Articles written by Pye Jirsa

Foreground elements in photography do more than just fill space. When used with intent, they can introduce context, enhance storytelling, provide frames that guide the viewer's attention, create balance, and elevate the visual appeal of the images. Whether you're a hobbyist or a professional, understanding how to effectively use foregrounds can enhance your photography. In this guide to foreground photography, we'll explain the effect of foregrounds and provide you with tips and inspiration for using them effectively in your portrait photography.

In the competitive world of photography, closing a high percentage of your sales meetings is crucial for success. However, many photographers make common mistakes that hinder their chances of sealing the deal. To help you improve your sales approach and increase your conversion rate, here are five key rules to follow. By implementing these strategies, you'll be equipped to establish strong connections with clients, effectively communicate value, and ultimately close every sale.

Rain in the forecast can be a disappointment for photographers and their clients, especially if they planned an outdoor photoshoot. Rain can ruin the vision for perfect, directional lighting that was originally planned, making it difficult to capture the desired mood or atmosphere. However, instead of rescheduling or moving the shoot entirely indoors, photographers have an opportunity to capture interesting and creative photos with an outdoor rain photoshoot. In this article, we’ll provide you with some rain photoshoot tips to prepare and inspire your creativity.

Most photographers focus their business growth strategies on booking more clients. However, the most financially savvy photographers understand the full revenue equation, i.e. revenues equals the number of clients multiplied by the average revenue per client. So, for example, if you want to double your revenue next year, you can either double the amount of bookings or you can double the revenue you make for each booking. In this article, we’ll teach you photography pricing tips to help you charge more for each client that you book.

Some of my favorite creative photography techniques to use are those that allow us to capture moments in ways we could never see using just our eyes. One technique, in particular, that I turn to for capturing unique portraits involves using long exposure, aka shutter drag. Long exposure portraits open up a number of creative possibilities and often result in “wow” moments with my clients. Putting the technique to use does require some skill and preparation, but it’s easy enough to master once you know the basics.

All it takes is this simple composition tip to take your portraits to a new level. In this video and article, I'll be demonstrating this tip and how you can use it in post-production to completely transform your photographs.

There's a good chance you've heard of the "Ring of Fire," a technique popularized by wedding and portrait photographer Sam Hurd. The Ring of Fire is a special effects technique that uses a piece of copper tube to reflect light and create a highlight flare in the shape of a ring. This technique has been widely adopted, and to create this effect for yourself is pretty easy. Today, I'll be walking through the steps to transform your portraits using the famous Ring of Fire technique.

For the longest time, my favorite lens on any camera system was a 35mm wide-aperture prime. The focal length forced me to get "in the action" for impactful portraits, yet it was wide enough to capture wide angle scenes. But a new lens has recently won my heart and assumed the top spot in my kit. In this video and article, I'll be walking through a photoshoot while demonstrating why the Canon RF 28-70mm f/2 lens is my favorite lens of all time.

Last week, we walked through How to Capture an Environmental Shutter Drag Portrait. A shutter drag portrait is a portrait that captures movement around a subject using slower shutter speeds. Following the steps in the video, we wound up at a final raw image. In this video and article, I'll be walking through the editing process from start to finish in both color as well as black and white to get to our final images!