Portrait Photography How To

While most photographers realize that a bit of supplemental light can make a huge difference in portrait photos, many shooters shy away from the technique because they think expensive gear, complicated skills, and a studio are required to get the job done.

When taking portraits of a pet, most of the time the goal is make the animal look as adorable as possible. This is either to get your friends go "Aww!" on social media if the pet is yours, or to please a client who is paying you to photograph their beloved cat, dog, or goldfish.

Many up-and-coming photographers might not have a budget to afford to hire a professional model for a portrait shoot. But have no fear: you can shoot great photos of a non-professional model if you just follow some basic advice.

We always turn to photographer Jordi Koalitic when we need a fresh jolt of creativity, because he never seems to run out of ideas for capturing unique images close to home. In today’s quick episode he demonstrate five fresh hacks that you’ll definitely want to try.

(Editor’s Note: Exploring Light is a monthly Shutterbug column featuring tips, tricks, and photo advice from professional photographers in Canon Explorers of Light education program. This month's column is by Roberto Valenzuela, with five essential techniques for posing people.

Most of us have experienced the frustration of returning from a shoot, uploading our images to the computer, and discovering that some of them are darker than we’d like. There are several ways to recover shadow details in an image, and the method you’ll learn today is one of the easiest and most effective.