Portrait Photography How To

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Ron Leach  |  May 17, 2024

Sooner or later all photographers confront a frustrating disparity between how the colors of an image appeared through the viewfinder or on a camera's rear LCD in the field, and what they look like on the computer screen. Unfortunately, when this happens it's typically the computer representation that tends to be inferior.

Ron Leach  |  Mar 24, 2023

Some photographers spend a lot of time fretting about aperture settings, and how they affect depth of field (DOF) in their photos. In today’s quick tutorial you’ll learn why it’s not necessary to worry about aperture as much as you think.

Ron Leach  |  Jan 09, 2020

Shooting portraits that make you and your model proud requires a fair amount of skill and preparation. And as you’ll see in this quick tutorial, doing things a bit differently can make your images stand out from the rest.

Ron Leach  |  Aug 16, 2022

Skin retouching is an essential task to master if you want to create alluring portrait photos, whether your model is a man or a woman. That’s because you can have beautiful light, nice composition, and an inviting pose, but all that’s for naught if the subject’s skin is unappealing.

Shutterbug Staff  |  Dec 19, 2018

There’s a big difference between a good portrait and a great portrait. Part of taking your portrait photography to the next level is adding some depth and pop to your photos, so they don’t look flat.

Shutterbug Staff  |  Apr 05, 2019

It's an oft repeated mantra of many photographers, particularly Canon shooters: "Canon has the best color science." But is it true? That's up for some debate but a frequently cited selling point for Canon over rival brands is what some believe to be its accurate color reproduction particularly when it comes to skin tones.

Ron Leach  |  May 23, 2024

OK, it's time for some honest self-reflection if you're not a fan of supplemental illumination: Do your avoid flash photography because you prefer the look of available-light imagery? Or are you under the misconception that it's too difficult to do right?

Shutterbug Staff  |  Apr 15, 2019

Los Angeles-based boudoir photographer Michael Sasser is here to dispel a myth. While it's certainly not ideal, you can shoot flattering portraits in harsh sunlight.

Ron Leach  |  Jun 18, 2025

Adobe just unloaded a boatful of innovative updates across their entire Lightroom and Photoshop ecosystem, and we'll be bringing you all the details one at a time. But there's one impressive capability, known as Variance, that seems to be flying under the radar and that's what you'll use learn how to use today so you don't miss it later on.

Ron Leach  |  Jul 17, 2024

There's an interesting dichotomy when it comes to adjusting color during post processing. Most of the time our goal is to use various techniques to make an image appear exactly as it did through the viewfinder for a believable, natural looking result. Other times, however, our intent is to is to employ lens filters, camera settings, or editing enhancements to achieve special effects or change the mood and feeling of an image.

Ron Leach  |  Jun 03, 2024

If you're unfamiliar with the term "Smart Objects" here's a definition paraphrased from the experts at Adobe: They're a type of "container" that holds multiple layers, that enable you to apply a variety of characteristics to an image with different tools and features.

Ron Leach  |  Feb 24, 2025

Photographers love their affordable, fast, and easy-to-carry "nifty fifty" lenses that can be used to capture a wide range of scenes from landscapes and portraits to nature photos and more. When your images fail to meet expectations, and you're not sure why, it's likely because you're making one or more common mistakes when shooting with a 50mm prime.

Ron Leach  |  Sep 19, 2023

Let's say you capture a nice image, and you want to bring out a bit more detail during the editing process. It doesn't matter whether the photo is a portrait, macro shot, a landscape scene, or something else. What's your strategy?

Ron Leach  |  Apr 09, 2024

Whether you process images in Lightroom, Photoshop, or another full-featured editor, it's difficult not to get carried away by all the capabilities available. But sometimes you'll achieve much better results by restraining yourself and taking a subtle approach so that you don't ruin photos by giving them an "over-cooked" look.

Ron Leach  |  Apr 02, 2024

This tutorial is the first installment of an eye-opening series describing conditions under which you shouldn't trust a camera's meter to deliver accurate exposures when shooting images in certain situations. Today you'll learn how much to underexpose a photo when faced with a low light, high contrast scene.

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