Make your subjects look their best with our professional portrait photography tips, covering lighting setups, location scouting and tips for working with models.
Black and white photographs are usually associated with directional, harsh light. This results in high contrast images which are attractive to the eye. But what about soft light? Does it work with black and white images? Photographer Mark Wallace from Adorama tries it out in this video: Using a Hard Light Modifier Wallace starts off […]
Catchlights are often the key to impactful photos of people. They inject a sense of life into a portrait and immediately grab the viewer’s attention. Professional portrait photographer Miguel Quiles shares how you can create interesting catchlights to take stunning portraits: “A catchlight is a light source that causes a specular highlight in a subject’s […]
A single flash used as an overhead light can deliver great results. However, if you work in a small home studio with limited ceiling height, it can pose a challenge. Photographer Gavin Hoey from Adorama shows you how you can place a softbox overhead to create an impact in your images: The first important thing […]
Windows act as wonderful sources of natural light for indoor portraits. Place your subject close to a window, and you can get beautiful natural lighting. However, when the window gets included in the shot, this can trick the camera’s metering quite easily. Photographer Gavin Hoey from Adorama explains how you can take control of the […]
Extraordinary portraits do not require extraordinary gear. In fact, just one off camera flash can work wonders. A properly executed portrait, with an interesting expression, good composition and lighting has more power, more magic, and more allure to more people than any other type of photo. With a few tricks and a modicum of knowledge […]
Where you place a softbox greatly determines how a subject looks in an image. A softbox also sets a photo’s mood. While a softbox is usually placed in front of a subject, photographer Gavin Hoey from Adorama demonstrates what happens when it is moved to different positions: Softbox in Front of Model Hoey starts out […]
Knowing how to pose your portrait subjects is crucial. Many photographers struggle in this area. As a result, they resort to guides and reference images, which may not suit their subjects. The resulting images thus seem forced and unnatural. Professional portrait photographer Miguel Quiles shares one easy trick that you can use to pose anyone: […]
Vincent van Gogh had it right: a clear, starry night can make a gorgeous background. However, photographers often experience lighting and focusing difficulties when trying to incorporate stars into their images. In this short video tutorial, photographer Matt Granger demonstrates how to use stars to your own photographic advantage by creating what he calls an “astro selfie”: […]
Adding creative elements to your portraits is an effective way of making them appear more interesting. And you don’ need to spend too much of your hard earned cash to do so. Photographers Lin and Jirsa share five cheap lens hacks to help you take your portraits to the next level: 1. Plastic Wrap Crush […]
Low key photography is useful for creating dramatic, high contrast photographs. Photographer Mark Wallace from Adorama demonstrates how you can achieve a low key look using one light: Normally, during a portrait photo shoot, the key light is turned toward the model. As Wallce demonstrates, the trick to low key photography is to turn the […]
