Helpful hints for better people-pictures

1. Use the Best Focal Length
The best lens for portraits is more often than not a short telephoto—85-135mm for a 35mm camera. Why? Because short teles produce a good head size at a shooting distance that produces pleasant perspective. If you use a wide-angle lens, you have to move very close to your subject to get a good head...

During his 30 years as a photojournalist, PF Bentley has attained rare access to numerous political figures and sought-after news events. He's known for his skill for getting close to his subjects without intruding on the events he's recording. Of this special talent, Bentley simply remarks, "I can blend into any wall." He rarely uses strobe; instead, he...

If you enjoy photographing architectural details, chances are that you also love taking pictures of windows. As subjects, windows are plentiful, and they usually represent a particular style or character of the building that they inhabit. Whether it's an elaborate stained glass window of a church, or a...

All photos © Joyce Tenneson

As one of today's most successful and influential photographers, Joyce Tenneson has a unique gift for portraying a person's true character in her images. This ability to reveal the true persona in her portrait subjects has become her signature style--one that elicits an emotional response from the viewer.

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All Photos by Lara Jo Regan

As an award-winning photojournalist, Lara Jo Regan traveled widely on assignment for magazines like Time, Newsweek, and LIFE to document riots, slices of Americana, and some of the nation's poorest families. Her mother, a former socialite, once...

We rarely consider photographing shadows, but oftentimes the long shadows created in early morning or late afternoon light are so dramatic that they can actually become interesting subjects for our photos.

Shadows exist wherever light exists, but we tend to overlook them, partly because our eyes are drawn to light--and...

A successful commercial/editorial photographer in Orlando, Florida, Eric Dusenbery says he was greatly influenced by his father when honoring World War II veterans in his book, Veteran Voices. According to Dusenbery, he grew up listening to his father's WWII experiences in the South Pacific. "He was in New Guinea, the Philippines, and eventually went to Japan for a...