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
“Fisheye lenses are gimmicks.” Lots of photographers think so. Most have never used one, but I don’t travel without one. The 15mm f/2.8 fisheye lens from Sigma is less than three inches in diameter and length. It weighs in at
Aurora HDR is not a piece of software I use very often. But it’s one that is nice to have in my toy/toolbox to play with when I feel the need to try something different. This particular time though, I
Food photography is commonly mistaken as something that makes our mouths water. While that is definitely one of the uses of the genre, it also pays to be aware of other ways to get creative with it. Food is such
This image that you see right here — the cover one — is a photo I took with a triathlon athlete for her blog. Did I get money for that? No. Am I happy with that? Yes. Will I do
Why are passion projects so important? I really don’t think it matters what genre you photograph, or even what sort of creative you actually are. Photographer, videographer, musician, painter, sculpture, writer … if you are of the creative type, I am
Welcome to Beyond Technique, the podcast that empowers photographers to bring their businesses to the next level, brought to you by Platypod, Photofocus and Skip Cohen University. Today we chat with creative portrait photographer Gilmar Smith! Check out Platypod.com, the
The World Photography Organisation has announced the winners of its 2021 Sony World Photography Awards. This year’s winner — Craig Easton from the United Kingdom — was awarded with a $25,000 cash prize and a range of Sony imaging products.
DJI has announced the new DJI Air 2S, a portable camera drone that offers an all-in-one solution, bringing robust flight performance, state-of-the-art camera upgrades and high-grade preprogrammed content creation tools. “Every creator remembers what it felt like to fly a
A friend asked if it’s possible to make nice pictures of birds with her Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H300 bridge camera. I already knew the answer to that question but I wanted to illustrate my point. Spoiler alert: The answer is yes.
There are many composition rules that photographers are encouraged to follow. But, one of the easiest things you can do today to instantly improve your shots is filling the frame. In fact, you can learn how it’s done in just
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