Sometimes all you need to boost your creativity is to play around with light.
If you’ve been into lighting for many years, then you know what a Gobo is. For the rest of us, a Gobo is basically anything that goes between a light and the subject. A softbox can be a Gobo, but the vernacular refers to it being more homemade and put together. It’s designed to shape light. Sometimes all you need is a bit of light shaping.
If you want to stop fast-moving subjects, the effects that a flash provides can help.
While newer photographers will always try to stop a fast-moving subject by cranking up their ISO setting and increasing the shutter speed, it isn’t always the most effective method. In fact, it can cause a more problems for you in post-processing where you’ll enjoy creating awful photos. One of flash’s biggest benefits is what it can do for photographers, not only for providing light on a subject but also for extra benefits like stopping motion. However, not all flashes are created equal in that capacity.
Today’s letter is all about how to work with a portrait subject.
Hey Mike,
Do you have any advice for making non-models comfortable in front of the camera? I always have trouble getting people to relax.
-Kevin
The key to using a flash on camera during the day is all about power output.
When you think about using a flash, you’re probably thinking about only using it at night where you need more light. But, believe it or not, the best time to use a flash is during the day. It essentially helps you get a better histogram reading by filling in details all across the board. It’s also much better than using constant lights.
Getting your dog to look at the camera is all about training them to do it, and here’s how.
If you’re someone who gets frustrated about how to get their dog to look at the camera for a photo, then fear not. The answer is pretty easy and you’re going to kick yourself for not thinking about it first. To understand this, you should think about your dog and what they like. It’s obvious that belly rubs aren’t going to be easily communicated to your pup in order to get them to look at the camera, but a toy could do the trick. Even better though–so could a treat.
Take it from a photographer who travels more than I’d like to, shooting in hotels can be a logistical nightmare sometimes.
The first time I shot in a hotel, I made a big mistake. Looking back now, I honestly think that I still wasn’t in the right, but luckily I didn’t do anything that went on to scar my career. Additionally, I was quick, quiet, polite, and careful. I think that most folks who go about shooting in hotels tend to treat it like they’re on Spring Break all the time; but that shouldn’t be the aim. You’re there to work; even if you’re doing it for fun you should still conduct yourself professionally and be responsible. If you remember that you’re privileged to be able to shoot in nice hotels and not entitled to it, then you’ll already have one of the biggest ego checks in place. If you don’t have this, then please cease to continue reading this article. But if you want to get serious, read on.
If’ you’re not the official photographer at any fireworks parties this year, immerse yourself, have fun, and capture unique moments just for you; just be careful with your gear.
As photographers, we find ourselves being asked to be the photographer at all sorts of events, even family events like firework parties. That means we don’t get to be as wholly immersed as we would like, but if you find yourself being able to skip the party photography in an official capacity, you can go about taking images for fun and for yourself. There are some things you should be aware of, though, because as we all know, accidents can and do happen, and you wouldn’t want anything to happen to your gear. Continue reading…
We already know that Sigma’s lenses are fantastic, but which one is best for portraiture?
Portrait photographers these days enjoy using a multitude of focal lengths, and Sigma’s lenses offer a whole lot for the portraiture photographer. The company has spent years revamping their lineup with their Art series lenses and these lenses often top the charts on many proper lab tests. But we know that photographers don’t use lenses to shoot charts or brick walls and so we took them into a studio with models and lights to figure out which ones we liked the most. Our opinions may surely vary from yours and any professional working photographer will always lean towards a telephoto focal length. While this test has a lot of implications for professional photographers, it will also apply to lots of us who shoot and don’t demand the most professional needs.
A while back I started out with creating a new series of watercolor like photographs of dancers.
Being a legally blind photographer, part of my ambition has always been to tell stories the way that I see them and to let the world understand how I see the world. Something that I often describe it as is looking at the world and seeing it as a painting. I’ve learned more and more about how to make images look like paintings much to the dismay of pixel peepers. But personally speaking, I don’t care too much about those folks and never have. Instead, I’ve embraced creativity since the beginning. And to that end, I decided that I’d take a moment to share with folks how I’ve been doing a series that I’m currently creating.
Street photography with an 85mm lens isn’t totally unheard of; it can give us a much different look than what’s out there.
Though the purists in street photography will tell you that you need to get up close and personal to someone on the streets, there isn’t anything inherently wrong with using an 85mm lens. Of course, any wrongdoing comes with the intentions of the photographer. In this case, your intentions should be to try to get a different look at the scene and capture it as it happens with less chance of being seen. If you feel like calling it such, you can think of it as being a fly on the wall. Something many street photographers aspire to be when they shoot.
So after years of testing various 85mm lenses, here are some of our tips.
We can all agree that Instagram can be a very toxic place with the type of media and conversations that we’re shown.
If you’re already saying that Instagram isn’t toxic, then I’m going to assume you’re either too far down the rabbit hole, you’re an influencer afraid to lose influence and who has no problem feeding off of someone’s addiction to their phone, or you just aren’t aware that this is a problem. But indeed, it’s a condition that can drain you and fill your life with a lot of darkness. Take it from a guy who has to keep social media around in order to keep running a large photography blog. Though social media is less and less of our traffic due to their efforts to keep you on their platform, we have to admit it’s sort of important to us. Further, lots of us rely on Instagram as photographers. So here’s how I went about making it less toxic.
Darker skin tones can still use some extra attention from photographers and even industry professionals like make-up artists and stylists.
Portrait and fashion photography should be an all-encompassing craft, especially at this time and age when we’re supposedly more open-minded and accepting of other cultures and perspectives. This means that photographers today should be able to use their expertise to create photos of darker skinned models and individuals in a way that highlights their natural beauty. A video by Buzzfeed reinforces this idea with a photoshoot done with dark-skinned models, encouraging photographers and even industry professionals like make-up artists and stylists to do the same.
