It’s pretty basic to take portraits. Just point the camera at a face and press the shutter, right? Well, yes and no. Certainly you can do that, but if you show your family the printed results, are they mesmerized by each picture or do they flip through the pile of photos so quickly that their hair blows back?

Here are some posing tips for taking the kind of portraits you’ll be proud of…

The Power of “Eye”

Usually, the most important aspect of a portrait is the subject’s eyes. First, make sure they are open. (Then again, feel free to experiment with taking pictures when your subjects’ eyes are closed.) Just make sure your subject is not blinking.

When the subject’s face is in your viewfinder, place the focus point of your camera on the subject’s eye, NOT the nose or the chin.

If you don’t, based on your aperture’s setting, the depth of field could result in a sharp picture of the tip of the nose while the rest of the face is slightly blurred.

Having the subject staring directly into the camera, is typical with portraits. However, some of the most striking images have your subject(s) looking elsewhere.

For example, consider:

• Two subjects looking at each other
• The subject looking at something outside what can be seen in the picture
• Your subject staring intently at an object that can also be seen in the same picture

The Art of Candids

If you’ve ever met anyone who states: “I don’t take good pictures,” posing them could be a challenge.

Instead of giving up, take the necessary time to learn about and relate to the subject. Once they give you their unspoken approval, taking candids can have spectacular results. I personally find this approach works best with very young children.

Backgrounds

Let’s face it - the subject in your photo should be more interesting than the background. If not, make the background the focus of the shot. With that said, you can use backgrounds in different ways.

To make the background as invisible as possible, use as large an f-stop as your camera allows (F/2.0, for example). This will cause your background to be blurry and therefore help your viewer focus their attention on the subject.

Expressions

For some portraits, the expression of your subject says it all. It’s easy to capture extreme expressions when taking candids of children. Unfortunately, it generally takes more time, work, and effort (from the photographer) to elicit the same type of true emotions from adults.

Using Props

There is always a little risk when adding a prop. On the plus side, you can improve your photograph by adding another point of interest that draws your viewer in.

On the downside, the prop can take too much interest away from your subject. This is one of those areas where common sense and experience are your best teachers.

These posing tips should improve your portraits. And if you like what you’ve read, you can have photo tips you can use everywhere sent to you every month, without charge.

With all the problems going on in the world today, it is very easy to find individual’s suffering from panic attacks. Recent statistics show that as much as one in five adults will be stricken with one of these conditions. Seeking help for panic attacks is important and can be helped along by knowing what caused the attack and when or where they occurred. Most people can deal with these types of problems much more effectively once they have identified certain symptoms.

To aid us in what may be contributing to our panic attacks, the following symptoms are a good place to start:

1) Tightness in the chest
2) Erratic or abnormal breathing pattern
3) Uncommon sense of fear
4) Overwhelming sense of compounding problems to a singular situation

Panic attacks can be treated through various forms of treatments and therapies. For instance, focusing on a time in your life that made you happy rather than the problem at hand can alleviate some pressure. Another thing you can try is to concentrate on your breathing and if it is abnormal, try and control or slow it down. Finally, try and write down what you feel may have brought on your current episode.

Argueably one of the best things you can do when desiring help with panic attacks is to change your mental focus to something positive. I realize that this may seem like something that is way out of reach at times, but the mind can be a powerful tool if you let it. Many individuals are not aware of the power of their own thoughts which is unfortunate because they hold the cure.

With the constant turmoil around the world and even here at home with our economy, a growing number of individuals are experiencing panic and anxiety attacks. This is understandable given our current times, but we don’t have to sit back and feel helpless. In some cases, panic attacks can feel like a crushing force bearing down on the individual, but there is help for these attacks. If you take just one thing away here, let it be this, turn your focus on what’s enabling the attack and turn it towards something positive in your life.