A portrait does not have to be the static classic image of a person staring into the camera lens. Sometimes, the best portraits come from candid photos that may originally include other people. In fact, this is a more natural way to get a portrait than sitting a person down in a photo studio with bright lights and fake backdrops. It just takes an eye for the image and a little work in a digital-photo-editing software package.
Instructions
1. Scan your photo using a flatbed scanner. In the scanning software, set the highest resolution. Make it at least 300 pixels per inch, but more is better. You will be taking a small portion of the photo to make your portrait and you need all the digital information you can get.
2. Open your scanned image in your digital-photo-editing software. Make any tone adjustments and save the image with a different name than the original scan. This will allow you to go back to the original later if you want to try different techniques for portraits.
3. Use the "Crop" tool to find your best cut for a portrait. In most photo-editing software, the area outside the selection will darken to give you an idea of what the crop will look like before you make it. Do not be afraid to tweak the crop, and do not necessarily select a rectangular area with the person's head in the center. For example, you could place the person to one side, left or right, with a little more area on the other side, if the backdrop is attractive. If, for example, the background is a lake or ocean scene, or a garden of flowers, include some of it with the portrait.
4. Make the crop. If you do not like how it looks, click "Undo" and try again. The beauty of working with digital images is that you can do as many "do overs" as you wish.
5. Use your photo-editing software's filters or other special effects to give your portrait personality. For example, you can add a "Diffuse Glow" in some software that will soften the image. You also can use special effects to turn the portrait into art. Another method is to blur the background, which makes the person stand out. You can do this by selecting the person and using a blur filter on the background. In some software, you can "Feather" this selection so it fades between sharp focus and blur.
