Portraits

I’m a nerd. There, I said it. It’s out there now, and it’s never coming back. I’m adamant that all facets of life are infinitely improved by statistics. I paw over numbers, percentages, and graphs for academia, sports, science, films... the list rolls on. Even reeling off the sort of stats I like makes me want to forge some sort of Excel spreadsheet to identify the stats for which areas benefit the most from stats. Sorry, I digress. The point is fewer things are richer in information than statistics. We often use this approach to compare lenses and cameras, but what if we could apply it to something far more subjective: portraiture?

On one side, we have advertising photography, where everything is contrived and meant to look a certain way. It might as well be a painting with how planned out each step is. On the other, we have photojournalism. As the opposite, true photojournalism should never be staged, posed or "created." The idea is to capture what is and has happened. Unlike a painting, photography has the power to show real time exactly how it is with no artistic interpretation. What captivates me is when those two worlds collide to create art with purpose, and that is exactly what Clay Cook has done with his portraits of impoverished youth in Ethiopia.

Think for a moment about the Tolkien-inspired visions flashing though the mind of Robert Plant as he penned the mystical lyrics to “Ramble On.” Vast landscapes with wandering figures, uncertain of their destination, but driven by their journey. Now get ready to scroll down and get the same feeling.

Today Facebook announced a partnership with Flixel and their Cinemagraph Pro app for iPhone and iPad. You can now make a cinemagraph for your Facebook profile in just a few seconds, and totally for free.

Swimwear Photography with Joey Wright Behind The Scenes continues today with Episode 3. In last week's episode we started filmed the first lesson of the entire tutorial but in this episode we cover 3 full days of filming.

Medium-format cameras have long been in the hands of working pros because of their combination of ease of use and incredible image quality. While large format was always the king of resolution and dynamic range, it is difficult to work with on location and cumbersome. Today, medium format is a little different. Phase One and Hasselblad have both released 100 MP options, allowing for unparalleled image quality.

There are two characters that sit atop adjacent shoulders either side of my head and squabble over portraiture. One takes the form of my Gran and she sits there quietly knitting and ensuring me that rules are there for a reason and without them there would be chaos; she’s the voice of tranquillity, reason and over-feeding. Then, annexed on my opposite shoulder is James Dean wearing a leather jacket. He mocks my conformity assuredly and between drags of a cigar, James states that “what is normal for the spider is chaos for the fly” and “rules are there to be broken.”

This week we released the longest photography tutorial Fstoppers has ever produced; Joey Wright - Swimwear Photography: Lighting, Posing, and Retouching. Our entire team headed down to the island of Curacao for 10 days to film a variety of photography lessons ranging from how to pose models, how to use scrims, reflectors, strobes, and how to create portfolio worthy images with minimal gear. During this incredible journey the behind the scenes cameras never stopped rolling, and each week we will be releasing a new episode of all our adventures. This is episode 1!

Is Alexa Meade a painter or is she a photographer? Alexa's unique take on both mediums has completely blurred the idea of what is real and what is imagination. Traditional painting attempts to take a two dimensional medium and make it look 3D while photography does the opposite by capturing a 3D space and translating it to a 2D surface. Alexa's work throws both of these ideas into a blender and leaves the viewer wondering what is real and what is simply paint. The results are fascinating!

When a commercial photographer, Sasha Leahovcenco, decides to document the touching experience and life of people he has never met before, the result is quite astonishing. You would think pre-production played a huge part and that he had to have had exceptional gear, carried by a huge team, but the truth is far from that. The experience was the heart of this series, and the pictures show it well. Combining both journalistic and commercial genres with a very personal approach yields pictures we only wish we could see more often.

It’s easy to feel that we have great ideas for our images, but that we simply don’t have the budget to execute them to the standard we’re picturing in our minds. You should always try to find ways to be creative on a budget, so here’s how and why you don't have to spend a fortune to produce good results.

Last week, I took a look at personal projects and showed how I created my most recent portrait series. These personal projects are a great way to grow as a photographer and create new work you have a passion for, as you have the opportunity to create images with full control of the visual style. However, they may not always require you to step out of your comfort zone. To expand your repertoire of photographic knowledge and to create a more diverse, yet consistent portfolio, you need to experiment.

