings do help tell the story of these friends, at a particular time and place in their lives, it’s still largely incorporated as a background element in the photo.
Just take a look at where they’re positioned within the frame. They fill almost all of the bottom part of the picture.
What connects these people to the landscape is the outdoor clothing they’re wearing and, in most cases, the wind in their hair.
Outdoor Portrait Photography
I photographed this bunch of friends, in the wee hours of the morning, in front of the magnificent Eqi Glacier in western Greenland.
One of the things that’s unusual about this photo is that I’ve been able to eliminate much of the middle ground from the composition.
The most common ways of doing this would be as follows:
Use a powerful telephoto lens to significantly reduce the perception of distance between the foreground and background within the scene.
Photograph from a very low angle of view, thereby excluding much of the mid ground from the composition.
Fill the frame, left to right, with primary subjects so as to exclude much of the middle ground from the composition.
As you can see I made use of that technique in this particular image.
In addition I had one more trick up my sleeve. The group and I climbed onto the roof of a building to make this photo.
If I’d been able to stand up and photograph downwards onto the group I would have been able to open up the image by including more of the middle ground.
The wind and the shape of the roof made that impossible.
What’s more, by photographing at such a dramatic downwards angle, it would be hard to see their faces.
That wouldn't be idea. After all, it’s a group portrait and, therefore, the identity of the individuals is important.
As it was I had to do quite a bit of work in post processing to lighten their faces.
I felt that was critical as I wanted this image to help tell the story of their time in Greenland for many years to come.
Our world is changing. The uncertainty that climate change will have on our environment may well mean that this particular landscape will be changed irrevocably over coming years.
It’s important to understand that the photos we make are time capsules that preserve fragments of our lives and visual memories of the world as it was, before the fall.
Outdoor Photoshoot Ideas
There’s so many ways to make creative and unique people photography. Here’s an example of one of the outdoor photoshoot ideas I had and how I brought it all together.
Working outdoors can be challenging and may require outdoor photoshoot ideas that are unique and enable you to produce visually interesting results.
While I was photographing a great bunch of people in spectacular surroundings the light was really quite bleak and uninspiring.
I knew that the success of this photo would be based largely around composition.
Despite the difficulties of working on top of a roof, under low light and windy conditions, I needed to make a cohesive and harmonious result.
What saved the day for me was the inclusion into the composition of balance and order.
It's often easier to compose group photos around uneven (e.g., three, five, seven) rather than even numbers of people.
In this case, even though our group contained six people, I was able to bring a sense of order to the image by placing these young folk into two subtle sub groupings.
Of the six friends, two are female. I placed each of those girls between two guys so as to produce a more balance and cohesive composition.
You could say that the guys are framing each of the girls and that the group of six has been, subtly, broken into two sub groups each of three people.
The fact that the group of three on the left of the frame is less symmetrical than the group on the right is probably a good thing.
As those two people moved towards each other a candid and, somewhat, intimate moment was introduced into the image.
Such intuitive movements only add authenticity to the photos we make and the memories those photos preserve.
The photo was created, after a few celebratory drinks, under gloomy conditions in the wee hours of the morning.
I remember it being a tricky photo to make, which only makes the final result more pleasing.
I’m very glad I took the trouble to make the image and that I’ve been able to share it with your here.
Most of all I’m happy to have made it for this group of young Danish friends. They really were a great bunch of people.
Three men moving through an inner gate within the Forbidden City, Beijing.
Photography Of People Moving Through Space
You can photograph people where the landscape (whether natural, urban or architectural) becomes the background for your photo.
Alternatively, you can photograph people as they move through that space. That notion works particularly well in sports photography, but it also works in certain types of architectural photography.
I photographed this candid image of three men moving through a gateway within the grounds of the Forbidden City in Beijing, China.
I had noticed these guys moments earlier on the other side of the gateway. I ducked back so as to make this image with them framed by the China Red colored frame surrounding the gateway.
It's interesting to see the relationships between these guys, with one helping the other and with the face masks either absent, partly unrolled or largely covering their faces.
The fact that the sign in the background says "Mind Your Step" is an extra element that might appeal to folks interested in irony and slightly quirky images.
Either way it’s a great example of how to make a unique picture from a fairly straightforward scene.
Absence of people in the landscape and a rigid Port Lockroy shelter.
Absence Of People In The Landscape
The notion of absence can speak to our relationship with the natural landscape. It’s a fascinating idea which I’d like to discuss further.
There are no people visible in the above photograph.
Yet the surroundings speak to us of the necessity of this shelter for the brave and intrepid research scientists who live on site at Port Lockroy in Antarctica.
The purpose of the shelter is clear. It's there to protect its occupants from brutal Antarctic weather.
It follows, therefore, that you can make a photo about people and the way they live their life without actually showing them in the photo.
Likewise, you can make an image that explores the notion of our relationship with the environment through an absence of people.
Just think of the remains of a family home, in the middle of a forested area, after the devastating effects of a bushfire.
I hope you agree that the idea of absence, when exploring the notion of people in landscape photography, is a very interesting concept that’s worth exploring in your own photography.
Perhaps it’s the concept you need to embrace to be able to produce more unique images.
How To Make Great Photo Compositions
Let’s take a close look at the composition that underpins this photo of a shelter in Port Lockroy, Antarctica.
The composition isn’t so much based around a building, in a snow covered landscape, but around the following elements of composition.
Tone
Shape
Texture
The tubular shape of the dome-like shelter and the texture of the building and the surrounding snow are strong and important elements in this image.
So too is the contrast between light and dark tones throughout the photo.
I feel this relatively high level of contrast adds to the sense of potential drama that’s suggested by such a rigid construction placed in such a wild environment.
Can you see how the near white tonality present in the very brightest areas of foreground snow are tied in with similar areas of brightness throughout the image?
In particular look to the building's door and window frames, and also to the brightest of the clouds.
As you can see connecting foreground, middle ground and background elements within the frame, whether through tone or through the repeating of similar colors, is key to great composition.
It can really enhance the sense of three dimensional space within an image.
A tiny snowman under a shelter on Huangshan Mountain, China.
People Made this Snowman
Similarly, notice how the textured areas in the snow connect with areas of similar tonality in the background trees in this image of a tiny snowman on Huangshan (i.e., Yellow Mountain) in China.
I loved this little snowman and photographed it moments after two local Chinese tourists had created it.
The image speaks to us of human interaction with the environment, without actually showing any people.
It's another example of how to make a photo that makes use of the notion of absence to tell a story of people in the landscape.
Absence of people in the village of Eidi on Eysturoy, Faroe Islands.
A Unique Approach To People Photography
Whether your photographs feature people, buildings or landscapes they are, in a way, all about people.
Take this photo of the picturesque village of Eidi on the island of Eysturoy in the fabulous Faroe Islands.
It looks like quite a stable and prosperous village, perched above an inlet that leads to the sea.
However, despite the lovely houses, well tendered football/soccer pitch and the ubiquitous Faroe Islands church there’s a definite absence of people in this picture.
Is the village of Eidi actually a ghost town?
While people are absent from this image it’s clear that the photo is all about how the people of Eidi live their life in this remote and spectacular part of the world.
And let’s not forget the cemetery. A close examination of those gravestones would speak to the history of the town and those who once lived there.
While they may not always feature people directly, many photos indirectly refer to our pursuits, ambitions and concerns.
Likewise, photos speak to what we've done, for better or for worse, and what we leave behind: our legacy.
Photography, by it's very nature, documents and preserves important memories for generations to come.
Are you doing enough to contribute to this grand endeavor?
How unique is the people photography you routinely create?