Canvas Art Prints – Make Your Portraits Pop

One of the most popular subjects for canvas art prints to decorate your home is the traditional portrait – of friends, family, pets, or even just strangers if you’re feeling particularly artsy and bold. A portrait is ideal for printing because there’s really nothing more powerful than the human face when it comes to a canvas print, hanging on your walls. When you cajole a powerful expression from someone and capture the human spirit in photography it can be an amazing moment, and an amazing piece of art.

Portraiture is often regarded as its own separate discipline and art form, however, because the human spirit is difficult to capture. As a result a lot of amateur photographers wind up disappointed in their portraits. But there are a few simple techniques – both during the shoot and in post-production – that can instantly improve your portraits.

Tip 1: Backgrounds for the Win

One of the simplest techniques that most newbie photographers fail to utilise is the background. Most people simply stand their subjects up against a convenient wall and shoot the photo. Sometimes this is going to work, of course, depending on the wall chosen. Sometimes it’s going to look like you imprisoned your subject in a small white room and shot their photo – often backed up by the expression on their face.

The easiest thing in the world is to alter the background by hanging a sheet, blanket, or other colourful fabric or other material on the wall (or lower to the floor if your subject is a child or prefers to sit). Changing the background not only frames your portrait with an interesting colour or texture, it also changes the way the light bounces back at you. Choosing the background specifically for your subject can help as well by complementing their colouring. Taking a series of portrait shots using different backgrounds you’ve selected and prepared beforehand can also get the most out of a photo session.

Tip 2: Filters Are Your Friends

One of the easiest techniques in your photo editing software of choice is to selectively filter an image. In this case, you’ll want to filter just the background of your portrait. Step one is to open the image in PhotoShop or GiMP or whatever software you’re using to edit your photos – don’t worry, this won’t be incredibly complex!

Next, use the “lasso” tool to roughly select just your portrait’s face and whatever torso you’ve left in the frame. While you should make an effort to hue pretty close to the edges of the subject, you don’t have to be perfect.

Now, invert the selection so what’s actually selected is the rest of the photo – the background. Choose a filter – motion blur might be nice, but play around and don’t be afraid to use the “undo” feature to back out and try something new. The end result is your face in perfect focus while all heck breaks loose behind it, a nice effect. You can add grace notes like feathering to the edges of your portrait to blend the filtered parts with the non-filtered parts – play around and have fun! This technique adds a lot of energy and drama to an otherwise static shot.

Don’t be afraid to play around and experiment! Portraits can be powerful, moving, and emotional canvas art prints. When you’ve created something you think is powerful enough for your walls, click here and we’ll take care of the rest.