The right sort of photo

To create the very best modern portraits, we really need to start with the very best source material. Below are some examples of photos that work well and others that don't. We can take photos in any format - digital, prints, slides, or negatives.

Perfect photos

These work very well in all our modern portrait styles.

These shots are all are very crisply in focus, well lit and the person fills up most of the frame.
As you can see from the close ups of the eyes, when you zoom in on these photos, there’s plenty of detail there for the artist to work with.

Reasonable photos

These work in most styles, but could be better.

These shots are OK, but don’t have the clarity or focus of the perfect shots.
When you zoom in on the details, the lines are not as sharp. We can work with these, but if you can get sharper photos it's always worth trying.

Poor photos

These photos won't work well in any of the styles apart from the Screenprint style.

Whilst these may be nice photos in themselves, the faces are such a small part of the overall photo that when we zoom in on them they are simply too fuzzy to use. The other major problem with most of these is the lighting. Photos where the face is largely in shadow do not work well.
As the Screenprint style is about working with the whole image, rather than just the face, we can use these sorts of photos for this style.

The six rules of thumb

• The shot must be in focus.
  Of all things this is the most important! Fuzzy shots are no good.
  
  
• The subject themselves should fill up most of the photograph.
  Ideally you would send a head and shoulders shot. The problem with shots that show the whole body is that when you look at the photo, the face actually only fills up a very small part of the photograph and when you zoom in it, there just isn’t that much detail there.
  
  
• The face should be clear.
  Please also make sure that the face is not covered up - shots where the face is partially covered are not good. Trying to fake in parts of the face simply doesn’t work. The subject should have their eyes open with the colour of the eyes clearly visible.
  
  
• Boring photos can make great portraits
  Action or group shots make great photographs, but as portraits tend not to work too well. A very simple passport-style photo is really best.
  
  
• Lighting is very important
  Ideally we are looking for a shot with some contrast in the face. Photos in which the face is in shade because the light is coming from behind, aren't great. Shots taken with a flash work really well.
  
  
• Send in a selection of photos
  We do like to see a selection of photos. We can then recommend which we feel would work best.

Simple Illustration style

The Simple Illustration style requires a very specific sort of photo to work really well. A passport-style shot with the person's head and shoulders taking up most of the frame is really ideal.
It is also important that they should have their mouth closed and that the photo is taken head-on, from the same level as the subject. This style is all about the shape of the face. If the mouth is open, or the photo taken from an angle, then this has the effect of distorting the shape of the face and the portrait just does not work as well.

Below is an example of the perfect photo for this style. As you can see, you couldn't really say it is a great shot of the person, but for the style it works very well.

Picture formats

We can take photos in most formats - prints, slides, negatives or digitally. Digital photos are great as long as they were taken on at a reasonably high resolution so we can zoom in and still see the detail. We can take big files - anything up to 15MB is fine.

Any Questions?

Most commonly asked questions should be answered in our Pop Art canvas FAQ's section, but we're more than happy to chat too, so feel free to call us.
Studio hours are 9.30am - 5.30pm Monday - Friday

Telephone: 020 7193 7778
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