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~ Photo Guide ~
For the best possible results on your portrait a number of criteria need to be met:
Photo Selecting Your Photograph
  Your photo may be an existing photograph or a new photo taken especially for the portrait commission. Either way, please try to ensure that:
 
  • The person/pet in the photograph is clear. It should be easy to make out facial features. The clearer the features are the better the portrait will be. Try to ensure the photo is relatively in focus. Consider if you can make out the colour of the subjects eyes as a guide to how clear your photo is.
  • If possible, the photograph should be taken in reasonably good lighting conditions. Contrasts in light and shadows bring out people's features well. Flash photography tends to flatten features.
  • Tops of heads are not cut off. I can't add anything to the portrait that isn't on the supplied photographs. It might be possible for extra reference photos to make up for your preferred photo's deficiencies.
  • If you aren't sure about whether a photo is appropriate please feel free to e-mail it to me or post it for me to make an informed decision or suggestion.
  • If you are going to e-mail me a scanned photograph, as a guide please scan it at 200 or 300dpi at the same size as the original photograph and send it as a high quality jpeg file.
Photo Compositions
  I can combine multiple photos for group portraits or change backgrounds as necessary. I can produce colour portraits from black and white photos, but only if I am supplied with sufficient information regarding hair, eye and skin colour. I can't change the pose of someone in a photograph. In the case of group portraits, these will normally need to be produced in landscape format (longer lengthways than in height). I will normally supply a rough composition in the case of group portraits or where something in a portrait needs to be radically changed.
Photo Digital Photos & E-mail Attachments
  Please ensure that digital photos and scanned photos sent as e-mail attachments are large enough to be able to make out features clearly. I will need to be able to print off your photo fairly large to be able to work from. As a guide, please try and make attachments a minimum of 1000 pixels by 1500 pixels. Please send images as preferably JPEG (jpg) or TIF files. Please send e-mail attachments up to 3.5Mb (3,500k) to simon@portrait-art.co.uk and larger files (up to 10Mb) to simonbirtall@hotmail.com.

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