Portrait Photography How To

Do the subjects in your portraits look a little stiff and unnatural? Your problem might not be the person you’re photographing but, rather, your choice of camera settings.

One “rule” many photographers learn when first starting out is to “always shoot with the sun at your back.” This advice may work well for “Kodak Moment” snapshots, or for predictable photos of average scenes, but a different approach is called for if you’re after eye-catching imagery that stands out from the crowd.

One of the few mistakes that can totally ruin a photo is failing to achieve precise focus on the primary subject in a scene. There are a variety of camera settings and shooting techniques for increasing your odds of success, and today we’re going to concentrate on one of the most helpful.

Let’s face it: Image sharpness is an essential component of great photographs, whether they’re portraits captured in the studio or a landscape image taken outdoors. No matter how gorgeous the model, or how scenic the destination; if the image is soft all is for naught.

Shooting portraits in natural light is a lot harder than it looks. It can be even more of a challenge if you’re capturing swimwear or boudoir portraits outdoors using only sunlight.

If you’re having trouble nailing exposure and ask a few friends for help, you’re likely to be told, “it’s time you mastered Manual mode.” While that’s certainly an option, there’s another (and often easier) way to consistently achieve perfectly exposed photos.

Amidst the ongoing race for the latest and greatest gear, some photographers minimize the important role they play when it comes to capturing great images. Hence the adage, “It’s the photographer, not the camera, that makes a photo.”