Portrait Photography How To

Today's lesson from one of our favorite outdoor photographers demonstrates a fun and easy pro trick for adding depth to your outdoor images, and it takes less than six minutes to explain. The technique involves using natural or man-made objects to frame the key subject in a scene.

Portraiture is a very subjective endeavor, with almost as many styles of shooting as there are portrait photographers. And this quick tutorial is sure to raise a few eyebrows, as Manny Ortiz explains why he often purposely underexposes his images.

Well, the above quote from image-editing expert Ryan Breitkreutz is about as emphatic as it gets. The reason for his enthusiasm is this: Adobe's recent Lightroom update included enhancements to the already powerful Tone Curve tools—with changes Ryan says are "insane."

Most photographers would rather be out shooting than sitting at the computer editing their work, which is why it's great to discover a fast and effective processing technique that makes a big difference in your results. That's exactly what you'll learn in the straightforward tutorial below from the popular Photoshop Café YouTube channel.

Portrait photographers are responsible for a lot of happiness among a wide variety of people, because well-done family pictures grow more valuable yearly. They usually portray infants, seniors, friends, and relatives, though sometimes portraits are interpretations of unusual subjects. Thomas Balsamo knows this because he has 30 years of experience photographing families and children. His work has also led him to a personal project that originated when his good will and curiosity were extended toward individuals or groups who found their portrait sittings emotionally and psychologically unusual, as well as uplifting.

Some photographers shy away from employing presets when editing their work because of a misconception that they’re difficult to use. Nothing could be further from the truth, and as you’ll see in the quick tutorial below, you can even create your own custom presets with ease.