Environmental Portraiture: Tell Your Subject’s Story and Create Dynamic Portraits with One Bag of Gear

Nature at Work

It might seem obvious to include nature when talking about the environment, but it’s easy to overlook that nature offers all of the architectural elements listed above: framing (shooting through leaves), graphic elements (rows of trees), and color (flowers, autumn leaves, sky). It’s important to consider nature when you are scouting places to photograph a subject.

Green grass and evergreens make for simple backgrounds, especially if left out of focus. But you can take the process a step further by using the nature that you might take for granted. For example, you may try photographing an environmental attorney surrounded by office plants. Or, you might photograph the water-rights lawyer (I’ve photographed my fair share of attorneys) ...