5 Accessories Every Beginning Portrait Photographer Needs to Own (VIDEO)

So you’re trying your hand at people pictures and your photos look more like snapshots than “real” portraits. What gives? The solution for taking your images to the next level may be as simple as picking up a few affordable accessories.

Miguel Quiles is a self-taught pro based in New Jersey, and in the helpful video below he demonstrates five simple accessories that will greatly improve your portraits and make them faster and easier to capture. Best yet, you can take advantage of these accessories for shooting all sorts of images. And you can find Amazon links to the products he recommends in the description below the video.

Quiles begins with a simple item that he wouldn’t be without; namely, an extended eyecup that provides a tighter seal between the viewfinder and your face. This inexpensive product eliminates ambient light from entering the viewfinder and obscuring both your image and LED information.

Quiles says that even if your camera has a built-in flash, you really should acquire a more powerful external unit if you’re serious about upping your portrait game. Another product Quiles always gets whenever buying a new camera is a matching battery grip for better handling and more accessible controls— especially when shooting vertical images like portraits. Grips also come in handy when using large lenses.

To see how to use these and a couple other simple accessories that are sure to improve your portraits, check out this very helpful video. Then head over to Quiles’ YouTube channel for more great tips. You may also want to check out our recent story discussing whether it’s best to use a DSLR or mirrorless camera for portrait photography.

X