Environmental portraits have nothing to do with climate change. They’re different from nature photos or pictures about saving the environment. So, what are environmental portraits? These images fall somewhere between a staged studio portrait and a candid portrait. And the place you take the picture plays a big role in telling the viewer more about your subject.

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PORTRAIT
10 Photography Tips to Improve Your
Environmental Portraits
by Kevin Landwer-Johan
DOWNLOAD AS PDF
Environmental portraits have nothing to do with climate change. They’re different from
nature photos or pictures about saving the environment.
So, what are environmental portraits? These images fall somewhere between a staged
studio portrait and a candid portrait. And the place you take the picture plays a big role in
telling the viewer more about your subject.
Let’s first start with some definitions. Then I’ll offer some tips on how you can capture
stunning environmental portraits.
Photo by Kevin Landwer-Johan.
Related course: Profit From Portraits
I Need Help With…
My Camera
Composition
Table of
Contents
What is a Portrait?
What is a Candid Portrait?
What is an Environmental
Portrait?
My 10 Tips on Taking Engaging
Environmental Portraits
1. Tell a Story with a Relevant
Background for a Compelling
Portrait
2. Know the Importance of the
Location for a
Meaningful Environmental Portr
3. Immerse Yourself in Their
World for an
Intimate Environmental Portrait
4. Be Friendly and Relaxed to
Help Your Subject Pose More
Naturally
5. Engage With Your Subject to
Take a
Lively Environmental Portrait
6. Use a Lens and Camera that
Best Captures Your Subject
8. Fill the Frame with Only
Essential Elements
7. Use Different Depths of Field
to Balance Your Portrait
9. Use Props to Help Tell the
Story
10. Enhance Your
Environmental Portrait with
Editing
Conclusion

2. What is a Portrait?
Portraits are photos that you stage to show the personality and the character of the subject.
To do this, the person’s or face is usually the most dominant feature. So, you generally
focus more on the facial traits of the subject you’re photographing. Yet, it’s not always
necessary.
What is a Candid Portrait?
Candid portraits are photos without the subjects posing. These capture people as they are,
without creating scenes and setting up the composition. When people don’t know that
you’re photographing them, we talk about “secret photography”. It is a type of candid
photography. But candid shots are not necessarily taken without the subjects noticing the
photographer.
What is an Environmental Portrait?
Environmental portraits are snapshots of people in their environments. In these portraits,
people are connected to and reflected in the location you photograph them in.
Environmental portraits can be candid or staged shots. There is no rule for how
spontaneous they should be. And it’s a kind of photography that’s quite popular among
travel photographers.
Good environmental portraits will tell strong stories of their subjects. Their immediate
surroundings will give the viewer insight into where these people are, what they do, and
who they are.
Locations that help to tell a person’s story could be places where they relax, work, or
play:
Their home
Their workplace
A favourite place to drink or eat
A meaningful spiritual or religious place
Where they walk, exercise, or play sports
Environmental portraiture is intertwined with documentary photography and
photojournalism. And when an environmental portrait is a candid portrait, it can
sometimes be seen as street photography.
Editing
Creative Ideas

3. Photo by Kevin Landwer-Johan.
My 10 Tips on Taking Engaging Environmental Portraits
Here are my top tips for how to create engaging environmental portraits of people in their
natural settings. My examples are from my times of travel. But you can take pictures of
friends, family, co-workers, neighbours, and strangers wherever you live.
1. Tell a Story with a Relevant Background for a Compelling Portrait
Knowing who you’re photographing is key to a fantastic environmental portrait. If you
know something about the person’s story, that will help you create more compelling and
meaningful images.
There may be questions that you can answer with your environmental portrait.
Who is this person?
What do they do?
Where do they live?
And when you’re setting up your environmental portrait, look at the background. Check
for elements that will support your subject’s story.
Finding a relevant background can be challenging. But do your best to include something
that illustrates a vital aspect of the subject. Compose your image with at least one
significant object, detail, or view in the background of your image.
For example, I included a detailed carved wooden panel in this environmental portrait of a
Thai Buddhist nun.