Recent Portraits Articles

Creative Lighting Techniques for Maternity Photography

Photographers constantly seek ways to diversify their portfolio, especially in genres as specific as maternity photography. The use of lighting, gels, and innovative posing not only accentuates the subject’s beauty but also adds depth and variety to the images, which are helpful for creating a memorable gallery.

Elevating Your Photography With Artificial Lighting

The debate between natural light and artificial lighting in photography is ongoing, but the mastering both can significantly elevate a photographer's work and make them far more versatile. Understanding the intricacies of bringing lights on location, despite the hassle, reveals the dedication required to achieve specific artistic visions and the tangible difference it makes in the outcomes.

Mastering Portraits With Minimal Gear

Mastering the use of speedlights and a backdrop for full-body portraits is an essential skill for any photographer looking to elevate their studio work. This fantastic video tutorial offers a deep dive into this technique, showcasing the transformation of a simple setup into a professional-grade photo shoot.

The Best Canon Lenses for Portrait Photography

Choosing the right lens for portraits can significantly impact the quality and emotion conveyed in each photo. This consideration is particularly crucial for photographers specializing in family and children's portraits, as selecting an appropriate lens can address challenges such as maintaining the right distance and capturing fast-moving subjects.

Creative Lighting on a Budget: How to Do More With Less  

​​​​Harnessing the simplicity of a single light and modifier to achieve multiple photographic looks is a game-changer for photographers. This approach not only maximizes the utility of minimal gear but also pushes creative boundaries, allowing photographers to produce diverse and striking images without a vast array of equipment.

Making the Most of Natural Light in Your Portrait Photography

Too often it's easy to overlook the beauty of natural light instead of controlling that most important photography variable. But in the words of YouTuber and photographer Tung Bui, "Natural light portraits shouldn't be a challenge ... they should be enjoyable."

Mastering Light: Innovative Techniques with Strip Boxes

Strip boxes are an essential tool for photographers looking to refine their lighting techniques. Their dual functionality as both a narrow and broad light source allows for unparalleled versatility in creating both dramatic and subtle lighting effects.

A Behind the Scenes Journey Through a Challenging Self Portrait

Self-portraiture can be a showcase of technical skill but also a testament to the transformative power of creativity and determination. Through her captivating narrative and breathtaking imagery, Laura BC invites viewers to join her on a quest for artistic excellence, reminding us all that the most rewarding achievements often stem from the most challenging endeavors.

Focal Lengths and Their Impact on Your Portraits

Choosing the right focal length for portraits is more than a technical decision; it's a creative choice that significantly impacts the aesthetic and emotional tone of an image. This choice dictates not just how subjects are framed within their environment but also influences perspective, distortion, and the relationship between subject and background, making it a critical consideration for photographers aiming to craft impactful visual narratives.

The Essential Guide to Lighting Patterns for Stunning Portraits

Understanding and mastering lighting patterns is a critical skill for any photographer focusing on portraiture. This great video breaks down five primary lighting patterns and their storytelling purposes, offering invaluable insights for photographers looking to elevate their portrait work.

The Art of Using Speedlights for Dynamic Portraits

Mastering off-camera flash techniques with a speedlight is a fantastic way to get started with off-camera portrait lighting. Utilizing a speedlight away from the camera allows for more controlled, professional-looking results, transforming simple shots into meticulously crafted images.

5 Common Beauty Photography Mistakes

Navigating the nuances of beauty photography can be a complex endeavor, particularly for those just embarking on their journey in this specialized field. This helpful video tutorial addresses five common pitfalls that both novice and experienced photographers may encounter, offering invaluable insights into refining their craft and producing more captivating images.

Mastering Flash Photography: TTL Versus Manual

Understanding the differences between TTL (Through The Lens) and manual flash settings is crucial for photographers looking to enhance their control over lighting conditions. If you are new to working with flash, this helpful video tutorial will show you everything you need to know.

10 Common Posing Mistakes and How to Fix Them

Mastering the art of posing is a challenge that many photographers, regardless of their experience level, find daunting. The intricacies of creating a natural and flattering pose require a deep understanding of body language, client interaction, and technical photography skills. This multifaceted skill set is crucial for photographers aiming to deliver captivating and authentic portraits. This helpful video tutorial will show you 10 common posing mistakes and how you can fix them.

Breaking into Portrait Photography: A Beginner's Guide

Portrait photography is a sought-after skill in various sectors of the industry, including fashion, lifestyle, wedding, and commercial photography, plus much more. For aspiring photographers, venturing into portrait photography not only opens doors to many career paths but also enhances personal growth by improving communication and collaboration skills.