In a way, your journey as a photographer will start out with personal projects. Everything that you shoot for those first few months or years are things that you choose to shoot for fun. Personal projects help you to learn, experiment, and grow as an artist. Actually organizing and creating a series, however, takes a little bit of planning. From brainstorming to gallery showings, I’m going to help you put together a game plan for your next personal project.

When I first saw the Love Wins project, I was moved by the beauty of the photographs and the important message that they represent. As a society, we have come a long way since Stonewall and the beginning of the AIDS epidemic, but there are still so many people in the world who have misconceptions and hatred of LGBTQ people. The Love Wins project is a series of portraits and stories that aim to bring consistent visibility to LGBTQ marriage in a positive light. Its entire premise is to showcase love, family, and equality. I had the opportunity to sit down with Gia Goodrich, the Portland, Oregon based photographer behind the photo project and find out what inspired her to create this collection of photos.

My high school enemy is my new best friend. I'm talking about a glorious thing called "tests." In the photo world, a test is a shoot set up for the sake of portfolio-building, experimentation, fun, or all of the above. It's not a paid shoot, but these suckers pay off big time. A test shoot is when you book a model (we'll talk about how) to shoot a concept that you put together. As I'm writing this, I actually have my journal open on my desk in mid-plan for a test that I'll be shooting later this month. Let's talk about a few reasons why testing is so important, how to find models, reach out to agencies, and what you need to do once your model is booked. Dig in!

Retouching is a great tool, one that can save pictures in some situations. However, there are a couple of things that can be really time-consuming and annoying to correct in post, two of them being flyaway strands and chapped lips. I am sure those two have happened to any of you who shoot portraits, beauty, or fashion. However, no need to fear these anymore! Jordan Liberty gives us his tricks to avoid them.

New York City born photographer/artist Roger Ballen spent the better part of the last four decades in Johannesburg, South Africa. In that time he has produced a body of work that has been described as a fictionalized visual dialogued between individuals, their architectural space, found objects, and domesticated animals. His approach has been hailed as among the most unusual and exciting developments in contemporary photography.

Lately, I've seen a surge of photographers complaining that they just don't know where to begin when getting started with portraiture. Taking that first step can be a daunting feeling, especially considering that you need to convince someone to take a leap of faith and model for you, despite your complete lack of a portrait portfolio. Personally, I never had a problem finding eager models; it came quite easily for me, so I figured now is a good time to share that experience and maybe give some soon-to-be amazing portrait photographers a little extra help in jumping out of the nest.

Just like ever camera owner is a photographer, every person who owns an abundance of MAC products is a makeup artist. At least that is how it seems on Instagram these days. There are now more makeup artists on social media than ever, and finding the right ones to follow can be tricky. Following the best makeup artists can make a portrait photographer better. If you follow them closely, you can step up your game.

Photographer Nick Saglimbeni recently shot an image of Jhené Aiko for a Humane Society campaign to save the shark population. The goal of the image was to photograph Jhené in the ocean at night (or at least make it look that way). To create this shot, Nick decided to use a pool and strobes to create a similar look.

Scrolling through Instagram, I came across a photo that I deemed worthy of a double-tap. Curious, I clicked on the profile to see more from the same photographer. Scrolling through his feed, I started to notice that although every photo included a human subject, there wasn’t a single face in sight. Intrigued, I had to know more and reached out: Meet Noel Alvarenga, the photographer who hides his subject’s faces.

Let us venture back in time for a minute. 35mm film was always considered small. In fact, it was developed in the early 1900s as a means to make high-volume shooting and consumer photography possible. If you were a working professional, you were shooting at least medium format (6x4.5-6x19 cm) or even more likely, large format, like 4”x5” or 8x10”. The idea is that the larger the format, the more detail you can see. As we fast forward to digital, full-frame is the ideal format for many working pros in a variety of genres. While full-frame can be expensive and yields incredible image quality, there is something more.

Every portrait session with a new subject could bring new challenges. Some people are more comfortable in front of a camera than others, while some just take a little time to open up. I've put together a list of tips that may help you along the way during your portrait sessions.

