Outdoor portraits with a dramatic sky behind the subject are a popular and timeless look, but usually require an off-camera flash to get a proper exposure on your subject. If you are new to working with artificial lighting, this excellent video tutorial will show you how to use off-camera flash to balance ambient light and produce a compelling portrait.
The first time you photograph a model can be extremely daunting. Here are five tips to help you make sure that the first shoot is a success and you and the model get the most out of it.
Mastering light can mean many things, from the manipulation of natural light through to how to setup multiple strobes for a specific look. However, there are a few more niche techniques that are both incredibly fun and rewarding. One of these is light painting.
Having a strong enough grasp on lighting to control your surroundings — no matter what they may be — can be a powerful tool. Here is a brief tutorial on how to make your indoor portraits look like they were taking outdoors.
Some of the most meaningful photographers most of us will ever take are of families and babies, both our own and those around us. But it's far from an easy niche, so here is a behind-the-scenes demonstration and tutorial.
Lenses are getting faster and cheaper, and Laowa's newest prime is really pushing that to the limit! Check out this hands-on review with example images.
There is a common misconception about strobe lighting that might be holding back your images, and it's an easy one to make. Here is a concise and clear explanation of the problem.
Lighting holds the keys to the overall feel of an image for the most part, particularly with portraiture. In this video, you will see behind-the-scenes of a dramatic, moody portrait shoot with some tips on how to replicate the style yourself.
While things like camera settings and light placement are quantifiable, posing is a bit more subjective and nebulous and thus is often one of the last things photographers really master. If you have been having a bit of trouble improving your posing, this helpful video tutorial will show you five great tips that will advance your images.
Great portraiture can be created with anything from natural light to a studio full of the most expensive equipment, but if you — like most photographers — are closer to the natural light setup than a high-end studio, perhaps this video might show you just what you can produce with one, cheap light.
Portrait photographers generally use artificial light whenever they are working indoors, but window light can be a fantastic source of flattering natural light suitable for a portrait. This excellent video tutorial will show you how to set up and take a compelling portrait using window light and a reflector.
Learning how to set your camera and light your subjects often means dealing with objectively measurable quantities, but when it comes to posing, the more nebulous and subjective nature can make it far more difficult to master. Most tutorials focus on posing women, but of course, you will often photograph men as well. This great video tutorial will show you some helpful tips and methods for posing men.
If you were ever in doubt about what can be achieved in just a home studio, this video is for you. This stunning beauty editorial for a magazine was shot at home and it is of the highest caliber.
There are few types of video more valuable than a good behind-the-scenes, particularly when it walks you through the process. Jump backstage in this tutorial to see how this beautiful, fine art portrait was taken with four lights and a purpose-built set.
Natural light, flash, and constant lights all have their place in portrait photography, each with their own advantages and disadvantages. This fantastic video tutorial will show you how to take portraits using each source, making you a more versatile photographer.
Retouching is a daunting prospect to anyone who has yet to try it and even more daunting for those who have just started. In this video, you'll learn about the basics of retouching and color correction while an instructor edits a portrait.
How do you position your artificial light sources?
Portrait lighting does not always have to be expensive or overly complicated. This excellent video tutorial will show you a professional portrait lighting setup that only requires two speedlights, two shoot-through umbrellas, and a reflector.
One of the quickest and easiest ways to completely change an image and make it more memorable is to add a flash.
Fast glass is more affordable than ever before, with brands pushing quality and lowering prices to attract photographers away from the big names. But how good are they?
A lot of the time, you have complete control over a portrait, including where you take it and thus, the background that complements your subject(s). But in other situations (wedding photography, for example), you do not get much of a choice and may be stuck with a boring, distracting, or simply unpleasing background. If that is the case, this helpful video tutorial will give you five tips for still making professional portraits.
Overlaying textures on top of your photographs is an underused way of adding real interest and creative flair to a final image. This tutorial on exactly that might be the best one I have seen to date.
Portrait photography is a tricky genre that takes the combination of good technique, creativity, and the ability to work with people simultaneously. If you have been struggling with it a bit, this helpful video tutorial contains six minutes of rapid-fire tips and techniques to help you improve your work.
When you are scouting locations for a photoshoot, what are you typically focused on for the backgrounds? How often do you consider the textures and the colors that they could add to your shots?
Focal length is by far one of the most important choices you can make when it comes to portraiture, as it makes a huge difference on how your subject is rendered. This helpful video will show you how five different common focal lengths render the same subject.
