Portraiture

There's something about a good black and white image that makes it jump off the page. It should be simple, direct, and hit you right between the eyes. It stands on its own. It doesn't even need color to make it stand out. It has a full range of tones from a true, deep black all the way to a clear white...with detail throughout.

What kind of...

I had a thought (it happens!) back in the `80s. I was thinking how great it would be to create a portrait piece of someone that combined several images together to show the many facets of that individual. Let's take an example. Suppose you were commissioned to do a portrait of a young man. His interests may include playing football, swimming, sailing, playing guitar...

Over the years, photographers have come up with a lot of clever names for "available light." When working under less than ideal lighting condition, you'll hear some people call it "available darkness" or "unavailable...

What started as a trickle has become a full-fledged stream. Just a few years back, black and white candids were unheard of at weddings. Then, as the visually sophisticated public began seeing how distinctive black and white photos looked in the ads in...

Back in the day when most photographers were still using a medium format camera, I used to get annoyed when photographers called their 150mm lens a "portrait lens." While it's true that the majority of portraits are made with telephoto lenses, to call a particular focal length lens a "portrait lens" is ridiculous. Any lens of any focal length can be...

Digital has created a tremendous amount of change in the last few years, and photographers who have not been quick to adapt have lost business and, perhaps more importantly, business opportunities. The landscape has changed dramatically, and the people doing professional photography range from MWACs (Moms With A Camera) who work for practically nothing or for friends to very...

I take portraits of people every day. They pay me (hopefully) to create an image that says something about them. Perhaps it's a family who loves the ocean; we'll take a beach portrait. Maybe it's a mom who wants me to closely match a portrait done of her when she was 2. Or it could be a high school senior who wants to show how he's making the transition...