Keeping a fair amount of texture seems to be an issue for a lot of photographers and retouchers. No matter what technique they use to clean the skin of a model, I often hear people trying to find a solution to get a more natural and visible texture. Here is one for you!

With his brother, Romeo, the face of numerous Burberry campaigns, Brooklyn Beckham has now been spotted working on the other side of the camera for the famous fashion house. The teen, who last year was reportedly working in a West London coffee shop for £2.68 an hour, is the official photographer behind Burberry’s latest fragrance campaign, entitled "This Is Brit."

If you look back to the beginning of photography, color didn’t exist. In fact, it didn’t exist for a long, long time. Even as 35mm film pioneered the way that photography was used and purchased, black and white was king. Slowly, as time progressed, color film began to take a foothold in the industry. Once legendary color films like Kodachrome and Kodacolor became widely available, black and white became far less popular for commercial use. Now, in the digital era, almost every digital camera records information in color. Why then, would I bother viewing my images in monochrome during my shoots, even if I know I’ll deliver them in color?

Seeking to break down barriers and stereotypes and create allies, French Photographer Olivier Ciappa has created a remarkably intriguing series called "Imaginary Couples." The results are quite thought-provoking.

I hate being in front of the camera, and I think many photographers feel the same way. So when I discovered Mike Mellia and found out that his Instagram account is almost 99% self-portraits, I was more than a little impressed. But wait! Many of his selfies are also cinemagraphs? I don't know how much more impressed I can get.

Over the weekend, while millions along the Northeast were tucked away from Winter Storm Jonas, a photographer and an engaged couple despite the elements, created one attention-grabbing engagement session. The photo shoot has since gone viral and goes to show that taking advantage of unique situations can create beautiful imagery.

I’ve always been a fan of big lights. There are certainly situations where they aren’t appropriate, but a lot of my work is centered around big, soft light. What has always drawn me to large sources of light is their versatility. Almost every subject looks good with soft light. Because large light sources cause such soft gradation in the shadows, they can be useful for both younger subjects with smoother skin, or even older subjects that may have wrinkled and scarred skin. However, there is one thing that should be cleared up: the definition of a large light source.

Regardless of what genre of photography you shoot, understanding light and its characteristics is key to creating better photos. For those of us working with off-camera flash, there is another layer to the complexity: balancing ambient and artificial light. On top of that there are various modifiers that can be used for artificial lighting to replicate or create certain effects. A great way to become proficient in understanding and seeing light is to examine photographs by other photographers in your genre.

Parker Gibbons is an 18-year-old photographer and freshman student at the University of Utah. He recently shot and released a series entitled "Resolve" which shares New Year's resolutions from the subjects depicted. These simply shot images allow the subjects to be honest and silently share thoughts they may otherwise not share. The results from the series range from the more comical "Be Rad" to the more introspective and honest "Authenticity to self and others."

Vaping is a phenomenon that has swept across America and much of the First World, mostly as a safer alternative to cigarettes. The culture, however, is what has caught the attention of the media worldwide. Smoke tricks have likely been around for as long as humans have been inhaling smoke, but vaping has spawned something quite interesting out of it: smoke tricks and ridiculous plumes of vapor spilling out of people’s nostrils. Photographer Louis Amore (whom we featured last year with his portrait series of English veterans) went to a local vapor shop, Prohibition Vapes, to document a vaping competition.

One of the most popular and sought after genres of photography is taking portraits of both male and female models. Getting started can be quite an uphill battle at times. So how do you really get started?

For the majority of people, the day after Christmas is usually filled with farewells to extended family members, house cleaning, writing thank you cards, and crashing on the couch to watch the final games of the football season. But for many Americans, the day after Christmas offers a unique opportunity: a chance to head out to the firing range and test the new guns and accessories they received from loved ones. This year, I decided to take my camera out to a local rifle range and document the people and guns who showed up the day after Christmas.

Lumopro has had several flashes on the market, like the LP160 and the wildly popular LP180 of Strobist fame. This fall, however, Lumopro announced a brilliant new unit, the LP180R. As far as specifications, the LP180R is almost identical to the LP180, but there is one key difference that makes it an excellent tool for photographers both experienced and inexperienced.

