PHOTO GUIDE
Getting the right reference photo is an extremely important part of the portrait process. This guide will explain what makes a good photo and what is considered a bad one. In order to secure your slot, a high resolution photo is required and must be approved at the time of ordering. Please refer to this photo guide for help and advice on finding or taking the best possible photo for your portrait. Multiple subjects from separate photos can sometimes be combined but this must also be approved at the time of ordering. Please feel free to email me your photos and I can let you know whether or not they are suitable to use.
This is a great example of a photo that would be great to create a portrait with.
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High resolution photo taken with a digital camera (most smartphone cameras are great!)
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Taken outside or in natural window light, but not overly bright sunlight (overcast is best!)
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The photo is taken at the same level as the pet or person (or they are not looking up or down at a strange angle)
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When zooming in, we can see a lot of detail in the face. If you zoom in on a pet or person and can see individual hairs, then it is a high enough resolution to work with.
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Please send the original picture and allow the artist to crop as needed!
This is an example of why emailing your photo rather than sending over social media messengers is extremely important.
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As soon as we upload a picture as a post on facebook, or to send through fb or instagram messenger, the file size gets lowered significantly. This is so that the pictures load much faster for us to look at, but it makes them terrible for portraits!
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For your portrait ordering purposes, we need to try to get the original highest resolution file possible. I realize that sometimes this is easier said than done when trying to surprise someone, so email what you have, you never know!
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If you are taking your own photo specifically for ordering a portrait, please make sure your smartphone camera is set at a high resolution.
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Tap the subject you are photographing on your smartphone screen to get a good sharp focus!
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Please send the original picture and allow the artist to crop as needed!
Believe it or not, these were the exact same photo file in the beginning! The one on the left was sent through facebook messenger. The photo on the right was what I received after asking the client to email the file instead!
Facebook messenger
Emailed
If you are not sure, feel free to email your photos and I can check them out! Sometimes there are exceptions to the rules.