One thing I love to shoot is portraits, they can tell you so much not just about the actual people in the image but also about the surrounding community.
Location portraiture doesn´t have to include involve big fancy flash units, and umbrellas, although I often add a spot of flash to fill the shadows in the subjects face. I normally like to light the image with natural light as much as possible as with this photo below.
The beauty of location portraits is they can be shot literally anywhere, in someones home, on top of the Eiffel tower, under the sea, pretty much anywhere you can imagine. However when shooting outdoors its best, although not always possible to avoid shooting in harsh, direct sunlight, this could very easily cause burnt out areas in your images and even worse cause your subject to squint – never a flattering look. You´re much better off finding a lightly shaded area to shoot, but when you do keep an eye on your shutter speed and burning out the sky.
You can add more depth to your image by adding some props, these could be something very simple such as a cigarette or something as complex as a Large Hadron either way something that adds an element to the image that helps to build a story of the life the subject leads will create a more intriguing photograph.
If you´ve got your own tips on location portraiture add them in to the comments, we´d love to hear them.