As a photographer and an artist, one of the most rewarding accomplishments you’ll have is when you see your work featured in some type of way, whether it is in a magazine, an art gallery, an advertisement, etc. In this piece, I will take you behind the scenes of the exciting and riveting experience of a fashion editorial, from the preparation, to the actual shoot, post-processing, and beyond.

Have you ever tried to photograph a black and white portrait, but had trouble getting the results that you were looking for out of camera? Maybe you have played around in Lightroom, or used a simple adjustment layer in Photoshop to convert your image to black and white and adjusted the color channels, but the results were just not dramatic enough for the look that you wanted to achieve. In this tutorial, Andrei Oprinca shows you how to create a dramatic, faded, vintage-looking black and white portrait using Photoshop.

An annual award that TIME magazine started three years ago has chosen it's official 2015 winner. Stacy Kranitz is an Instagram photographer who is most famous for her work in the Appalachia area. The poverty stricken, drug and alcohol filled area is certainly an eye opening subject. But why her in particular?

As photographers, we're used to being behind the camera, contorting and squishing our faces against the viewfinder to get the shot. Wondering what we looked like behind all of that, Richard Johnson used his latest project, "Behind the Mask," to capture the moment when photographers capture a moment.

I have been unfailing in my anti-spoiler vigilance. I haven't watched previews, I haven't read articles, I haven't clicked links. A trailer came on during the finale of Fargo Monday night and I ran from the room with my hands over my ears. I'm taking this seriously. So it was with much trepidation that I finally clicked on this link I've been seeing around for Time Magazine's cover photos featuring the world-renowned R2-D2, and the king of the Weeble Wobbles BB-8.

Cooperative of Photography has brought us this slick little video that gives us a taste of the evolution of camera technology from the past 200 years condensed down into a sub-two minute demonstration. Austrian photographer Leo Rosas executes this project with a single model and 11 portraits, each representing a significant milestone in the development of photographic capture tools starting with the pinhole camera obscura, all the way to the modern cell phone.

Being involved in any creative industry usually guarantees one thing: we’re never happy with the work we produce. At least not for long. We’re constantly striving to better ourselves and the work we’re putting out. And in the age of the internet, we’re consuming more images from other photographers than ever, meaning that it’s all too easy to compare our work to that of our peers. For years I questioned my own shooting style, but here’s why I believe you should learn to love your photographic approach just the way it is.

Recently, I had the opportunity to have a conversation with photographer Noah Abrams. I talked with him about his work, some ongoing projects, and his day to day life. Noah grew up skateboarding in Columbus, Ohio. He also mentioned to me that he never truly considered photography as a career until later into his 20's, although he had dabbled with it for years throughout high school and college. To learn all of this, I began with a question that many people have for working photographers: where did your initial interest in photography come from?

Have you ever wondered how to create dramatic cross or Rembrandt lighting using only one light source? In this short, concise, three minute video, photographer and retoucher Glyn Dewis explains exactly how to create this look using one light. Whether you are using a giant octabox or a simple speedlight with a flash bender, Dewis shows you how to achieve this look with enough light to slightly spill onto the other side of the subjects face as well as how to check your lighting before even firing a shot.

Fstoppers is adding a little something extra to this week's episode of "Critique the Community." We are inviting everyone to submit your lifestyle photography images for review. This means your images shouldn't just be portraits of people, they need to be images of people in action or living some sort of life. Like we've done in the past, we will be choosing 20 images give our thoughts and feedback to. In addition to our normal critique, we will also be giving away two camera bags to two individuals who will be randomly chosen from the critiqued image pool. Submissions must be made by Sunday, December 13th.

What's your response when you're told that you're beautiful? Eighteen year-old photographer and student, Shea Glover, decided to "film what I thought was beautiful." Without intending to, she has conducted an amazing social experiment on the effect of simple positivity and a compliment. The reactions are perfect!

It is understandable that many beginners new to taking photos often get impatient when learning photography. Learning this craft is a process and involves the gradual addition of techniques that will eventually turn into second nature. We all get “the bug” and want to learn anything and everything as soon as possible, it’s natural. There are all sorts of elements that factor in to a well composed final image. The fact of the matter is, we’re all still learning new things from our experiences that we encounter.