Recent Portraits Articles

The Bold and Colorful Fashion Photography of Richard Terborg

Richard Terborg is a conceptual fashion, portrait and fine-art photographer from Holland. Known for his bold and crazy colors, Richard is just as bold and crazy in real life. In a fun way, not a ruin your life way.

Three Techniques to Perfect Skin Tones in Photoshop

When color grading your work, don't overlook the importance of targeting the skin tones in your workflow. Perfecting the skin color can drastically help your images, but how would you color grade skin?

Three Shooting Techniques to Maximize Space in a Small Room

Not every opportunity to shoot lends itself to a large room or massive studio. In some scenarios, you may find yourself in a small room; this is where you have to get creative to maximize the space and create your shots.

Taking Pictures Using a Lens With a Smashed Middle Element

Think the dust inside your lens is bad? The owners of a vintage camera shop have been testing out what it’s like taking photos using a Kaleinar 100mm f/2.8 lens with a severely smashed middle element. So, how did it fare?

Shooting Portraits at an Insane 900mm

There is really no convincing professional reason to shoot portraits at a focal length of 900mm, and I am not going to sit here and try to convince you that there is. But sometimes, we do things for fun, just because we can. And that's exactly what happened when this photographer team decided to shoot portraits at such a crazy focal length.

Learn How to Shoot and Edit This Eye-Catching HDR Portrait

You don't always need to have a complicated lighting setup to shoot high-quality images, and in fact, with a bit of ingenuity and editing prowess, you can make some very creative photos. Check out this awesome video to see how this natural light HDR portrait was shot.

Helpful Tips for Better Natural Light Portraits

Many photographers love to shoot natural light portraits for a variety of reasons, and with them come their own sets of challenges. This awesome video will give lots of tips to shoot better and more creative natural light portraits.

How I Photographed This Model in Under an Hour and Got Her an Agency

There are a couple of ways for models to get into an agency, including hiring a photographer to take photos of them and using those to show an agency their range. This requires the photographer to work quickly and efficiently to get as many different looks as possible in a compressed amount of time to save them money.

Behind the Scenes on a Budget Shower Shoot

Photography is about telling a story. Sometimes you are easily able to get a location that helps tell that story, other times you have to improvise. If you are looking to shoot a model in a shower, but don't have access to one large enough for a photo shoot with your lighting gear, there are options to reproduce a shower scene.

How I Shot This Self Portrait With Natural Light

Most of my portraiture work is known for two things, lots of color and using strobes. I love self portraits to try out new techniques; it's actually how I got myself started in photography, so for this self portrait I wanted to go in a totally different direction and take a shot with natural light and push it as far as I could.

Why Shooting at ISO 100 May Not Be the Best

I see a lot of people asking what were the camera settings for this shot? While it differs in each situation, one common setting that seems to matter to many is shooting at ISO 100. Is that really the best setting to be shooting at?

Profoto's Connect: Easy Function / Relaxed Style

Take a quick moment to watch Profoto’s latest clip showing off their wireless flash trigger, Connect, used by Hélène Pambrun. When you’re done, give Profoto’s accompanying story a read.

How I Edit Monochrome Portraits

In this quick guide, I'm going to demonstrate how I edited a particular set of portraits for a magazine. Taken as part of the Face of London Runway 2019 contest, these black and white images were shot in studio and processed with a combination of Lightroom and Photoshop.

3 Ways to Control Natural Light for Portraits

I usually use natural light as my go-to for quick group photos or for portraits that need to be done very quickly or with very little gear. That doesn’t mean you can’t shape or control natural light to create studio quality images wherever you are. Here’s three easy ways to shape natural light for your next portrait shoot.

Learning Off-Camera Flash: Balancing Flash Outdoors

In photography, we are always looking for the best lighting for our subject, but when we don’t have the ability to choose the location or need to create interesting and dramatic lighting on the go, we need to be able to use the light we bring with us. This involves starting at the fundamentals and learning how to balance your flash and the ambient outdoor lighting.

Are Smartphone Portrait Modes for Photographers?

I’ve been a stalwart defender of “real” cameras when it comes to shooting portraits. But a slew of phone cameras over the last few years have included portrait modes, and so has the time come to change perspectives?

I Let My Clients Pay What They Wanted and the Results Amazed Me

My business is about 90 percent dealing with individuals, and about 10 percent working with brands. I just moved into a new live/work studio and, to help break it in, I decided to hold a "Pay What You Can" sale and the results made me change my entire business model.

We Speak to the Photographer Documenting Love Stories of Couples and Families Impacted by the Global Refugee Crisis

One photographer recently travelled to both Turkey and Mexico to document the global refugee crisis in pictures, a series that went on to earn him a win at the World Press Photo Awards. We spoke with the man himself to uncover more details about the inspiring love stories of couples and families who have been forced to flee their native countries in search of a better life.

