“This series has become a way for me to honor and advance queer relationships,” says BFA student Carlos Hernandez about his one-of-a-kind photo series called Queer Alienism. He aims to showcase elements of queer existence beyond the current limitations he observes. The goal is to, one day, understand and participate outside the current boundaries of cis/heteronormativity.
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“It’s lots of fun to see how light interacts,” says young photographer Carter Baran about his vivid, complexly lit conceptual photographs. Being gifted a fog machine some years ago got him more interested in creating photographs that resemble stills from science fiction movies and TV shows. Just 19 years old, he’s creating a significant portfolio of images that is sure to take him places in the future.
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Styling and accessorizing can make or break a photoshoot. It can be your dear friend or one of your greatest adversaries. Focusing on sensuality over sexuality is a great place to start. Your client will build and exude confidence on set when they look good and feel incredible. Tapping into that feeling of sensuality is powerful.
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Let’s think about what we know of the film look. Besides the tones, film is often a lot softer. It’s very difficult for someone to look bad when you’re shooting them with film. We love the look of film photography and what it does. Years ago, photographer Frank W. Ockenfels III discussed how digital is too sharp and clear. But as scanners are replaced with dedicated cameras, film is going to face a problem.
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“Photograph me as I am, or don’t look at me at all,” says Arab American photographer Tamara Hijazi, defining how she captures and likes to be captured in photos. At a very young age, migration to the Middle East kickstarted her love for photography. She tells us why photos help preserve fond moments we look back on later and how the pandemic rekindled her connection with cameras.
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“You can say I go strictly by the definition of the word Photography,” says Artur Kayukov about his skill set behind the camera and his reluctance to post-process. Not someone who likes to spend hours editing at his PC, he finds a certain charm in unedited images. Believing beauty is flawed and asymmetry is what makes us unique, he tells me what made him start a ‘No Photoshop’ portrait series and why he embraces this ideology more these days.
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“It is a process and I take the collaboration part very seriously,” says Lebanese-American photographer Rania Matar about her photo sessions with women. Focusing on their inner strengths and personal emotions, she often finds a bit of herself in each subject she photographs. Many of her past experiences and learnings find their way into her photos as she seeks to break stereotypes with her portrait photography.
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I love opening up my vintage camera packages from eBay when they arrive. The feeling of holding a classic 35mm beauty is matched by only a few other experiences in the world of photography. Each of these cameras has a history behind them that makes them unique. Almost immediately after dusting and polishing them, I take photographs of these beauties. And when I go about taking these pictures, I consider the cameras as people that have stories behind them. Think of it as a camera’s portrait. They need to be placed and lit correctly to tell that story; a thing of beauty is something that needs to be appropriately shared with the world.
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“It’s just the matter of making them feel you can connect to them,” says Indian photographer Shivam Pandey on how he approached farmers in his village when capturing their daily routines. The pandemic had him move back to his village in Uttar Pradesh, but that didn’t stop him from looking for creative outlets. ‘Farmers of India‘ was a photo series that came to life after he moved back in with his parents.
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Prime lenses are a personal favorite. I appreciate their sharpness, swiftness, and specific vantage point. Plus, I like to move around my subjects for the perfect composition. Wider focal lengths are enticing because they fit the bill for many applications. The Panasonic Lumix S 24mm f1.8 is a welcome addition to the existing lineup of L Mount lenses.
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Sigma is known primarily for budget-friendly, third-party lenses. More often than not, the lower-priced options have been hit or miss. Thankfully, that isn’t the case with this I-series lens, which manages to have the best of both worlds. The Sigma 90mm f2.8 DG DN Contemporary lens performs like a higher-end lens and isn’t as expensive.
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There aren’t many reviews of flashes out there. And there are even fewer reviews and sensible tutorials on how to use ring flash. But ring flash is a favorite technique of mine and I’ve used it for years. Some folks like to just blast their subjects with direct flash, but this is different. Also, ring flash and its use have evolved over the years. So we’re going to talk about how it’s different and how photographers should be using it these days.
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Sensuality can often translate into sexy, but the same is not always true in reverse. There are a lot of factors at play that determines the outcome of the shoot. A sexually charged shoot from the start will always be just that. Sure, there’s a time and a place for it that works. However, that’s often not the desired result and it leads to a feeling of being objectified all too often. Regret can ensue before, during, and after the shoot if you don’t choose to focus on sensual over sexual. Below are some tips that can be used all throughout the shoot and leave clients feeling empowered and confident.
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“You never know what you will get, but that’s why I love film,” says Scottish photographer Andrew Low on why he shoots with film so often. Instead of going down the traditional route for an album cover, Low decided to experiment. It paid off very well in the form of a top-five placement at the 2021 International Photography Awards.
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“There are countries that are still dominated by traditional and fanatical patriarchal views,” states Ershad Fatahian about what inspired him to make his series of images titled Unseen. Photographed entirely in his home country, Iran, he hopes to bring about an awareness of the struggles women face with this set of photos.
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We’ve just updated our Canon EOS R review after a long time. You can see it here. No, Canon hasn’t given it any major new firmware updates for a little while. But instead, Capture One 22 has given the Canon EOS R a whole lot more usefulness. Indeed, it’s truly now one of the cameras no one should sleep on. What’s more, this is truly insane as it’s nearly the end of the life of the Canon EOS R. But in the end, it works almost as well as the Canon EOS R5 for portrait shooters. And if you like to tether, this is going to be a camera that’s very hard to beat.
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“My intention is to get the viewer interested in what the model is thinking,” says Dorota Gorecka of Poland when I ask her what gets people so engrossed in her portraits of women. She began playing with photography equipment in the unused studio at the advertising agency she worked at. Spending more and more time here led to her getting hooked on photography. She specializes in working under natural light conditions and working with models to produce moody photographs.
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“When you want something from the bottom of your heart, the Universe will show you a way,” says Romanian photographer Cristina Venedict about her path to photography. She loves using primary complementary colors in her portrait work, which allows her soul to speak to the viewer using styles learned from art school. But her path to discovering photography wasn’t all that straightforward.
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If you shoot portraits often, you can fall into various camps. Some folks like a lot of contrast in the portraits. And indeed, high-contrast portrait photos can look pretty wonderful and natural. But other folks like as little contrast as possible. That way, with a flatter image, they can work on it a lot in post-production. Understanding what works in what situation, though, is pretty tough. Further, you may not really understand the naming of what you actually want. So in this post, we’re going to tackle it on a surface level.
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“I think having a vision as a photographer is more important than just having the most expensive equipment,” says LA-based photographer Dave Tada. He’s been uploading at least one new analogue photo per day to his Tumblr page for the last 11 years. That’s no major feat when we think of how easy it is to take a digital photo these days. But my head spins when I try to calculate how much he might have spent on all that film for this project.
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“if you’re not passionate with what you’re shooting, it’ll always show in your work,” says portrait and film photography aficionado Robert Luxun. What’s most interesting about his recent work is his choice of lens for portraits. While most portrait photographers these days would choose an 85mm or 105mm, Luxun prefers to go at least twice as wide and picks a 40mm Rokkor f2 as his primary choice. He’s also a big fan of Sony and the strides they’ve made in the mirrorless community.
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