Three Tips for Taking Better Portraits in Poor Locations

It's going to happen at sometime during your career (probably a lot of times): you'll be forced to shoot in an uninspiring or just bad location. However, the potential of almost any location can be salvaged to produce good portraiture. This helpful video will give you three quick tips to do just that.

Coming to you from Manny Ortiz, this video examines how one can take a drab location and turn it into one that affords great portraiture. Wedding and environmental portrait photographers in particular will often be forced to work in locations not of their choosing, and being able to maximize the utility of said locations is crucial to their success. As Ortiz alludes to in his first tip, it's important not to think of a place as a normal observer would; what makes a great view may not make for a great photograph and vice versa. As he mentions, focus on the details, because all that matters is what you put in front of the lens, and with some careful composition and proper lens choice, that really doesn't amount to much in all actuality, meaning there are more locations ripe with good portraiture opportunities than we likely realize. 

Alex Cooke's picture

Alex Cooke is a Cleveland-based portrait, events, and landscape photographer. He holds an M.S. in Applied Mathematics and a doctorate in Music Composition. He is also an avid equestrian.

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3 Comments

Good job. Very creative and attractive shots working with a lovely model.

Good stuff, and good way to challenge oneself.

Tip 1, Start with an attractive model.