As a photo rep, I have always had great admiration for the portrait photographer. You are catching people at their worst (“I hate having my picture taken!”) and at their best (“Yes, this is really who I am!”). Whether it is a toddler, high school senior, or CEO, you are responsible to keep people calm, work fast, overcome technical and travel obstacles, and manage all the details of composition and lighting. In this column, we talk about all these issues as well as marketing your portrait photography business, the skills required for business success.
It sure helps to have a sexy model when shooting swimwear, but there’s also a lot technique involved if you want to get great results. In this helpful tutorial, commercial photographer Dixie Dixon demonstrates what you need to know.
Manuel Ortiz is a Chicago-based wedding/portrait photographer who strives to capture the spirit and personality of his subjects. In this helpful tutorial video, he enlists the help of his pretty wife Diana to provide 10 effective tips on posing women.
At street level, Moscow-based photographer/adventurer Angela Nikolau appears to be a young photographer with the looks to be a model. But when you see the photos she makes after scaling some of the world’s tallest buildings, you realize first impressions can be very deceiving.
Yaw Addae is an enterprising and creative New York taxi driver from Ghana who photographs his passengers while he saves money to start a production company. He says the flexible schedule of a cabbie gives him plenty of time to pursue a variety of creative pursuits.
Shooting in the rain is a great way to capture some very impactful images, but without the right equipment it’s also a great way to ruin your expensive gear. In this instructional video from Matt Granger, however, you’ll learn how to get dynamic “rain” portraits on the cheap—without getting yourself or your equipment wet.
Tom Oldham has been shooting portraits for 20 years and is today widely known for his expertise in medium format photography, notably with Hasselblad camera systems. He began his freelance career at the age of 29, having worked as a technician at the Plymouth College of Art for a few years after completing his studies there.
Michael Zagaris, aka “Z Man,” is a legendary rock and sports photographer who has photographed the likes of the Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, The Who, Madonna, Joe Montana and other icons. In the video below, you’ll go behind the scenes with Zagaris and learn some tricks for capturing priceless moments with emotion.
Professional photographer and Shutterbug contributor James Patrick has no shortage of great photography-related tips so we had him step in front of the camera recently to share them with our readers.
Shiny skin can ruin an otherwise nice portrait, particularly when shooting outdoors on a hot summer day or indoors when you’re using warm lights. Thanks to this video tutorial, however, you can repair those shiny photos with some simple editing techniques using Photoshop or Lightroom.
NY-based photographer Richard Renaldi embarked on his “Touching Strangers” project in 2007, in which he has complete strangers pose together for an affectionate portrait. Since then he’s set up his 8x10 view camera in cities across the U.S. and asked passersby to interact as though they were close friends or loved ones.
To say that Art Wolfe is not your typical portrait photographer is quite the understatement. With a career spanning 40 years, Wolfe brings his travels from every corner of the earth to create stunning portraits in his Human Canvas collection, honoring the traditions of Ethiopian tribal culture.
Here’s an interesting video in which Chief White House Photographer Pete Souza explains how he makes such intimate images of President Obama who considers him a friend. In the past Souza was an Official White House Photographer for President Reagan and a freelancer for National Geographic. He also worked for the Chicago Tribune in their Washington bureau.