Portrait Photography How To

Camera manufacturers take pride in how many focus points are available in new models, and the number seems to be increasing with every introduction. From a user’s perspective, the phase “more is better” often rings true.

These days, everyone likes throwbacks. Whether it's retro-style cameras, vintage lenses, or even analog photography and film, classic things, by their very nature, never go out of style.

Lightroom's powerful Curves panel offers far more versatility than the limited global adjustments many photographers use to adjust the brightness and contrast of an image and balance out tonal values. These include selective enhancements for targeting and enhancing different areas within a scene.

So what in the heck are bokeh lights? The term bokeh describes an eye-catching effect that's achieved by shooting with a fast lens at maximum aperture to create soft-out-of-focus backgrounds that accentuate the main subject in an image. It powerful method that can be employed at any time of day.

There are numerous reasons you may want to extend the background of a photo, either side-to-side or up-and-down. Perhaps you shot an image in portrait mode and you realize it would look better as a horizontal image. Or maybe it’s the reverse.

For portrait, boudoir, fashion, and lifestyle photographers who are just starting out, one of the biggest obstacles they face is how to find models to shoot. It's particularly difficult if you don't have a portfolio yet, and don't have a YouTube or Instagram following as big as, say, Los Angeles-based boudoir photographer Michael Sasser's.

Nothing is worse for a portrait than a subject who looks irritated or angry when they're supposed to be relaxed. Unless that's the angle you're going for, and even then, you still need your model to look engaged in a photo. Otherwise, the image will look awkward.