Color theory is crucial to color photography. Clever use of color can create harmony or drama in your images. Check out this great video to learn more about ways you can combine color in your photography.
When it comes to finding creative inspiration for shooting beautiful portraits in your own home, there are few better than photographer Irene Rudnyk. Here are ten fantastic ideas to boost your portraiture game.
It's easy to get wrapped up in the latest and greatest gear; it's something you ought to do your best to control. But every now and again, it's worth getting swept up!
There are few times more enjoyable to shoot during than golden hours, but the lighting can be tricky too. This video will help you with some important tips for using a flash and balancing it perfectly during a sunset.
The fact that the focal plane of a picture must always be parallel to the sensor plane is so obvious to most photographers that they don't even bother questioning that fact. Here's what happens when you do question it and how modern mirrorless cameras can help you do it.
Many who try to create a glow effect in their shots will end up with something closer to soft focus. Here's how one photographer gets a dreamy feel to his images, without sacrificing sharpness or important details.
Portraiture is about much more than simply capturing someone in a pleasing pose with good lighting; it takes a certain amount of creativity to make images that distinguish your work from the crowd. This excellent video tutorial discusses how to make your portraits more creative.
So much of the discourse surrounding the latest cameras is usually about Eye AF: how fast it is, how consistent, is camera X’s better than camera Y’s. There’s a reason for that, and it’s not just because it’s the latest buzzword.
Learn how to create a sun ray effect in Adobe Photoshop in this brief but effective tutorial.
A little different from the last handful of episodes, Nathan Elson’s How I Got the Shot, Episode 7, moves into a darker-toned portrait set marked by its emphasis on moody overhead lighting.
The background is an element of a scene that's easy to overlook, but it has huge power over the final image. Here are two of the best backgrounds for accentuating skin tones in your portraits.
If you don’t have a ton of fancy lighting gear at home, this doesn’t mean that you can’t produce gorgeous studio-style images. This in-depth video tutorial shows you how to get great results using minimal equipment from the comfort of your own garage and dives deep into how they're edited in Lightroom.
Posing is something a lot of us struggle with, and it can be twice as hard when there are two people involved. If you have trouble posing couples, this fantastic video tutorial will show you 10 great poses to add to your playbook.
Leica may be the most polarizing brand on the market, but they have an undeniable quality of products. When it comes to their lenses, however, is this their crème de la crème?
Retouching portraits is a crucial process, but it is also highly time-consuming, particularly if you are working with a large batch of images. PortraitPro 21 is here, and it brings a wide variety of intelligent features that will streamline your workflow and save you a ton of time.
The high-key look is quite popular in a variety of applications, as it produces a bright, punchy image that instantly draws the viewer's eye to the subject. You do not always need powerful strobes to achieve it, however. In fact, you can do it with nothing more than natural light from a window and a constant LED source, and this excellent video tutorial will show you how it is done.
Sometimes, you need just need a glimmer of inspiration — a seed that sprouts into an idea — and you're back creating great images. Here are seven simple tips that might just be the poke in the right direction you need.
Portraiture is one of the most revered genres of photography, with many photographers dreaming of capturing great images of people. But, how do you get started?
Taking a successful portrait requires the confluence of good technique, creativity, and your ability to interact with and direct your subject. If you have been struggling with your portraiture work, check out this excellent video tutorial that will offer you five tips to help you produce better results.
Most of us who shoot portraits do not work with professional models on a regular basis, and as such, it pays to know how to work with regular people to make them as comfortable as possible in front of the lens. If that is something you struggle with, this excellent video tutorial will give you five tips for taking better shots of regular people.
One of the most hated aspects of editing in Photoshop is making selections for masks, composites, and localized edits. The more difficult the selection, the more disliked it is, but there may be an easier way you aren't using.
Fujifilm's medium format range doesn't have a huge selection of lenses, but it does have some utterly superb glass never the less. Their latest release has turned a few heads, but how good is it for portraiture?
With a slew of new lens manufacturers in the last few years, and by extension, many new lenses at attractive prices, it's easy for some great glass to slip under the radar.
At this point, it's fair to say that all of us have felt a touch of cabin fever over the past year, and with lockdowns/restrictions still in place all over the world, it's all the more important to keep the mind and body active, not least of all, the creative mind. This video has a few nice ideas for you to try with some basic gear.
Flashguns and strobe lights aren't just for capturing perfectly exposed subjects, they can be valuable as creative assets too.
