Articles from Emma Grigoryan

Sometimes, improving your studio portraits isn’t about adding more lights—it’s about making better use of the ones you already have. This highly useful tutorial covers five essential lighting patterns in portraiture and compares the setups. In this in-depth yet quick guide, Pye Jirsa delivers clear and practical demonstrations designed to produce bold, impactful results without overcomplicating your workflow.

This morning, as I opened Instagram, something felt off. My meticulously arranged grid of square thumbnails—the hallmark of the platform since its inception—looked different. Taller. Instagram has officially replaced its iconic 1:1 square grid with a new 4:5 portrait-oriented format, marking a significant shift in the app’s layout.

Within the framework of the WWDC conference, held in June 5-9 in San Jose, California, Apple introduced an advertisement video called Appocalypse, showing the consequences of the sudden removal of mobile applications from users' devices around the world. 

When a D1 collegiate athlete becomes a photographer, you should watch out. Zach Ancell is a commercial sports photographer from Portland and has been shooting for almost 10 years now. As any self-respecting creative, he does his own personal projects between the commercials he shoots. Pan"Tone," which is one of Ancell's recent shoots caught my attention, and he kindly agreed to share all we want to know about the set.

Visual imagery, when used properly, can become one of the most powerful tools of making an impact around any disturbing topic. The recent campaign for an animal shelter World for All in India is a bright example of it. Photos of puppies and kittens might work, but I am inspired by how the creative team took this campaign beyond what we see on a regular basis. Optical illusion, more precisely figure–ground reversal, is used intentionally to create new visual images with the play of foreground and background within an existing image.

Fashion photographer Lindsay Adler, who is known for her lean, bold, and graphic style is hosting a free webinar on May 1, 2017 to help you train your eye to identify posing problems and fix them in your images. 

Samyang introduced a new cine lens to its VDSLR line-up. It's an affordable wide-angle lens suitable for filmmakers using DSLR or mirrorless cameras with a 35mm sensor. Samyang's VDSLR 16mm T2.6 offers quiet and smooth de-clicked focus and aperture gear rings. Distance scale and T numbers are marked on both sides of the lens for optimal convenience when filming.

I stepped into photography world over 10 years ago and was lucky enough to have a wide variety of clients from different parts of the world. This made it essential for me to be flexible while negotiating or taking jobs despite cultural differences, from Armenia to U.S., from Mauritius to South Africa, Singapore, various European countries, and more. Usually you will get hired based on your portfolio, but sometimes there are clients who don’t understand much about photography. This is where the danger is. Everyone wants to get top results for the money they spend by hiring you, but what is considered the best for such clients?

What is your workflow when you have to give the same color toning on a set of images? I guess like me you open an image, make your changes, then copy all those layers one by one to the other files. This sounds a logical and easy way, until you watch this video from Steven Spaulding. 

It's been 9 years since Australian photographer Alexander Khimushin left home to travel the world, and he's since been to over 80 countries. While many travelers prefer short-term sightseeing tours, Khimushin is a firm believer that off the beaten path is the only way of traveling. Meeting indigenous people all over the world was the most inspiring part of his journey. This realization led to a personal project called, "The World in Faces," which he started around three years ago.

Toronto-based Destination Wedding Photographer Derrel Ho-Shing created a video demonstrating the difference of natural light, flash, and high-speed sync. This might seem trivial at first glance, but having the same model, same setting, and three lighting approaches makes it obvious which setup is the winner, at least to me.

I love shooting on location and am passionate about deep blue skies. Usually I would use CPL and ND filters to get the best skies to my taste. A detailed article about how to get dramatic skies is described in my previous article, "The Ultimate Guide to Dramatic Skies in Portrait Photography." After the shot is taken I always play with the luminosity and saturation values of the blue tones. One issue I often face while darkening the skies via luminosity is having a white outline appear around my model. Today I will take you through a short tutorial of how to get rid of that quickly and effectively, without the need to compensate on your luminosity.

Last year, my husband and I traveled to Greece. While we were in Athens, we could not avoid crossing paths with the same couple at every sightseeing location we went to. I must have seen the entire wardrobe of the girl during those hours we walked. Her eccentric wardrobe change was not the only thing that caught my attention. It was rather strange to witness an all dressed-up girl posing alone non-stop. To me, it was definitely meant for social media.