How to Achieve Perfect Skin Tones in Photoshop Every Time

Achieving perfect skin tones in Photoshop can be a daunting task for photographers, often requiring intricate knowledge of color grading and editing techniques. This challenge is particularly pronounced due to the wide range of skin colors and the various lighting conditions under which photos can be taken. This helpful video tutorial will show you everything you need to know to nail those skin tones every time.

What We Need For Authentic Couple Shots

As photographers, we are aware that, in general, people are not naturally comfortable being photographed. In this article, I want to show you a fundamental technique that I use to achieve energetic, real, and authentic couple portraits.

Three High-End Maternity Lighting Setups

Maternity photography is a special genre that captures the beauty and significance of motherhood. The right lighting can transform a simple photo into an evocative image that encapsulates the beauty and strength of expectant mothers. This fantastic video tutorial will show you three such lighting setups.

Harnessing Harsh Light: Transforming Challenges Into Compelling Portraits

Mastering the use of light is essential in portrait photography. Harsh light, often seen as a challenge, can actually be a powerful tool in the hands of a skilled photographer. This awesome video tutorial will show you how to harness harsh light to create a compelling portrait.

Sleek and Modern: Here is why you Should Print your Images on Metal

Every photographer knows that moment when you realize you have created a special image. Those images deserve to be printed, and there are times when paper and frames just won't do. Metal Prints take the art of printing to the next level. In this article, we discuss why you might want to invest in Metal Prints.

Mastering Your First Photo Shoot

Planning your first photo shoot can be a daunting yet thrilling experience, especially in the realms of beauty and fashion photography. Kayleigh June, a seasoned beauty and fashion photographer, delves into this topic, offering invaluable insights and practical steps to make your first photo shoot a success. Her expertise is crucial for budding photographers looking to make a mark in the industry.

Golden Hour Photography: A Guide to Mastering the Magic Light

Golden hour, the time just after sunrise or before sunset, offers a unique and enchanting light that photographers love. This magical hour presents an opportunity to create images with a warm, soft, and dreamy quality that can't be replicated at any other time of the day. This helpful video tutorial offers 10 tips sure to improve your portraits.

Tips for Photographing Local Models While Traveling

Traveling and photography are a perfect match. It’s so fun to photograph in a new place. Yet, for portrait photographers, locating models while abroad can be a challenge. There's nothing more disheartening than finding yourself in an incredible place with no one to photograph. Here are some tips for finding models while you travel!

Composition Tips When Using a 24-70mm Zoom Lens

The 24-70mm lens is highly coveted by photographers from all backgrounds due to the array of possibilities with this wide to mid range zoom. Photographer Julia Trotti shares key composition tips to help get the most out of the range of this zoom lens.

How To Use Foreshortening for Creative Portraits

In my journey as a portrait photographer, I've found foreshortening to be a creative look that you can use to produce some dynamic images. But what is foreshortening, and how can it add some dynamism to your portraits? Let's dive in.

Sculpting Storytelling Light for Engagement Photos

Capturing the spirit of love’s celebrations demands thoughtful artistry behind the lens. In his latest tutorial, seasoned wedding shooter Pye Jirsa demonstrates essential techniques for intentionally crafting evocative engagement portraits through deliberate light shaping. Through five versatile lighting recipes, Jirsa spotlights how to create desired moods and contexts to transform setups into narrative tools.

Unfold The Beauty of Layflat Photo Books

There are many options out there for printing and presenting your images. In this article, we look at the multitude of benefits of creating a Layflat Photo Book and shed light on why they are fast becoming a favorite amongst professional photographers looking for a budget-minded alternative to Flush Mount Albums.


Sculpting Style With Light: Unlocking Artistic Vision Through Multi-Flash Setups

Many photographers looking to pursue more conceptual portraiture are intimidated by elaborate lighting configurations required to achieve intensely stylized effects. However, this excellent video tutorial makes the case that venturing beyond single-source illumination opens doors for bringing unique creative visions vibrantly to life.

Mastering Off-Camera Flash: Avoid These Common Mistakes

Learning to shoot with off-camera flash brings a whole new level of control and creativity to photography. But along with the endless possibilities comes ample room for slip-ups. This fantastic video tutorial outlines the five most common mistakes people make when first stepping into off-camera lighting, along with fixes to set you up for success.

Choosing the Ideal Lens for Portrait Photography

Selecting the right lens for portrait photography is a pivotal decision for photographers of all levels. This comprehensive video offers valuable insights into the intricate world of portrait lenses with in-depth exploration of various lens types, from prime lenses to zooms, wide angles to telephotos, making it an invaluable resource for photographers seeking to refine their portrait photography skills.

How to Make Flash Look Like Natural Light

Sometimes, you want the look of natural light, but there simply is not enough of it available for a properly balanced exposure. With a little bit of know-how, though, you can replicate the look of natural light, allowing you to create that look whenever and wherever. This helpful video tutorial features an experienced photographer showing you how to do just that.