If you’re just getting started with travel photography and have been browsing around for some tips on the best lenses to use, this 35mm vs 50mm comparison should help.
Are you an aspiring travel photographer who can’t decide between 35mm and 50mm lenses as the better choice for the job? In case you’re still looking for tips and resources, Australian fashion and portrait photographer Julia Trotti comes to the rescue with a quick comparison video for both focal lengths during her recent trip to Gdansk in Poland. Since Trotti specializes in portraits, it’s only proper for her to begin the comparison with a bunch of portrait shots. She works mostly with prime lenses given her genre of choice, hence the focus on 35mm and 50mm prime lenses for this comparison. She also shot with the Full Frame Canon 5D Mk IV, so keep in mind that you’ll get different results if you shoot with a camera with crop frame sensor. Since this is about travel photography, she made sure to give examples for portraits we’d typically shoot during a trip: mostly half body or full body shots with careful attention to include the landmarks behind or around the subject. Apart from portraits in both half body, full body, and close up, Trotti also provided some examples for other popular subjects in travel photography: food and landscapes.
That firefly lamp portrait photography trend is pretty simple to do on the cheap!
The trend that has taken over Instagram and lots of cinema is firefly lamp portrait photography. Lots of folks don’t know how to do it themselves or simply just associate it with other photographers. But the truth is that it doesn’t need to be that way. You can put your own twist and spin on it using Christmas lights, which is very affordable and gives you a ton of options. The bottom line: it’s all about being in touch with your own feelings.
Trust us, this isn’t difficult; let’s take a look!
When it comes to portrait photography the way you communicate with your client is far more important than the gear you’re using.
We’ve all been there at some point in our careers: we have a great model, or an awesome client, but we just don’t know how to effectively communicate or connect with the person standing in front of the camera. A lack of communication skills can kill a shoot quickly, so being able to build connections with those you work with is far more important than the gear you use. The three tips that are shared in a new video after the break will help get you set up for success and will hopefully help you figure out what to do to connect with your clients. Continue reading…
The mere act of putting the extra effort into taking your photos will result in naturally better images that you’re paying more attention to.
The next time you go on a photo walk, I encourage every single one of you to turn off all the automatic modes and shoot completely manual. While this may sound like something lots of folks do, I’m sure that you all know in the deepest darkest parts of your hearts that you’re not doing this. Many folks shoot in aperture priority or even P for Professional mode. I did it. You most likely do it. Lots of folks do. And I think that we should all stop operating on autopilot and instead make more concerted efforts to take better images instead of just shooting hundreds just because we can. It genuinely isn’t going to make any of us any better no matter how hard you’ll try to argue against it.
Macro photography doesn’t need to be shot at ISO 32000; but you can do it with just a little bit of help from a flash.
When you think about macro images, we often imagine those really, really detailed close up photos. As long as there is good lighting, it’s simple to do with focus stacking or even just stopping the lens down with enough light in the scene. Many photographers on their spare time adore the meditative act of fixating on an object and photographing it to get every single detail of the subject. These objects are typically small toys, food, insects, plants, etc. It’s fun and requires the photographer to make a number of very repetitive but careful movements. But of course, every bit of lighting is always useful and we don’t always have good lighting naturally around. But don’t worry: using a flash in this situation is pretty much brainless.
The ultimate dream of mine as a photographer is to shoot in beautiful fields of vast picturesque flower fields.
Every spring and summer my clients know where to find me and my camera. Finding the perfect location for a portrait shoot is always one of the greatest challenges in photography. And once you think you have found the perfect location for your photoshoot, coming up with the creative idea for how to capture both the subject beautifully and the location cohesively can be equally as difficult to execute. The perfect combination of a beautiful location, stunning natural light and eager subject is all a photographer can dream of to create dramatic and ethereal images.
Take your architectural photos to the next level by using the two most powerful editing programs available – Capture One Pro (v12) and Affinity Photo.
In this tutorial I show you my simple architectural photography workflow while editing an image in Capture One Pro and then doing the finish work in Affinity Photo – no Photoshop needed! Knowing how to edit your raw photos is an important step to delivering great photos to your clients. Adobe Photoshop may be considered the industry standard and go-to software for many creatives, but I have always had a hate/love/hate relationship with Photoshop and Lightroom over the years. It’s often buggy, sluggish (no matter how maxed out my computer is), and never gives me the absolute image quality I know my cameras are capable of – and that I demand.
Whatever the reason, if noon is the only time you can shoot portraits, here are some tips to help you work with the harsh light.
Any photographer will tell you that noon is the worst time to shoot portraits because of the harsh light of the sun and the unflattering shadows it casts. A fact of life is that most people just don’t look good in lighting like this when out in the open. Even the backlighting method is very difficult to do at times under noon lighting. If you absolutely have no choice but to shoot in that light (like when you’re on assignment and on a tight schedule), these tips and tricks from boudoir photographer Michael Sasser should help you get some good photos. In fact, noon lighting can become a friend.
Modern day 35mm lenses are quite good; so good that they’re good enough for portraits.
Many photographers swear by their 35mm lenses and almost never want to shoot with anything else. The reason for this is because it so closely simulates what the human eye sees and so it’s easy for a photographer to go out there and shoot a scene just the way that they see it. That would be great, if 35mm lenses were absolutely perfect. While they’ve greatly improved, 35mm lenses are still not perfect and when used for portraiture still can’t replace or do what a proper telephoto focal length can. But with patience, you can figure out how to make the most of a 35mm lens for portraiture.
Here are some quick visual tips.