Last year I got a chance to work with UNICEF on a maternity project where I had to work with a lot of moms-to-be and kids. I have been surrounded with kids all my life and was a new mom myself, so I instantly agreed to be part of it. This was a challenge I was happy to embrace. It is not hard to photograph your own child, a sibling, or someone you already know. Kid photography is probably one of the most difficult genres in the industry if you don’t have a proper approach. In this article I will share my knowledge and experience I gained during years of working with kids.

Three years ago Yulia Taits fell in love with the process of conceptual photography. The hard work of planning, searching for the perfect location, and matching styles to create something beautiful and magical fascinated her. Yulia was hypnotized by the pure and almost fairy tale beauty of people having Albinism since she remembers herself. Yulia always knew that she will make a project dedicated to them one day.

I am a firm believer that the very first minutes of interaction between two people is a breaking point for their collaboration. Whether you are an introvert or extrovert, you have an obligation to create a trustworthy bond, even if both of you are meant to know each other for only a couple of hours. This is especially crucial for portrait photography. The easiest way to start is being polite. A welcoming smile will break the ice and let you make a comfortable zone for both you and your subject.

I am a photographer who started shooting with daylight only, and I moved to discover new possibilities of lighting only after mastering daylight and craving more tools to create the desired images in my head. I don't believe the idea that you have to have all the possible equipment to be a good photographer or that the equipment makes you the photographer. My credo was always to master what you have available and only afterwards move to a new tool. This way, you can have all the understanding of your tools and avoid a bulk of unnecessary equipment.

I am a Sigma lens lover after they released their Art series of lens. I got very excited getting the Black Friday Instant Savings offer of up to $300 on a variety of Sigma lenses at B&H today. If you craved to get your hands on some of their lenses and were saving up to buy one, this is the right time to do so.  As an addition, most of the offers are eligible for 4% reward, it makes a double great deal.  

Hungarian photographer Flóra Borsi is not your average self-portrait artist. Many of us are satisfied with the regular glamorous makeup and looks, but Borsi shapes her own perception of the perfect selfie through her exceptional creativity. A while ago, Flóra took a picture along with her dog in which the eyes of the dog overlapped with her own, creating a feeling as though this was an eye of hers. This was the initial trigger to create the "Animeyed" project, a series of self-portraits with different animals whose facial features overlap with her own, giving an illusion of one, common eye.

There is one versatile and affordable modifier called 5-in-1 collapsible reflector kit that practically every photographer owns. As the name implies, it can be put to use five ways, but have you ever tried all the possible usage variations of this babe? Usually, it is a double-sided material with four different finishes: gold, silver, black, and white, which is zipped around a white scrim frame. We are going to analyze the characteristics of each side and see how and when to use them to our advantage, and trust me it is going to be more than five usage tips.

How do you recognize a talent? How do you predict if someone in the photography industry will become a good professional when they are just starting? Is it the level of the aesthetics you see in someone’s work, a sense of perfect balance in their compositions, their speed of mastering technical aspects of certain art, or do you just feel it in your gut? It might be an amalgamation of all, but the young Mauritian Photographer Karen Pang sure has it all, and I feel privileged to have spotted her right at the start of her career and watched her growth throughout the years.

When Mihaela Noroc, a photographer from Romania, decided to quit her job at the age of 27 to travel the globe and capture the diverse feminine beauty of the world, she had no idea it would turn to an ultra popular project in less than three years.

I am not a fan of altering the initial colors and setup of photos after the shoot is done. I prefer to look for the perfect matching background or surrounding to complement the subject I photograph beforehand. However, color grading is an essential step in my work, which completes the overall mood I aim to achieve through my photography. Being one of the most important steps in my workflow, the process usually involves a play with the luminosity, saturation, and some slight tonal tweaks. But there are times when we might have a striking color scheme, but not the perfect surroundings to complement the subject.

Living in a world full of real problems and being a creative person is a challenge. It’s a big challenge until you step to the Black Rock Desert in Nevada for the annual Burning Man festival, where the world turns into the most surreal place you could ever imagine. This happened to photographer Victor Habchy and over 70,000 other people for the largest outdoor festival dedicated to "Da Vinci's Workshop" this year.

