White balance is always trying to pull a fast one on you and sneak by with the wrong color in your photographs. Here's the case in point, today: It's a sunny day, not a cloud in the sky, so you set the white balance to Daylight, which is just what the camera manufacturer advises you to do. But then you end up with a picture like this that has significantly too much blue in the skin tones. What the heck? Shade is Sneaky The trouble is that although the subject is standing in the sun, the light shining on her face is actually coming from … [Read more...] about Portrait Tips: The Sneaky Secret of White Balance
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Portrait Tips: Watching & Practice Are Key For Kids
Do you ever feel like Nemo's dad, Marlin, from Finding Nemo? He meets a new group of fish and they say, "Hey, you're a clownfish: Say something funny!" Once people find out you're a photographer, the pressure is on to be able to make a great photo on the spot under any conditions and one of the hardest of those circumstances can be photographing children. But I've found one key that helps me photograph kids, and that's practicing being observant. Readiness from Watching Now, don't go get your binoculars and hang out at the park, 'cause that's … [Read more...] about Portrait Tips: Watching & Practice Are Key For Kids
Portrait Tips: A Layered Workflow for Retouching
Retouching the portraits you make can be a lot of fun, and it can be a lot of frustration. I realize that I've retouched thousands of portraits and one thing that makes it more fun than frustration is simply the way you go about it — the workflow. Let me show you how using layers in your retouching allows you freedom and creativity and reproducibility. I'll demonstrate using Luminar, but you can get similar results using any layered app. Basics Start by doing your basic tweaks — adjust the camera profile and white balance, which are in … [Read more...] about Portrait Tips: A Layered Workflow for Retouching
Portrait Tips: Make Special Day Portraits
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 their mind is one of the photos we made. This is true for weddings, reunions, birthday parties and even funerals. But you can do a little more for your clients and subjects. You can remind them to make pictures on the anniversary of those days, and offer to do it for them. B-days and Anniversaries Birthdays and anniversaries are the simplest to … [Read more...] about Portrait Tips: Make Special Day Portraits
Portrait Tips: Zoom To Remove Background Problems
Zooming in, using a longer focal length to make a picture, makes your subject look bigger and closer. But you should remember that when you zoom in on your subject, you zoom in on the whole world. That means that the background becomes closer, too. Your whole field of view becomes smaller. So what does that mean for your portraits? Just yesterday I was making portraits in the park. The trouble was that just as I was about to make the portraits, a couple of kids wandered into the frame in the background. I had only a few minutes to make these … [Read more...] about Portrait Tips: Zoom To Remove Background Problems
Portrait Tips: The Critical Time
Photographs extend one instant for eternity. That's a long time and when you're making a portrait that will last forever, the instant most critical to your success is when your subjects first step into your studio. That first impression will set the stage for the rest of the shoot. Now, when I say 'studio' that includes the park, or the office, or wherever you're making pictures that day. There are three things I do that make a big impact on how the shoot will go, and these three things, done your own way, will impact your shoots for the … [Read more...] about Portrait Tips: The Critical Time
Portrait Tips: The Best Selfie Method–Shoot a Time Lapse
Selfie's with your phone are fun, but you can do so much if you use your camera. You can control the depth of field, lighting, lens choice, and you can place the camera somewhere other than arm's length. All cameras have a timer built into them, and many of them allow you take three shots on a single timer setting so that you have more opportunity to get into the frame and get everyone looking the same direction. But even better than using the timer is using the timelapse mode--especially for photographing your own family. Time-lapse … [Read more...] about Portrait Tips: The Best Selfie Method–Shoot a Time Lapse
Portrait Tips: Cut the Rim Light
Making portraits with a rim light is awesome. It gives depth and punch and when you do it really well you'll notice that it looks more natural. Take a close look the next time you're having a conversation anyplace with windows and you'll probably see that the person you're talking with has a rim light illuminating their cheek from one side. That rim light will help you make a lot of people happy with their portraits (which helps you make a lot of money). You should always use a rim light. And you should always turn it off. Simplicity … [Read more...] about Portrait Tips: Cut the Rim Light
Portrait Tips: Crop the Top
When you make a portrait, your aim should be for maximum impact. Emotion, lighting, and movement all lend impact to a picture, but the way you frame the photo also makes a huge difference. the closer you get to your subject, the more intimate and impactful the picture will be. Off With Their Heads! Considering that most headshots are viewed on very small screens and business cards, the more impact the better. By cropping off the top of the heads you give more room in the frame for the eyes, which are the most important thing in every … [Read more...] about Portrait Tips: Crop the Top
Portrait Tips: Fix It Now, Not In Photoshop
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 and make adjustments so that you don't waste time making pictures that are going to cost you more work to finish than they may be worth. Let me give you some examples. Lint & Pet Hair You will spend decades of your life retouching lint and hair off suits and jackets if you don't catch it before you start … [Read more...] about Portrait Tips: Fix It Now, Not In Photoshop
