Learn How Each of These Portraits Were Shot Using Natural Light, Flash, and Constant Light

Natural light, flash, and constant lights all have their place in portrait photography, each with their own advantages and disadvantages. This fantastic video tutorial will show you how to take portraits using each source, making you a more versatile photographer. 

Coming to you from Manny Ortiz, this great video tutorial will show you how he shot three separate portraits: one with natural light, one with flash, and one with continuous lights. Each of these methods has advantages and disadvantages. Natural light is the most straightforward and low-cost and effort way of shooting, but its major disadvantage is that you have no control over it and you are stuck having to work at specific times of day. Flash offers you full creative control, but is also more complicated and has a bit of a learning curve. Constant light offers the control of flash and the ability to see your lighting in real-time, but normally offers less power output than flash, which can be tricky, particularly if you are shooting outdoors. For retouching, Ortiz is using Luminar AI to shorten his time spent post-processing. Check out the video above to see how he created each shot. 

If you would like to learn more about lighting for portraiture, be sure to take a look at "Illuminating The Face: Lighting for Headshots and Portraits With Peter Hurley!"

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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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