Portrait Photography How To

How does an out of work, amateur photographer manage to acquire a following of 18 million people and publish two best-selling books? “Through a lot of hard work and a refusal to fail,” Brandon Stanton says. Known internationally for his groundbreaking books, Humans of New York and Humans of New York: Stories, Stanton took the simple concept of taking photos of everyday people on the streets of New York City and is now using his popularity to bring attention to the daily struggles of people throughout the world.

Last week we shared an interesting clip from CNN Style, in which famous photographers and collectors discussed “The Power of Photography.” In the new six-minute segment below, acclaimed celebrity photographer Martin Schoeller reveals his unique approach to portraiture.

The below gif is one of the cooler things we've seen on Reddit lately. It gives you a visual demonstration of how changing the focal length of your lens affects how a person's face appear in portraits. 

It’s been a long week, so we though we’d share some impressive eye candy from conceptual fine art photographer Johnny Tang, who says, “I love making art that’s easy on the eyes.” His humorous and minding-bending self-portraits are both creative and fun to observe.

David Bergman is an acclaimed celebrity/sports shooter known for his striking images of famous personalities as well as the 15 Sports Illustrated covers he has to his credit. In the quick video below, Bergman shows you how to take perfect portraits by first photographing your hand to check camera settings.

The legendary American photographer William Eggleston was a true pioneer in the potential of color photography and his quirky, eccentric portraits of everyday life can teach us all a lot about candid artistry and composition.

One simple method of adding impact to portraits is to frame your subjects with natural or man-made objects. The “frame” you use can be something as simple as a window, doorway, arch, or the overhanging branches of a tree.