The other day I was in New York City for PhotoPlus Expo and Photofocus hosted its annual photowalk. It's a highlight of my photography year and I hope you can join me next time, or at the next conference (like WPPI). I had the pleasure of making several portraits during our walk, and you might benefit from simple principles for making street portraits while photowalking. 1. It's just a portrait First of all, there's nothing different about street portraits. It's still a picture of a person, and you should do your best to make it a good … [Read more...] about Portrait Tips: Street Portraits
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Portrait Tips: Have fun with Halloween
Happy Halloween! In the U.S., Halloween is one of the most fun holidays. Kids dress up in crazy costumes and consume more sugar than is good for them, and people all over decorate their houses to welcome the madness of trick-or-treating. And you should be ready to make portraits. Bring the good camera When you look back at pictures of Halloween, you're in for a treat — unless you got tricked in bringing only your smartphone along to make pictures. I know your camera is much bigger and heavier than your phone, but it can really perform much … [Read more...] about Portrait Tips: Have fun with Halloween
Portrait Tips: Retouching must be invisible
Retouching portraits. This is an important subject and I'll tackle it with you in pieces. You've had a good session with your subject and now you can utilize your computer to finish off their pictures so they can present them to the world. When you show them their pictures, they should feel great about the way it looks. Their best friend should say, "Wow! That's a great shot of you." Their best friend should not say, "Wow! They did a great job retouching." As retoucher and photographer Kristina Sherk says, "The sign of a good retoucher is … [Read more...] about Portrait Tips: Retouching must be invisible
Portrait Tips: Avoid creepy eyes
Anytime your subject is not facing directly into the camera you need to pay attention to where their eyes are looking and how they are framed in the eye sockets. Face over there, eyes over here Photographing a person's profile or making a no-look portrait adds variety to your shoot and can help your subject feel more comfortable in front of the camera. But, when you direct their face away, they usually turn their eyes more than their head. When the eyes are cranked way over to one side and you can mostly see only whites in the eyes, it … [Read more...] about Portrait Tips: Avoid creepy eyes
Portrait Tips: Try color to liven up a shoot
I know, I know, I'm always saying that the background is just in the back and the important thing is your subject. It kinda drives me crazy when photographers pull their hair trying to find backgrounds for their shoots. The most important thing in a picture is the person and their expression, the second is the light, and the background is way down the list. Nonetheless, the background needs to be there, and using a paper background gives you many options and can even add some energy to your shoot. Unlimited colors, unlimited fun Paper … [Read more...] about Portrait Tips: Try color to liven up a shoot
Portrait Tips: How to use a wide angle lens in portraits
Using a wide angle lens in portraiture is dangerous. Here's why and one way to use a wide lens safely. What is foreshortening? Foreshortening is the effect that happens when something near to a viewer appears larger than things that are far away from the viewer, even though they are not actually larger. For instance, if your subject extends her foot toward the camera, that foot looks larger than in relation to the rest of the body than it really is. In this photo, the foot closer to the camera looks four times larger than the other … [Read more...] about Portrait Tips: How to use a wide angle lens in portraits
Portrait Tips: How do you develop a style? Play more
I'll keep this one quick. Each time you make pictures you are developing your own style. At first, this may be mimicking the look of other photographs you've seen — in fact, it should be mimicking because that's the best way to ensure you make some good pictures. That means that the photos you look at are a huge influence on your personal style. The only way to create your own style is to make more pictures. And I don't think you should be intentional about making your own style. As you shoot you'll find ways to make pictures that get you … [Read more...] about Portrait Tips: How do you develop a style? Play more
Portrait Tips: Five keys for candids
Candid portraits are often the first type of portraits photographers learn to make, and they are probably the most often requested by clients. When you view a candid photograph, it feels like you truly see the subject being themselves. Here are five keys to help you consistently make great candid photographs. 1. Acclimatization You need to be known to always have your camera and always be making pictures. At first, it's obvious to anyone that sees you that you have a camera and they notice it everytime you lift it up. But after a short while, … [Read more...] about Portrait Tips: Five keys for candids
