Pye Jirsa is a director, photographer and educator. Founder and Partner of Lin and Jirsa Photography, a boutique Southern California wedding and portrait photography studio, and SLR Lounge, a photography education website, Pye devotes his time to helping photographers develop their shooting and business skills.
Website: slrlounge.com
Photographing a couple from up close can drastically change the way your image feels. Getting up close with a wide angle lens creates a sense of action and aliveness that draws the viewer in.
Don't get me wrong, natural light and golden hour are gorgeous and a huge part of what we do. But, in addition to these types of photographs, we have built our name on imagery that differs from the typical wedding or couples photograph. Our studio (Lin and Jirsa Photography) has become known for unique and epic environmental portraits. While almost every client wants golden hour imagery, these stand-out epics help draw clients to our brand in the first place.
All it takes is this simple composition tip to take your portraits to a new level. In this video and article, I'll be demonstrating this tip and how you can use it in post-production to completely transform your photographs.
In-camera special effects are a great and fun way to emphasize a story in photography. Many of these special effects that seem high production are actually quite easy to accomplish using the tools we already have or are easy to get. Today, I'll be showing you how to create one of my signature portraits, the Day vs. Night.
Phone photography has come a long way since its flip phone origins. Today, you might not even be able to tell the difference between a photo taken by a phone and a dedicated camera.
Some of my favorite creative photography techniques to use are those that allow us to capture moments in ways we could never see using just our eyes. One technique, in particular, that I turn to for capturing unique portraits involves using long exposure, aka shutter drag. Long exposure portraits open up a number of creative possibilities and often result in “wow” moments with my clients. Putting the technique to use does require some skill and preparation, but it’s easy enough to master once you know the basics.
When we think of family portraits, we often picture the traditional looks: everyone lined up, smiling, and well dressed. Family lifestyle photography, on the other hand, shines a new light on family portraiture. Rather than posing everybody perfectly, lifestyle captures the personality and dynamics of the family. The spontaneity is a great addition to a complete family album. Let's begin by seeing how the two styles differ.
This video is a sneak peek into SLR Lounge Premium Library with a chapter from our new course, Family Photography 101. This is a complete course on capturing memorable and unique family portraits. In this video, I had Shivani with me as we compared family lifestyle photography with traditional portraits.
Photographers understand that marketing is essential to attracting new clients and growing their business. However, marketing strategies are constantly evolving, so what worked in the past isn’t always going to work in the present or future. In this article, we will share three photography marketing tricks and hacks that actually work based on our 12-plus years of experience operating a successful multi-shooter studio!
Photographers often look for the "epic" shot — the one that will stand out, get thousands of social media likes, and get printed by our clients for wall art. While these photos are important, it's also essential to slow down and look for the other images in the scene that help tell a story and capture the vibe and emotion of the moment. In this video, we'll review a simple storytelling framework called "Wide, Medium, Tight" to help you find these opportunities.
Most photographers focus their business growth strategies on booking more clients. However, the most financially savvy photographers understand the full revenue equation, i.e. revenues equals the number of clients multiplied by the average revenue per client. So, for example, if you want to double your revenue next year, you can either double the amount of bookings or you can double the revenue you make for each booking. In this article, we’ll teach you photography pricing tips to help you charge more for each client that you book.
If you’re a wedding or event photographer, it’s likely you’ve come across mixed lighting situations, and understanding how to work with or around it is crucial. If done right, mixed lighting can have a flattering effect and can add visual interest and depth to your photos.
Rain in the forecast can be a disappointment for photographers and their clients, especially if they planned an outdoor photoshoot. Rain can ruin the vision for perfect, directional lighting that was originally planned, making it difficult to capture the desired mood or atmosphere. However, instead of rescheduling or moving the shoot entirely indoors, photographers have an opportunity to capture interesting and creative photos with an outdoor rain photoshoot. In this article, we’ll provide you with some rain photoshoot tips to prepare and inspire your creativity.
If you're a photographer constantly on the go, the gear you carry with you plays a crucial role. In addition, as technology improves and the demand for quality content increases, we continue to consolidate our gear and fit everything we need into a small backpack.
Golden hour is a magical time of the day for photography, characterized by warm and soft light that can turn even the most mundane scenes into stunning works of art. This period occurs twice a day, during the hour after sunrise and the hour before sunset, and is highly sought after by photographers for its dreamy and ethereal qualities.
We call this the "environmental shutter drag portrait." A shutter drag portrait is a portrait that uses slow shutter speeds to capture the motion around the subject. This technique is best done in a big grand scene full of action and detail. The eye-catching nature of these shutter drag portraits makes them perfect for impressing clients and serving as the highlight photo for every album and event. Today, I'll be walking through 10 easy steps on how to photograph your own shutter drag portrait.
