Whether you own a dog, cat, bird, or some other animal, we bet you shoot a lot of photos of your beloved pet. It’s rather odd that many pet photos taken by good photographers look more like snapshots than the real thing, and we’re going to put an end to that today.
Manfrotto Distribution recently introduced the latest addition to Lastolite’s popular line of photography products: Out of Focus Backgrounds. So, in other words, you don’t need to shoot wide open with a fast aperture lens to create a blurred bokeh background look when shooting portraits. Just stand your subject in front of a Lastolite Out of Focus Background and shoot.
One of the most beautiful, natural forms of illumination has to be window light. The warm rays of summer gently filtered through window glass or the cool light reflected off winter’s snow all create the ethereal glow that’s soft enough for portraits. The examples shown here are but a few of the myriad of possibilities.
Fall is one of the best times of the year to shoot outdoor portraits. This piece will focus on how to best utilize the autumnal light to bring a warm glow to your images and make your subjects look great. Choose your location and time of day with your subjects’ features in mind and explore this magical time of year.
When the weather is nice outdoors, nothing beats an informal portrait. You do not want to shoot in the direct sunlight because your subject will be squinting. However, if you can find a shady spot under a tree, both you and your subject will be much happier.
So, how can you take the best portrait outdoors and still compete with the sun? The answer is usually right on top of your...
As mentioned in the previous tutorials, the impact and success of a studio portrait is often the combined result of lighting, composition, body language, lens choice, camera angle, clothing, color, texture, and even luck. Armed with a few portrait techniques, however, your work will improve dramatically. There are many portrait-making methods that can help you develop your own...
Twenty years in business together, the team of Bohm-Marrazzo (Montclair, New Jersey-- www.bohm-marrazzo.com) comes well equipped to tackle the challenge of photographing kids and animals for their advertising clients. Experience has taught them to incorporate these highly animated subjects into the picture to make an...
I'd like to preface this article by telling you that I have been involved in this industry as a professional photographer for over 30 years. Outside of the fact that I feel really old now, I think it's important, because as a participant and observer of the portrait and wedding photographic world since the mid-1970s, I've seen many changes and milestones in the...
Back in the day when most photographers were still using a medium format camera, I used to get annoyed when photographers called their 150mm lens a "portrait lens." While it's true that the majority of portraits are made with telephoto lenses, to call a particular focal length lens a "portrait lens" is ridiculous. Any lens of any focal length can be...
If you want to be carefully posed next to the beautiful fountain in the picture-pretty park, Cliff Mautner isn't the photographer you hire to shoot your wedding. But if your taste runs to the park in the dark...well, now you're talking.
"Give me anything but another picturesque park," Cliff says, and he's not kidding. "I tell...
Digital has created a tremendous amount of change in the last few years, and photographers who have not been quick to adapt have lost business and, perhaps more importantly, business opportunities. The landscape has changed dramatically, and the people doing professional photography range from MWACs (Moms With A Camera) who work for practically nothing or for friends to very...
I had a thought (it happens!) back in the `80s. I was thinking how great it would be to create a portrait piece of someone that combined several images together to show the many facets of that individual. Let's take an example. Suppose you were commissioned to do a portrait of a young man. His interests may include playing football, swimming, sailing, playing guitar...
The right equipment, being creative, interacting well with your subjects, and of course being in the right place at the right time can all add up to some stunning imagery. An important part of that gear is the lenses you choose to bring along. Because varying angles and focal lengths portray the face in radically different ways, I always travel equipped with a wide variety to...
For years photographers have extolled the virtues of taking portraits on overcast days or during the "sweet light" that occurs near the beginning and end of every day. On cloudy days, the contrast range is reduced, allowing you to capture detail throughout the image, from the brightest area to the deepest shadow. Near sunset, you also get a reduced contrast range, with...
Given the current state of technology, a case could be made that a photographer could exist today with only two lenses--a wide angle to moderate zoom, and a short tele to long tele-zoom. That would be a mistake. For as good and flexible as today's zoom lenses are, there are some compelling reasons to choose fixed focal length lenses on occasion. I'll admit, 90 percent...