Portrait Tips: Know Your Software
Here's a quick tip that will help you be more creative while shooting and manage details. You need to know your software tools at least as well as you know your camera and lights. This has been on my mind, lately, behind I've been demonstrating Luminar for lots of folks and it's amazed me how quickly I've been able to integrate it into my workflow and understand how it can affect my pictures. Photoshop isn't New "Getting it right in the camera" is often invoked as the hallmark of a good photographer, but it's a big misconception. Ever since … [Read more...] about Portrait Tips: Know Your Software
Portrait Tips: Why You Shouldn’t Use Auto White Balance
I should have followed this rule the other day. I photographed 50 people in a row and I need to finish all of those pictures for delivery. It’d be a lot easier to get a great starting point if I had shot a white balance target to begin with. Why Not Use Auto White Balance? Auto white balance reads the colors in the scene and makes a judgment about how to compensate for those colors. It’s supposed to make the color of light look great, but there are a couple of problems when shooting a lot of portraits with a flash. First, if you’re not … [Read more...] about Portrait Tips: Why You Shouldn’t Use Auto White Balance
Portrait Tips: 3 Good Reasons You Should Wear Your Glasses
I spent yesterday making portraits at a corporate event, and several people tried to insist that they wanted to remove their eyeglasses for their portraits. This happens a lot, and it's usually because your subject has had a bad experience wearing glasses in portraits before. Here are a few good reasons your subject should wear their glasses in portraits. Recognition There's a picture of my family at my parents' house, and there's a guy I just don't recognize in that photo: it's my dad. But my dad has worn glasses every day since he was in … [Read more...] about Portrait Tips: 3 Good Reasons You Should Wear Your Glasses
Portrait Tips: Include the No-Look Look
You can double the unique pictures you make during every shoot by utilizing the No-Look portrait. Most portraits include the subjects looking at the camera smiling. But every pose you set up and each location should also include shots with the subject looking someplace other than into the camera. Don't Look Ahead One key to the No-Look portrait is that the subject should rarely be looking right where their body is facing. When the subject is looking downward in-line with the rest of their body it looks a little depressed or like they're … [Read more...] about Portrait Tips: Include the No-Look Look
Portrait Tips: You Gotta Make ‘Em Engage!
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 lack this one thing that would turn an otherwise well-made portrait into an intriguing piece of art. The problem with most portraits is that they lack engagement. What the Heck Is Engagement? By this, I mean that the subject of the photo looks a little blank. Looks like they don't care, or like they don't have any opinion … [Read more...] about Portrait Tips: You Gotta Make ‘Em Engage!
Portrait Tips: Avoid Symmetry In Groups
Photographers love symmetry. We like things neat and we like horizons straight. That's great for landscapes and products, but when you photograph groups of people you need to rein in your symmetry bug and set things a little off-kilter. If you line up faces side by side with eyes and mouths at the same level it looks static and the people don't look cozy or comfortable. Sometimes you can solve this simply by tilting the camera a little bit, which will misalign their eyes and mouths and it gives the image more energy. A rule of thumb is that … [Read more...] about Portrait Tips: Avoid Symmetry In Groups
Portrait Tips: Expand Your Vocabulary
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." If a picture is worth 1,000 words, then surely we should expand our vocabularies to include more words and elicit more expressions and moods. Even if sexy is the word you're going for, look it up in a thesaurus and use other words to get there. If you talk with your subject about this and discuss various words … [Read more...] about Portrait Tips: Expand Your Vocabulary
Portrait Tips: Subtle Spice Not Ketchup
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 be lit. That's ok, and it's fun. The trap is feeling like you need to crank the flash up so that it's apparent and obvious in your photographs--and there's a place for that, and it's fun, too. But instead of using your lights to overpower the sun and the ambient light every time, try augmenting the existing light … [Read more...] about Portrait Tips: Subtle Spice Not Ketchup
Portrait Tips: Finishing Great Eyes With 3 Different Apps
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 worst!), necklaces, hairstyles--but you can use your photofinishing tools to mitigate the distractions and bring the attention back to the eyes. Simply providing sharpness, a little luminance, and possibly some saturation will help the eyes to remain the hero of the image. Be careful not to go overboard with the … [Read more...] about Portrait Tips: Finishing Great Eyes With 3 Different Apps
Portrait Tips: How Do You Get Natural Expressions? With Props & Prompts
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 natural expressions: props and prompts. How to Use Props Using the birdie over the camera is an age-old device that gets kids' attention or hitting yourself in the head with a rubber chicken. But in this case, I don't mean that the photographer should use props, I mean that the subject … [Read more...] about Portrait Tips: How Do You Get Natural Expressions? With Props & Prompts
Portrait Tips: How Do You Photograph People With Glasses?
