May contest update

Because of her schedule, it looks like Pat Greenhouse may not be able to narrow the May contest entries to the Final Fifty until next week. So to keep you busy until then, how about another Photo Challenge: Portraits. We've taken photos of the moon, rain, flowers ... let's try some fellow human beings for awhile. Here are a few simple guidelines:

> One photo per photographer.

> No animals. Unless you think the person you're photographing is a turkey.

> No studio shots. Let's capture people in a natural environment, and by that I don't necessarily mean outdoors. A nice shot in a coffee shop or on the living room sofa is also a "natural" environment.

> Your photo doesn't have to be posed; you can often catch some very nice candids that end up making great portraits. But posed shots are common.

> You can have more than one person in your photo.

> No nudes. Sorry. We're a family website.

That's it. I've gathered these tips for taking portraits. Some of the information is about setting up lights for studio shots; just scroll past that until you get to the environmental portraits information.

Shooting portraits that reflect personality by Globe staff photographer Yoon S. Byun

A guide to shooting portraits by Lawrence Ripsher

Environmental Portraits by Darren Rowse, Digital Photography School

Portrait Photography by Philip Greenspun, photo.net

That's it! Send in your best portrait to raw@boston.com.