Portrait Photography How To

If you've ever dreamed of doing a shoot at a photo studio that's bathed only in gorgeous natural light, here's a great video showing what it's really like. In the below clip, portrait and swimwear photographer Anita Sadowska takes you behind the scenes for a swimwear shoot she did recently at a studio in New York City.

Photographing people for a living can prove intimidating for many photographers. Now add “celebrity” to that and you may find you have to step up your game several notches to stand on equal footing with your subject. You can’t afford to be intimidated and you certainly can’t afford to appear unsure of yourself or to question your decisions. You have to enter the picture with a game plan and be decisive, know which lens you’ll be using, what lights, and where to place those lights. But you also have to be prepared for the unexpected. That’s why they give these jobs to photographers such as Victoria Will.

It’s one of the eternal debates in photography: which is better, shooting with a flash or with just natural light? Two professional photographers who we have featured on Shutterbug many times recently tried to find in a “Natural Light vs Off Camera Flash Challenge.” The results might surprise you.

In the trifecta of portrait lenses—85mm, 105mm, and 135mm—the 85mm focal length is the gateway. It’s short enough for tight shooting spaces, while producing a real portrait look, yet versatile enough for use in other genres, including photojournalism, where a nifty 50 comes up a bit short. Enter Sigma’s 85mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art lens ($1,199) that’s fast enough for reportage and long enough for portraiture.

Most of us occasionally shoot portraits at home, and in the absence of a real studio rely upon a white wall as the backdrop for our shots. For those on a budget, wouldn’t it be nice to do something more dramatic without spending money on a custom backdrop or fiddling around with Photoshop?

It's nearly impossible to capture a great photo if the colors in your images are consistently unnatural, gaudy or dull. So if you're struggling with unimpressive color, whether shooting indoors or out, buckle up and watch the 10-minute tutorial below.

In this clever seven-minute video, New York-based portrait photographer Peter Hurley offers a simple trick to help you create more flattering portraits.