Portrait Photography How To

Given a choice between a fast 85mm f/1.4 prime lens and a fast-and-versatile 70-200mm f/2.8 zoom, which lens would you choose to shoot outdoor portraits? While the answer may seem obvious, experienced portrait photographer Manny Ortiz decided to find out by taking both lenses along to shoot his pretty wife Diana against a backdrop of the Chicago skyline.

Portrait and wedding photographer Julia Trotti loves prime lenses. In fact, she known for stocking her camera bag exclusively with primes whenever she heads out on shoot.

Most of you are hopefully using the camera's familiar Luminance histogram to fine-tune exposure, especially when shooting under difficult lighting situations. But are you aware that some modern mirrorless cameras offer the option to select an RGB histogram instead? This tutorial from Adorama TV will quickly bring you up to speed so that you'll understand which tool to use when.

Don’t believe it when tell people tell you it’s wrong to shoot portraits with a wide-angle lens. If you know what you’re doing, your results can be eye-catching and super modern-looking.

Here’s an interesting video from photographer Pierre T. Lambert. It starts out with what looks like a spectacular photo shoot of a waterfall in the Philippines but then abruptly stops when Lambert explains how everything went wrong.

Most of you are familiar with the farcical notion that, “You’re not a real photographer unless you always use your camera’s Manual mode.” Well, the video below takes the opposite and equally controversial view.

The below video from photographer Daniel DeArco is a little different from the ones we’ve featured on Shutterbug in the past. It’s not exactly a How-To video but you may learn a lot about how to get your photos noticed.