The first essential skill is to understand light – recognising what light does, how is casts shadows, highlights and creates mood. It takes experimentation and practice but eventually you will come to instinctively know how to position the subject or the light source to capture amazing images.

The two main light sources to consider are natural and artificial light.

Using natural light

Natural light is constantly changing in colour, direction and harshness. It is therefore important to learn how to ‘read the light’ and assess its direction and the effect it has on the subject.

The time of day makes a huge difference to the light quality. Not only do you need to be conscious of the suns position in the sky, but the season and world location will also influence the angle and brightness of the light you are working with.

The golden hour (an hour after and before sunset) provides the best quality light. Essentially the entire sky acts like a giant soft box providing diffuse light onto the subject, and diffuse light is much easier to work with than managing harsh directional light.

If you do find yourself taking a portrait with harsh strong sunlight, a tip for finding diffuse light is to place the subject in the shade. Even in the shadows there is still plenty of light and because it is reflected from the sky, ground and surrounding the lighting on the subject is more balanced.

When using directional natural light (ie light streaming in through a window) the directional sunlight light creates strong colour and strong shadows. You therefore need to bounce the window light back onto the subjection using a reflector to balance the exposure.

Using artificial light

In the studio the softness and harshness of the light is completely controlled by the photographer. The key thing to keep in mind is that artificial light is very directional. For instance, a bare studio flash can be particularly harsh, so it is best to bounce the flash to diffuse the light or use a soft box. The studio flash also has a modelling lamp to adjust the light quality.

There is no need for a huge area, or expensive equipment, to set up your studio. Proper lighting control can be achieved through the use of reflectors, multiple flashes and window lighting.

Place the subject between a couple of light sources – one key light and another fill light. The model should always be able to see both light sources, that way you will avoid side light which is unflattering as it exaggerates skin texture and creates undesirable shadows.

Composition is all about transferring the real world on a static, two-dimensional image. It is just as important what is included in the images to what is left out and a simple device for getting the balance of competition right is to use the rule of thirds. Mentally divide the image area into thirds, vertically and horizontally, giving four intersections. To frame the subject so that you capture their face and most importantly the expression in their eyes, place the parts you want to bring attention to near the intersections.

Depth of Field (DOF) is also a key composition rule for portraits. You can fade the background and help the subject stand out by using Aperture Priority to maximise and minimise the DOF. A wide aperture (low f-stop) throws the background out of focus, and a narrow aperture (high f-stop) brings the background into focus.

Another essential element to creating stunning portraits through manipulating DOF is selecting the proper lens focal length. Fixed prime 50mm and 85mm lenses provide low f-stop which making it easy to create a blurred background.

You can also achieve extreme DOF effects by combining use of aperture priority, a prime lens and focused distance.

One of the more difficult parts of taking a portrait is capturing the essence of someone’s personality, because this requires the subject to feel comfortable expressing themselves in front of a camera. In order for the viewer to connect with the person in the image, the subject must first connect with the photographer. I personally find it helpful to get to know the person I am photographing to allow them time to trust me and relax into the moment. However, sometimes you don’t have that luxury of time, and that emotional connection between photographer and subject needs to be formed instantaneously. For the image below, I only had a few moments to capture this beautiful India dancer, and I chose to connect with her by showing interest in her little girl. People are the same the world over, and when taking pictures of someone you have never met before, one of the easiest ways to build instant rapport is to show interest in that person.

Finding the right pose is also related to how comfortable the subject is in front of the camera, but there are a few things that help create the right look, such as a lady placing her hand on her hip to create a shapely arm, or for the subject to look up towards to camera to elongate their face and neck to create a more flattering pose.

To find some inspiration check out the top-10 most famous travel portrait photographers: www.boredpanda.com/top-10-photographers-for-travel-portraits