Portrait Tips: Four tips for photographing teenage boys
It's time for senior pictures and school portraits and that means facing one of the hardest subjects on the planet: Teenage boys. Now, brides are under stress, two-year-olds can't sit still and executives are in a hurry. Those all pose trouble for you when you're trying to make a portrait and elicit genuine expressions. But unless you do things right, your teenage boys are just going to look bored. I've photographed a ton of teenage boys, and these tips will help you have an easier time getting it done with genuine and engaged … [Read more...] about Portrait Tips: Four tips for photographing teenage boys
Portrait Tips: How to combine photos for the best expressions using layers in Luminar
Photographing large groups of people is the most challenging assignment you'll get as a portrait photographer. Each person expects you to make them look great in the final portrait, but there's always at least one person with a half blink or a nose tickle and there's definitely one person who is just looking off into space while everyone else has a winning smile. Sigh. The easiest thing way to manage this is to make many pictures and then combine them together into one with everyone's face look great. It's simple to use Luminar to make this … [Read more...] about Portrait Tips: How to combine photos for the best expressions using layers in Luminar
Portrait Tips: The most important tip for street portraits
Making pictures while traveling is the best way to share your experience with others. But the best way to the have the best experience for yourself is to make pictures of the people in the places you visit. In fact, making street portraits in your own town can give you a fresh perspective on the place you live as well as a fun activity. And there's just one thing you need to do to get it done. "Can I make a picture of you?" The only key to making a picture of a complete stranger you meet on the street is to ask permission. It's simple, … [Read more...] about Portrait Tips: The most important tip for street portraits
Portrait Tips: Family reunion posing time-lapse
Photographing large family groups is intimidating. There are so many people that you have to help look good and if you look at the big picture it can be overwhelming. This is a picture I made at my family reunion the other day. Every time I do this it makes me sweat, and it's tempting to simply have everyone line up and turn toward the center like a high school band picture. But, there's one thing you can do to make it simple to photograph an extended family. Chop it up Instead of thinking of this task of photographing one huge family, … [Read more...] about Portrait Tips: Family reunion posing time-lapse
Portrait Tips: Use a lint roller for a higher paycheck
If you're like me, you easily get caught up in the moment of making a picture and you may forget some simple things. Fortunately for me, I recently had photographer Carlos Zamora assisting me on a big headshot shoot and he was on top of those small things for me and made sure we didn't skip any important things. He was the perfect assistant and he saved me at least five hours of work retouching pictures — and he did it with a roll of packing tape. Little things x lots of people We had to make 70 headshots and we had fewer than five minutes … [Read more...] about Portrait Tips: Use a lint roller for a higher paycheck
Portrait Tips: Go for the tilt
People standing right next to each other seem like they are close, but once you ask them to tilt their heads together you'll see that they were really miles apart. Anytime you photograph two people together, you'll make an infinitely better photo if you just ask them to tilt their heads together. Why tilt? You should do this with friends, coworkers, families, kids, couples, everybody. Now, of course, coworkers standing next to each other probably shouldn't be touching their temples together, but just tilting their heads toward each other … [Read more...] about Portrait Tips: Go for the tilt
Portrait Tips: Beg, borrow or steal — whatever it takes to get catchlights
We talk about posing and connecting with our subjects and all kinds of other stuff when we make portraits, but there's one thing that matters more than that stuff and you've got to do it first. You've got to find a spot that puts catchlights in your subject's eyes. Catchlights let us see that the person is alive and they allow us to focus more on their eyes and see more from the expression. Do this to get catchlights The key to ensuring that your subject has catchlights in their eyes is to make sure that they are facing a bright light … [Read more...] about Portrait Tips: Beg, borrow or steal — whatever it takes to get catchlights
Portrait Tips: The sneaky secret of white balance
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
Portrait Tips: Watching and 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 and 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 … [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!
