Remember these? Chances are most of you have one or more of these old-fashioned silhouette profiles tucked away in your childhood scrapbook somewhere in storage. In fact, I bet if I were to walk through your parent's homes I might even find one hanging in the hall next to your family picture from when you were in sixth grade and still in braces.
The above image is exactly what most of us think of when we hear the word profile (unless you are a facebook addict...but that's a whole other blog entry). Lovely as these are, in my opinion, the following image makes a much better profile for a photograph. Read on and I'll tell you why.
When attempting to capture that perfect profile in a photograph, there are a couple tips to keep in mind. First, do your best to include the outline of the eye furthest away from the camera. You can see in the image above that I included those lovely, long eye-lashes peeking out from the bridge of her nose. This helps to add depth to the facial features. Failing to include the outline of that opposite eye makes the image appear flat - as in this image below.
Second, (especially when using a shallow depth of field - or a low f-stop), it is crucial to focus in on the eye closest to the camera. If that eye is out of focus (as it is in the image below), the whole image suffers. What could have been a lovely image sadly falls shy of hitting the mark.
Blurriness aside, however, because I've included the outline of the eye furthest from the camera, this image is still the better profile of the two.
Remembering to include the outline of the eye furthest from the camera and to focus in on the eye closest to the camera are key. Following these two tips will go a long way in helping to make your next profile image a big success.
Now, Go! Grab your cameras and create your own stunning profile! I'd love to see what you come up with.
