Creating successful portrait photos takes the confluence of a wide range of skills and as such, it can be quite challenging. If you are looking to improve your portrait photos, check out this great video tutorial that offers a range of tips in just five minutes.
Coming to you from Manny Ortiz, this helpful video tutorial will show you a range of quick tips for improving your portrait photography. One tip that I think is particularly useful is the importance of not being quick to dismiss locations. Locations that seem boring to the eye can actually be quite compelling for portrait work, especially if they have interesting patterns, textures, or interplay between colors. In particular, remember that the entire space does not need to be interesting; all it takes is just a little patch that can surround your subject and fill the frame (this is often much smaller than you might think). As such, almost any location can be used to make compelling portraits as long as you have a careful eye and a bit of imagination and you compose your frames in a thoughtful way. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Ortiz.
Step 1: Teach your subject to hold the camera properly
That's not being a snob? Holding a camera correctly can make a difference between a sharp or a fuzzy result. First lesson that I used to teach a long time ago was camera stability. I don't see that things have changed all that much since then.
Things have indeed changed in 2 major ways since you learned your “First lesson”. First, cameras have IBIS and don’t require as much stability. Second, ISO performance has gotten so much better, that a shooter might be shooting at a shutter speed of 2,000 which again, negates the need for stability. The first time I saw a “real” photographer using the rear screen to compose it looked ridiculous. Today I’ve come to understand that a lot of pros shoot this way and I do it myself for certain types of shots where I don’t want to actually bend down to achieve certain angles. As technology continues to improve it is important that older photographers accept the changes that these improvements bring. It is entirely possible that “important” lessons learned decades ago will have no relevance tomorrow or even today.
Really? I think this guy's videos are the worst to appear here on FS. The content is mostly ridiculous and not worth mentioning. "Don't be afraid of trying something new..." said the mom to her little child.