Make your subjects look their best with our professional portrait photography tips, covering lighting setups, location scouting and tips for working with models.
Head in a cloud. It’s the final line in the chorus of The Paper Kites’ new single “Young.” And it’s also the way viewers feel as they watch the song’s music video—a stop motion masterpiece created by Oh Yeah Wow that combines over 4,000 headshots of 350 different models. As the video rapidly shifts between […]
Back in the 80s and 90s window lighting was very avant-garde and fashionable. However, the window was always part of the scene. The subject was facing directly into the window or at a 45-degree angle so the light would softly illuminate the side facing the window. Reflectors were sometimes used to fill in the shadow […]
As skeptics by nature, many times we refuse to believe something until we’ve seen it. This tendency creates numerous societal problems, but it also gives visual art forms like photography the power and potency to cause social change. Shannon Johnstone, a professor and photographer from North Carolina, seeks to do just that through her current […]
In previous articles, we’ve discussed photo lighting patterns where we place the light source to the side of the subject–split lighting, loop lighting and Rembrandt lighting–and create shadows that go off to the side. Continuing with our series of portrait photography lighting patterns, today’s photo tip discusses butterfly lighting. Keep in mind that shadows create […]
We often talk about portrait techniques in terms of the technical: how to achieve a masterfully-crafted composition of someone’s facial features. But when it comes down to it, a great portrait is not about posing, or lighting, or meticulous post-processing; it’s about the person, and what we understand about them through the image. In his […]
Learning to shoot portraits proficiently and efficiently with natural light involves knowledge, skills, gear and techniques that all developing portrait photographers should acquire. Skilled use of natural light can often far exceed the results captured with the aid of flashes or strobes. But it is most important to understand all the possibilities of natural light […]
Umbrellas are great lighting tools for beginners and pros alike. They’re not too hard to figure out, and they give you great light coverage that you didn’t have before. A more advanced technique with umbrellas is using them to imitate natural light. In this tutorial, Jay P Morgan shows you how to use umbrellas to […]
Have you ever tried to create a lovely portrait but didn’t know how? It’s not hard to create a beautiful portrait. The secret is the lighting. You don’t always need thousands of dollars in photographic lighting equipment to create a good portrait. In fact, all you need is a window. If window light is so […]
If you had to choose a few words to sum up 2013, selfies would be one of them. Facebook and other social media sites have become saturated in these self-portraits usually taken with a cell phone camera. But Jonathan Tucker‘s latest photo is no ordinary selfie. This photographer took the time to capture a photo […]
When it comes to shooting stunning portraits, lighting can be the X factor in making your pictures pop. This new eBook is designed to help you better harness the potential of light in your photos, communicate emotion more powerfully through every portrait, learn the techniques pros use to capture stunning portrait photography, and understand the […]