A quick google search told me that at least 60% of people wear glasses or contacts, and that means your next client probably does, too. I wore glasses for many years (I had LASIK, so I don't anymore) and can attest that when you're a glasses wearer, photographs can make you a little more anxious than usual because you've experienced really bad glare in the lenses. The thing is, photographing people with glasses is simple. Let me show you how. Reflection Direction Glare in glasses comes from light reflecting off the lenses and into the camera. … [Read more...] about Portrait Tips: How Do You Photograph People With Glasses?
Portrait Tips: Always Do This When Photographing Kids
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 Holidays are better with kids. Here are two simple tips to help you make better pictures with kids, and you should do these everytime you make pictures with children. Get Down Your pictures will be much more engaging if you get the camera on the same level with kids, at the same height as their perspective. In fact, you … [Read more...] about Portrait Tips: Always Do This When Photographing Kids
Portrait Tips: How Do I Choose White Balance For Portraits?
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 into this trap, though. Auto white balance reads the colors in the scene before you take the picture and makes adjustments. But there are two things that foul it up, and there are two simple ways to ensure you get consistent color. Why Do My Pictures Look Different? The camera has white balance settings so … [Read more...] about Portrait Tips: How Do I Choose White Balance For Portraits?
Portrait Tips: Pyramid Posing For Groups
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 simple idea about posing groups that will help you arrange your subjects in a pleasing composition. This is a principle that you can apply to any size group. Go for Pyramids When you group people together, try to group them so that three faces make a triangle, and you can use the same face in multiple triangles. So you'll have little groups … [Read more...] about Portrait Tips: Pyramid Posing For Groups
Portrait Tips: Vitreous Eyes (Even With Hats)
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 make sure that your subjects’ eyes look alive, glassy…vitreous. The best way to get vitreous eyes is to make sure there’s a catchlight in them. A catchlight is simply the reflection of the light in the eyes. It’s easy to do this with a flash because you just position the light so it shines in the eyes. But sometimes it’s harder to get a … [Read more...] about Portrait Tips: Vitreous Eyes (Even With Hats)
Portrait Tips: Include Details
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 can really help explain about a person and give them context and a bit of a story in a single image. This sort of environmental portraiture is my favorite kind of work. Descriptive Details If you can include details that are descriptive without being distracting then it can be worth including them in your picture. But … [Read more...] about Portrait Tips: Include Details
Portrait Tips: Beware Of Parks
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 a fun place with pretty things. Rose gardens are also highly requested spots. Let's look at the problems with parks and rose gardens and how to get around it. It's Just a Backdrop When it comes down to it, any location for portraiture is just a backdrop for your subject and its job is to be simple and not detract from the subject, … [Read more...] about Portrait Tips: Beware Of Parks
Portrait Tips: Make Clean Profiles
A classic pose you can use to add variety to every shoot is a profile. This is done with the person's face looking 90 degrees to the side of the camera so that you see only the outline of the face. It's a striking picture, and you'll see that some of the best are of people who feel less confident about their nose size--big noses make beautiful profiles and you can help people feel good about it by practicing this kind of photograph. Really Practice It I wouldn't be surprised if the first time you make a profile picture you don't like the way … [Read more...] about Portrait Tips: Make Clean Profiles
Portrait Tips: Use A Hair or Rim Light
Using a hair light or rim light is a great way to help your subjects stand out from their surrounds. It gives a gentle glow that defines the edge of your subjects’ outline, and it can be the difference between a bland portrait and one that really pops. Hair Light vs Rim Light In the past, photographers always used the hair light from straight above and maybe even with a gentle warming gel. You’ve seen portraits like this from the 80’s. For a more modern look, try adjusting the light to one side and remove the warming gel. If you really … [Read more...] about Portrait Tips: Use A Hair or Rim Light
Portrait Tips: Soft Light vs Hard Light
I'm always talking about soft light and how great it looks for portraits. But what does it mean? If there's soft light, is there hard light? Let me show you what it means and you'll see that yes, there is hard light, and soft light is waaaaay better. Soft/Hard = Big/Small Hard light comes from small lights, and soft light comes from big lights. The important thing to remember is that the softness depends on the size of the light in relation to your subject. So even if your light is the size of a bus, unless your subject is close to it can … [Read more...] about Portrait Tips: Soft Light vs Hard Light
