Petra Collins’s Portrait Photography Tips

Petra Collins is a Toronto-born artist whose photography explores contemporary femininity, identity, self-discovery, the female gaze, and other matters important to the millennial generation. She first gained recognition for her work on social media.

The Canadian artist has photographed or directed ads for international brands Adidas, Calvin Klein, Nordstrom, Stella McCartney, and others. Among her directing credits are several short films and music videos for artists Cardi B, Selena Gomez, Carly Rae Jepsen, and Olivia Rodrigo. Petra’s work has appeared in exhibitions in New York, San Francisco, and Toronto, as well as at Miami’s Art Basel.

Portrait photography is a style of photography that portrays human subjects. It has a range of approaches and applications, including magazine covers, family portraits, and contemporary fine art. The most traditional portrait is a close-up of the subject’s face, usually at eye level and making eye contact.

Most portrait photographers use simple equipment for their shots—at the most basic, you’ll need an SLR, DSLR or mirrorless camera, depending on whether you want to shoot film or digital. Many portrait photographers also use a prime lens in the 85–135 range (these focal lengths provide the sharpest result without widening or flattening the subject). Avoid telephoto lenses, zoom lenses, and wide-angle lenses since these are unnecessary and can distort your subject’s features. You may also want a tripod, lighting, and a backdrop.

“It doesn’t really matter what [camera] you use. It’s who you are behind the camera.”—Petra Collins

Portraiture usually emphasizes camera settings that allow for sharp focus on the subject’s eyes, with high lighting (natural light, camera flash, or a studio light source with reflectors) to accentuate their features. If you use a tripod, skip the presets and shoot in Manual Mode for maximum customizability. Since camera shake is less of an issue with tripod photography, you can slow your shutter speed, helping you use all available light (and when slowing your shutter speed, use a low ISO setting of 100-400).

“I shoot a lot in low light, and I like to use a really low shutter speed. I sort of discovered that by accident because I had accidentally put my camera on a low shutter speed. And I noticed that when it’s on this low shutter speed, you can capture this beautiful fluid movement.”—Petra Collins

When you shoot portraits with a handheld camera, shoot in Aperture Priority mode to allow for different angles and lighting by adjusting the amount of light entering the camera through the lens. To compensate for the additional movement of handheld photography, increase your shutter speed to 1/200th or higher, then compensate for this by raising the ISO.

Acclaimed photographer Petra Collins emphasizes that taking great portrait photos is more than just having the best camera or a shallow depth of field. Here are a few tips and photography techniques from Petra to help you take better portraits and make the most of your photoshoots:

1. 1. Consider the conscious choices of lighting setups. From golden hour to backlighting, Petra likes to think about the different effects you achieve with your lighting conditions and choices. “With source lighting, it’s something that you’re creating,” she explains. “So you have a little more power over your subject when you’re using these lights.” On the other hand, natural light offers the opposite experience. “[With] given light, you’re kind of at the mercy of nature. You’re at the mercy of whatever space you’re in,” Petra explains. “These two things tell totally different stories.” And it’s up to you to decide which type of lighting—whether soft light or low light—is appropriate for each given portrait scenario.
2. 2. Create a safe space for the subject. It’s easy for a person to get self-conscious once they’re in front of the camera. “One of the most important parts of taking a portrait is making my subject feel comfortable throughout the process,” Petra says. “Always remember that you are taking photos of another person.” She uses several techniques to help create a safe, comfortable, collaborative space—including kicking off a portrait session with talking, walking around the space, talking about what music they can play in the background, and collaborating on the vision for the portraits.
3. 3. Establish a balance between you and the subject. According to Petra, a good portrait should create a balance between you and the subject. “[A portrait] means the connection that the photographer has with the subject, how the subject feels, and how to best represent that,” she explains. “The first thing that I consider when taking portraits is what I want to reveal from my subject or what they want me to reveal. . . . You don’t want to lean too heavy into what you want. You want to make sure that your subject has a fair chance at being viewed,” she says. Talk with your subject about what they hope to communicate with their portrait, what facial features or personality traits they’d like to highlight, and how they want viewers to think about them. When shooting a self-portrait, consider the relationship between you and the camera as both subject and photographer.
4. 4. Identify the essence of the message. Feel free to experiment with the concept of a portrait to really get at what you and your subject want to say. “A portrait doesn’t have to be just a straight-on photo,” Petra says. “A portrait can be a lock of a person’s hair, or it can be the back of a person’s head. A portrait just means capturing a person’s essence.” Use your imagination to capture a stunning portrait for each subject rather than relying on the idea of a simple headshot every time—and remember, the best portrait may be one that’s unexpected.
5. 5. Think carefully about the location. “Anywhere you shoot has meaning,” Petra explains. “You have to consider whether or not you want to go into someone’s personal space or take them out and put them in a totally different space.” Each choice creates a significant effect in the final portraits—from environmental portraits (shots of people that also contain a sense of place) to professional portraits with blurry, bokeh backgrounds. An outdoor portrait will create a different feeling than one taken in a photography studio with focused portrait lighting, so consider what effects you and your subject are hoping to achieve.
6. 6. Use color to tell a story. Color is one of the most essential parts of a composition for Petra. “It took me a while to . . . ease into this and figure out that everything that I photograph has a specific tone,” she explains. “I’m always looking for where I can apply color or how the color can . . . tell the stories.” She recommends that you “figure out what color means to you and figure out how you see it, because all of us see it differently.” You may find that you prefer bright colors, subdued tones, or even black-and-white photography to tell your stories.

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