Portrait Photography How To

You know the expression, "keep it simple"? Or how about this one: "less is more?" Those are words to live by for many things in life including boudoir photography, believe it or not.

We can't always pick the time of day when we're shooting in the field, and that sometimes means making the most of harsh midday light. This can be a serious problem for all sorts of photography, and it's particularly challenging when making environmental portraits. Distracting shadows, squinting models, and abundant contrast all contribute to this challenging task.

If you’re looking for a simple technique to give your portraits a unique look, how about mixing natural light with colored gels on your strobes? The quick tutorial below demonstrates how it’s done.

Portrait and beauty photographer Irene Rudnyk is one of the queens of the beach photo shoots on YouTube. A few months ago, we shared an awesome behind-the-scenes (BTS) video of Rudnyk’s tips for capturing backlit photos of a swimsuit model at the beach. Now she’s back with another great beach photography tutorial and BTS video on how to shoot gorgeous golden hour portraits.

Back when we all used film, the proper way to meter a scene had a lot to do with whether we were shooting slides or prints. The general rule of thumb was to expose for highlights with transparency film, and expose for shadows with negative film. But what’s the best approach when using digital cameras?

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.