Are the Quasar Science Q-LED Lights the Best Video Lights for Your Money?

Whether you are a photographer or videographer, more and more content creators are adding constant lights as their go-to lighting setups. Quasar Science recently released their 30-watt T8 bulbs with raving reviews, and today, I explore six useful lighting setups you can build with four lights under $80 each.

The Best Autofocus Settings for Portraits Shoots With Sony Cameras

Sony cameras have some incredibly powerful and advanced autofocus systems with intricate settings and numerous customization options. At times, however, all those capabilities can almost be a bit overwhelming. This helpful video will show you the ideal autofocus settings for portrait shoots.

Behind the Image: Prepare for the Unexpected

In my last "Behind the Image" article I talked about looking where other photographers aren't. This week I'd like to talk about the importance of being ready for just about anything — particularly when it comes to wildlife photography, as well as how images can impact our behaviors.

First Glimpse at High Resolution Raw Files From the 61MP Sony a7R IV

There have been numerous first glimpses of images taken with the new 61MP Sony a7R IV, but photographer and YouTuber Jared Polin is now sharing full-res RAW files. He has also made the images available for download, so you can have a go at editing for yourself.

How to Know Your Makeup Artist Is the One

If you work as a portrait photographer of any kind, it's useful to work with the same makeup artist (or MUA) every time you shoot. You'll cut down on time spent casting and won't have to learn how to communicate in a way that works for a new collaborator every time. But how do you know that your new MUA is the one? Check these key factors that will make them a collaborator you can depend on, time and time again.

Behind the Scenes on a Budget Pool Shoot

Not everyone has access to a pool to do portrait shoots in the water, or maybe there are times when the weather isn't ideal or warm enough to do those types of shoots in an outdoor pool. If you do not have a big enough tub, a kiddie pool could work.

The Six Fundamentals of Gelled Lighting

Added colored gels to your lighting can have a bigger change than you first expected. It's not quite the same as shooting with white lights, as there are a few additional factors you have to consider to get the optimal color you are looking for.

Behind the Scenes of Amazing Pet Portraits

If you own a pet, you've definitely taken a picture of him or her more than once. Belgian photographer Vincent Lagrange does just that for all sorts of animals as a big part of his career.

Five Posing Tips From a Male Model

When working with models, posing is an important element in the shot. If you are not comfortable with posing your models, or maybe they are not as experienced, there's a lot of information to help you learn from when working with female models. When working with male models, not every approach will work the same and there are not as many resources out there.

Don't Be a Creeper: A Few Tips When Working With Models

This day and age, bad news or gossip spreads a lot faster than praise and good feedback, especially when you are a photographer that's been labeled as a creeper among models. Models and other professionals in the industry do talk to each other.

UK Magazine Blames Stock Photo Site for Stolen Photo Used on Cover

Prominent photographer Nadav Kander recently found his portrait of David Lynch on the cover of UK magazine The Big Issue. The problem is he never provided the portrait that was used and the image looks to be a photograph of his photograph which was purchased on stock photo site Alamy.

Shooting Outdoors With Bad Light

When shooting portraits outdoors, you will hear many photographers saying you will get the best lighting within a few hours before dusk or after dawn. Unfortunately, there are many times when you find yourself shooting at other times of the day. Depending on the skies, the sun could be producing a much harder light than desired.

The Art of Portraits: Telling a Story with Gavin Hoey

When you move beyond the technique of capturing people with appropriate lighting, while maintaining a flattering expression and pose for the subject, what should you be adding or recreating in your imagery next?

Alternative Processing Film: A Third Approach

In part of three of making prints of my shoot with Cognito, I made a kallitype from a film scan. A kallitype is an iron-based contact printing solution that yields a wonderful tonality that, in my opinion, can only be found in analogue printing. Here's a quick overview of the process and some thoughts on why you should venture out and try something different!

A Guide to Frequency Separation in Photoshop

When used correctly, frequency separation can be a very powerful and efficient tool for editing your portraits. This great video tutorial will show you a straightforward method to use frequency separation in your portrait retouching.

Five Essentials for Getting Started in Portrait Photography

Are you thinking of trying out portrait photography and want to get some insight as to exactly what you need to create beautiful portraits without a lot of trial and error? Read on for some tried and true suggestions that will get you started without all the hit-and-miss experimentation.

These Celebrity Light-Painting Portraits Were Photographed in a Single Take

Photographer Jason D Page was invited by Wango Tango festival 2019 to create a series of light painting portraits with some of the acts playing over the weekend, including Halsey, CNCO, and The Jonas Brothers. The photos were shot in a single take, with a team creating the surreal effects using light-painting brushes.