Recent Portraits Articles

Gobos: An Affordable and Expressive Solution for Creating Interesting Backgrounds

A white backdrop is an incredibly versatile piece of equipment, and a must have for any studio photographer. But if you want to mix things up a bit, and you don't want to fork out for another background — like one of these beautiful hand-painted ones — or you just want to have some creative fun, making a gobo is a fantastically adaptable alternative.

Artist Captures Video Portrait of Daughter Once a Week for 20 Years

A Dutch artist has created a video documenting twenty years by taking a short video of his daughter once a week for twenty years. That adds up to 1040 different clips that combine to make an amazing piece that might leave you needing some tissue.

The Best Images from GuruShots "Amazing Men" Challenge

GuruShots is a website that hosts, "The World’s Greatest Photo Game,” in which it invites participants to submit their best photos to various challenges. They have receive thousands of entries and millions of votes and recently hosted the "Amazing Men" challenge. Check out the three winners of the challenge below as well as the 100 top rated images below.

What's It Like to Shoot a $30,000 100-Megapixel Camera?

In my ramblings as a photographer over the last decade and a half, I've shot with almost every brand of commercial digital camera out there. However, most of my experience has been in the realm of common crop-sensor and full-frame cameras. I've always seen the more exotic offerings in medium format digital as beyond my reach and therefore, not worth thinking about.

Capture One Offers Unique and Powerful Benefits For Portrait Photography

The landscape of the portrait photographer has certainly been in flux over the last decade, in which time we’ve seen photos of people go from unreal alabaster-like skin to something much more real, color grading become prominent, and image resolution grow, even though the consumption of images has moved largely to smaller screens.

Photographer Shoots Fashion Images on Top of the World's Deepest Lake

A photographer has released a captivating collection of images combining elements of both landscape and fashion, as she photographs models wearing extravagant dresses atop the deepest lake in the world, located in southern Siberia, Russia, which remains frozen for most of the year.

Photographer Captures Dogs Displaying Human Expressions

A photography duo has together worked on photographing more than 500 animals over the last two-and-a-half years in order to create a series that documents pets demonstrating human-like expressions.

Taking Wet Plate Portraits of Climate Change Activist Greta Thunberg

A photographer had a 20-minute photo session with 16-year-old Swedish climate change activist Greta Thunberg, during which he produced these wet-plate portraits. As her schedule was tight, the photographer took his portable darkroom setup to the field and shot the images during Thunberg’s appearance at Standing Rock.

20 Posing Ideas for Men Who Aren't Models

Professional models can take a lot of the burden off the photographer by bringing their posing expertise to the table. However, you will not always have the benefit of shooting with a professional model, and it is important to have the ability to pose normal people. This great video will show you lots of posing ideas for men who are not models.

Behind the Scenes on a Backyard Studio Shoot

Not everyone has the luxury of having tons of room in their home for a photoshoot or large enough windows for those natural light photographers. Without having to leave the comfort of your home, one option for some would be to take their studio setup outside, weather permitting, of course.

Hack Your Camera and Taser Your Subjects, Yes Really

Hacked cameras, tasers, and portrait photography are not elements you'd usually find together, and for very good reason too! This creative programmer is about to combine all these things for some hilarious photographic results.

Ask the Pros: Five Tips for Better Portrait Photography

Portrait photographers know how overwhelming it can feel to create work that depends on collaboration with a complete stranger. With this in mind, I asked five professional photographers in central Texas for their top portrait photography tips.

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.