Portrait Photography How To

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Henry Anderson  |  Sep 14, 2021

Nothing is worse for a portrait than a subject who looks irritated or angry when they're supposed to be relaxed. Unless that's the angle you're going for, and even then, you still need your model to look engaged in a photo. Otherwise, the image will look awkward.

Shutterbug Staff  |  Nov 27, 2018

If you’ve ever shot portraits in front of a seamless white background or a cyclorama, you’ve probably had to deal with pesky background shadows. They’re fine if you’re going for a dramatic look in your portraits, but what if you wanted something cleaner as your background to draw attention to your subject?

Dan Havlik  |  Apr 16, 2018

Photographers can’t seem to get enough of natural lighting tips and we can’t get enough of photographer Julia Trotti’s great portrait photography tutorials. 

Ron Leach  |  Apr 18, 2023

How often have you returned from a shoot thinking you captured some great images, only to discover that they look flat and uninspiring on the computer? If you’re like most photographers, you’ve experienced this disappointment more than once or twice.

Shutterbug Staff  |  Dec 05, 2019

Beginner portrait photographers should check out the below tutorial from Bach Photography.  Titled "How to Instantly Improve Your Natural Light Portrait Photography," it's a great starting point for anyone wanting to shoot beautiful portraits using only natural light.

Ron Leach  |  Jan 03, 2025

Mastering color selection is an essential post-processing skill, whether you're working on images captured in the field, indoor portraits, or a variety of other artist projects. Today's step-by-step primer from Obi-Wan Adobe demonstrates the power of two powerful Photoshop tools and illustrates how they'll enable you to achieve eye-catching results.

Barry Tanenbaum  |  Jan 02, 2015

It’s welcome news to any photographer when the look of their images becomes a distinct, signature style. That’s exactly what has happened to Benny Migliorino, whose specialty is environmental and location portraits. “A lot of people say that what I’ve become known for is dramatic lighting,” Migliorino acknowledges, “but I didn’t set out to be known for that—it’s just the way I like to light, and the way I want my photographs to look.”

Ron Leach  |  Jan 08, 2020

Boudoir photography is really popular these days, but if you’ve ever tried this type of work, you know that sometimes images don’t look as enticing on the computer as they did through the viewfinder. The goal of this humorous-but-helpful tutorial is to keep you from saying, “Oh my goodness, this is embarrassing” when you review your results.

Ron Leach  |  Jul 13, 2023

Whether you've dabbled in b&w photography or always shoot in color, you're likely aware that some subjects can be more impactful in monochrome. There are basically two choices if you want to give this a try: Set your camera to B&W or shoot in color and convert the image to b&w during the editing process.

Henry Anderson  |  Nov 05, 2020

Even seasoned pros use Photoshop to add some pizazz to their portraits so why shouldn't you? That's the gist of the below Photoshop tutorial from Pixielx titled "How to Make Professional Portraits."

Ron Leach  |  Oct 28, 2021

Sometimes you take a photograph and while the main subject looks great, the background is really weak. The solution is to simply place your subject against a more interesting background, right? Well, not so fast.

Ron Leach  |  Jan 04, 2022

One of the key starting points for capturing great images is exposing a scene properly. And that holds true whether you’re photographing portraits, outdoor sports events, landscapes, indoor concerts, or other types of photos.

Ron Leach  |  Dec 27, 2017

Manny Ortiz is a Chicago-based pro whose outdoor portrait tutorials we feature regularly. In the quick video below, he provides a behind-the-scenes look as he photographs two models at once on the streets of the windy city.

Barry Tanenbaum  |  May 10, 2018

Steve Vaccariello had an advantage when he took this photograph of actor Alan Cumming for Aventura magazine. Well, actually three advantages. The first was that he’d photographed Cumming before. The second, they were friends.

Henry Anderson  |  Nov 08, 2022

One of the most inventive portrait photographers on YouTube, Irene Rudnyk often shares engaging behind-the-scenes videos on how she captures her eye-catching images on a budget. The below video is no exception.

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