Portrait Photography How To

One never-ending challenge, regardless of the type of photographs you shoot, is to come up with new ideas for creating images that are somehow different from the rest. The two-minute tutorial below will help you do just that, with five interesting “portrait hacks” that deliver dramatic results.

In barely two minutes, the folks at The School of Photography demonstrate how to create compelling portraits by taking advantage of artificial lighting in an underground garage, moving further from a subject while using a long lens, and employing a simple gold reflector for a vibrant effect.

Framing is a powerful compositional technique, and you’ll see how to add impact to a portrait by shooting through objects like the porch pillars of a cabin. One of our favorite tips is to use a string of lights for an interesting “front bokeh effect,” rather than taking the more common background bokeh approach.

You can find a variety of helpful tips on The School of Photography YouTube channel. And if you missed yesterday’s Lightroom tutorial with a simple portrait editing technique, be sure to take a look.