How Hard Light Can Be Just as Good as Soft Light for Portraits

Creating standout portraits hinges on understanding and controlling light. This excellent video tutorial illuminates how to balance bright sunlight with off-camera flash to sculpt dimension and mood and shows that hard light can be just as compelling as soft light.

My Experience Attending The Felix Kunze New York Lighting Workshop

Attending a portrait workshop with a photographer that you greatly admire can be an intimidating experience. Last month, I had the opportunity to spend a day at the New York Lighting Workshop with photographer extraordinaire, Felix Kunze, and it was not at all what I expected.

How to Deal With Harsh Sunlight in Portrait Photography

The beauty of working with flash is that you can walk into any lighting situation and shape it to your creative vision and needs, and that frees you from relying on the sun to cooperate and to dictate your shoot's timing and location. Perhaps no scenario is more challenging than harsh midday light. This helpful video tutorial will show you how to use off-camera flash to work with that harsh light to create compelling portraits.

4 Helpful Tips for Your First Portrait Shoot

Portrait photography is a challenging genre, but within it are numerous creative paths and rewarding adventures if you are willing to put in the time to learn and grow. This fantastic video tutorial offers beginners four helpful tips that will help you tackle your first shoot.

How You Can Use AI to Create Portrait Backgrounds

There has been a lot of frustration and uncertainty in the photography world regarding artificial intelligence, but it also has a lot of potential as a legitimate tool for photographers to expand their creative capabilities and make their workflows more efficient. This awesome video tutorial will show you how one photographer is using AI to generate impressive backgrounds for his portraiture work, including how to customize and seamlessly blend them for convincing final images.

How to Light a Group Portrait

It takes a lot of skill and experience to light a portrait of a single person, but lighting groups can be an entirely different challenge. Nonetheless, depending what you shoot, you may be called upon to photograph groups. When that happens, you will want to be ready to transition quickly. This great video tutorial will show you an effective and straightforward approach for producing quality group photos.

7 Tips for Getting Started With Portrait Photography

Portrait photography is a popular but challenging genre, as it requires good technical skills with your camera and lighting, the ability to pose people and make them feel comfortable, and solid capabilities when it comes time to edit the image. If you are new to the genre and looking to improve, check out this helpful video tutorial that offers seven tips sure to put you on the right track.

How to Use the Modern Frequency Separation Method in Photoshop

For those who have been editing portraits in Adobe Photoshop for a while, frequency separation is likely something you'll be aware of. If you haven't, it is a technique used for skin retouching. The most modern way of performing this technique is better and easier than ever.
Four Useful Two-Light Portrait Photography Setups

It is important to start learning artificial light with a single source, as this will allow you to better understand the properties and fundamental behavior of light. Once you have mastered that, though, adding a second light will open up a lot of creative possibilities that simply would not be achievable otherwise. This fantastic video tutorial features an experienced studio photographer sharing four effective two-light setups for working with models.

How to Light a Portrait Using a Speedlight

While learning artificial lighting can feel a bit daunting, it makes you a far more versatile photographer and frees you up to explore many creative avenues that would not be possible otherwise. You do not need to start with expensive equipment, though; a speedlight and small modifier are a portable and affordable way to learn. This excellent video tutorial will show you everything you need to know to photograph a portrait using a speedlight.

A Beginner's Guide to Lighting Outdoor Portraits With Flash

Flash can feel a bit daunting to photographers who have not used it before, particularly when you take it outside and have to learn to balance it with the sun. You will find it a lot easier if you master a few fundamental concepts first, and it will make you a far more versatile portrait photographer. If you are ready to start learning, check out this fantastic video tutorial that will show you everything you need to know.

Canvas Is Still King: Canvas Gallery Wrap Gives the Portrait Printing Classic a Modern Makeover

If you offer portrait services in any way, be it weddings or family portraits, you will have sold a fair few stretched canvases in your time. Other wall products have come and gone over the years, but in this article, we explore why canvas is still that go-to product for photographers to showcase their work to portrait clients and suggest an elevated version to help you stand out from the rest.

How This Photographer Made Six Figures in a Single Month With Less Than 20 Clients

For many photographers, the pursuit of passion is often overshadowed by the looming fear of financial instability. Visions of artistic fulfillment are frequently interrupted by sleepless nights, wondering if next month’s bills will be covered. In a saturated market where every other person with a camera considers themselves a photographer, standing out and making a comfortable living can seem like an elusive dream. But what if amidst these swirling doubts, you came across a story so compelling, it reignites the fire in your belly and renews your faith in the power of persistence and innovation?