We are so lucky! We get to be present for the most memorable and special days in people’s lives. In fact, most of the time our pictures end up being the memory people keep from the day, the image in
It’s important to keep a shoot moving along, keep your subjects engaged, and keep up appearances that you know what you’re doing, right? We all want to appear to be in confident control. However, it’s also important to pay attention
At weddings, you shoot portraits as quickly as possible so that your couples can spend as much time with their families as possible. I was an assistant shooter at this wedding with Lisa Robinson a while ago, and she set
I look at a lot of portraits and I can confidently offer a general critique of 99% of them. I see work from photographers who make very good portraits with great lighting and terrific wardrobe and beautiful people, but they
When you make a picture–any kind of picture–you should think, “What word would I use to describe this picture?” From what I’ve seen on the interwebs, lately, the word most people seem to choose for their portraits is simply “sexy.”
When people see your picture, they should say, “Wow, that’s a great photograph,” not, “Wow, that’s a well-lit photograph.” Once you start using flashes, it’s like having a hammer in your hand: everything looks like a nail that needs to
When the eyes are visible in a portrait, they should usually be the point of focus for the viewer–your viewer should snap right up to those eyes and linger there. Many things can distract from the eyes–hands, earrings, noserings (the
Having photographed thousands of people, it’s true that most people have a ‘camera smile’, and most people desire ‘natural expressions’ in their pictures. Whether you’re photographing children or adults or groups, there are two tools you can use to elicit
The Holidays are one of the best times to make pictures. (Check out Bryan’s and Lauri’s articles for some terrific ideas.) And it’s a great time to photograph kids–if you haven’t discovered it, yet, a simple truth is that the
There are so many things to think about when making portraits that leaving your white balance set to auto is a tempting proposition. Especially when everyone raves about how good each new camera’s auto white balance settings are. Don’t fall
Group pictures can be intimidating. All the skills you’ve mastered to make a person look great in a picture now have to be applied to a bunch of folks all at once, and that’s not easy. Let me share a
Vitreous is a great word. It’s used to describe something that looks glassy or shiny. It comes from the Latin word that means glass. I think one of the most important things you can do in your portraits is to
At weddings, you shoot portraits as quickly as possible so that your couples can spend as much time with their families as possible. I was an assistant shooter at this wedding with Lisa Robinson a while ago, and she set
I look at a lot of portraits and I can confidently offer a general critique of 99% of them. I see work from photographers who make very good portraits with great lighting and terrific wardrobe and beautiful people, but they
When you make a picture–any kind of picture–you should think, “What word would I use to describe this picture?” From what I’ve seen on the interwebs, lately, the word most people seem to choose for their portraits is simply “sexy.”
When people see your picture, they should say, “Wow, that’s a great photograph,” not, “Wow, that’s a well-lit photograph.” Once you start using flashes, it’s like having a hammer in your hand: everything looks like a nail that needs to
When the eyes are visible in a portrait, they should usually be the point of focus for the viewer–your viewer should snap right up to those eyes and linger there. Many things can distract from the eyes–hands, earrings, noserings (the
Having photographed thousands of people, it’s true that most people have a ‘camera smile’, and most people desire ‘natural expressions’ in their pictures. Whether you’re photographing children or adults or groups, there are two tools you can use to elicit
The Holidays are one of the best times to make pictures. (Check out Bryan’s and Lauri’s articles for some terrific ideas.) And it’s a great time to photograph kids–if you haven’t discovered it, yet, a simple truth is that the
There are so many things to think about when making portraits that leaving your white balance set to auto is a tempting proposition. Especially when everyone raves about how good each new camera’s auto white balance settings are. Don’t fall
Group pictures can be intimidating. All the skills you’ve mastered to make a person look great in a picture now have to be applied to a bunch of folks all at once, and that’s not easy. Let me share a
Vitreous is a great word. It’s used to describe something that looks glassy or shiny. It comes from the Latin word that means glass. I think one of the most important things you can do in your portraits is to
I’ve said many times that the background in a picture is just a backdrop that’s its job is to not ruin the portrait. Well, this time I’m backpedaling a little. The right background or environment or details for your picture
If you’re like me, you get calls all the time to make portraits at your client’s favorite park. The trouble is that your client doesn’t think about the park as a place for pictures, they just think about them as
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