Developing an idea for a memorable photoshoot is not an easy task. It involves concentration, creativity, discipline, managing skills, and much more depending on the type of photoshoot. Often, we start with a barely visible image in our head. But having a strong sense what we want, will help us develop it into a final, achievable visual. An inspiration is a crucial part of this algorithm. Everything can serve as an inspiration: from a dress to a hair color you saw on someone; from music to a movie you watched last night; from a color at the shop counter to a tree in your backyard. When you have something realistic to build your theme upon, things get easy. But what do you do when you have no idea where to shoot it? Your mobile phone can be your savior here.

I bet everyone has done a baby shoot in their life even if it is not their genre. I bet majority has faced magenta skin tone on the final pictures of the newborns. Whereas it might be suitable for extra realistic or photojournalistic photos, most often it doesn’t look that adorable on final images, where we visualize those sweeties in a better light and color tones.

Have you ever opened an old drawer and found an old picture of yourself, only to discover how funny you looked back then and how many insecurities you had? Merilee and her friend were remembering their teenage years. The conversation took them to the point where her friend wasn’t convinced that Merilee had any awkward years back then. This wasn’t true.

A couple of years ago, I came across a portrait of a sad owl under the rain on 500px. I couldn’t take my eyes off of it. I never knew there existed such a deep photograph of a non-human creature. I was not the only one thinking so. That picture had won an award and I discovered Shamma Esoof (Sham Jolimie), a person who advocates for animal welfare, social justice, and is passionate about nature conservation. The cherry on top was when I discovered that the author of that unforgettable owl portrait was a mutual friend on social media and was from Mauritius, a country I call my second home after Armenia.

There is a tiny island in the Indian Ocean called Mauritius that reminds me of heaven. When my husband and I got a job offer to work there some years ago, I had no idea I would meet this amazing soul that was Khatleen Minerve. Eventually, she turned into a very talented and requested photographer.

Planning a wedding is not a joke: be it small or big, from tiny decorations no one is going to remember to weather forecast. That is one of the most responsible and dear days of our lives and there is no place for drama. Whereas we can certainly prevent or solve any human born issues on that day, it might seem a nightmare to fight with the weather. 500px has put together a great list to help you find the silver lining on a rainy day.

Let’s be honest, it is very rare we come across photographers who shake us instantly, make us believe in the magic of photography at its very rawest again; photographers who get engraved in our hearts from the first sight to their work. Fan Ho was that kind of artist for me. At 84, he passed away from pneumonia on June 19, 2016 at a hospital in San Jose, California leaving us a remarkably unique body of work. I came across his magical photos this winter and since then I am hypnotized by the imagery he used to create.

Portrait photography is very diverse. While some enjoy the comfort of studio portraits and the flexibility it brings, others prefer the variety of backdrops the outdoors provides. While it is totally realistic to create all kinds of weather moods in the studio, it often involves a bigger budget, whereas one can achieve similar results for free by relying on the weather forecast and proper equipment choices.

There was a time I used to live on a paradise island called Mauritius and the summer lasted almost the whole year round. The sun was not an issue back then, as the sun protection was a ritual. The times have changed and I relocated back to my motherland Armenia, which has very severe cold winters and really hot summers. As the summer lasts only limited time we usually forget to protect ourselves from sun when it suddenly starts burning like hell.

I have known Suren Manvelyan for more than 10 years. When I first met him, I was a graphic designer who was fascinated by photography and he was a physics teacher at school who was looking for opportunities to grow as a photographer. We used to gather with our small Armenian photographer’s community each Friday to share experiences, discuss photography, and develop our skills. Years passed, a lot of the enthusiasts gave up and only a few stayed faithful to their art. Suren, on his behalf, not only grew to a professional photographer, but also didn’t give up on his other interests.

Everyone’s life journey is different and often the road of the bravest leads to the most unexpected discoveries and inspiring experiences. It is never someone else’s decision of which path we take in our way and what we become. Henri Matisse, one of the giants of modern art, once said that creativity takes courage and I can’t agree more. We, as humans, have an obligation to grow as a person, as a professional,and as an artist, and inspiration plays a major role in this process.