Portrait Photography How To

As a photo rep, I have always had great admiration for the portrait photographer. You are catching people at their worst (“I hate having my picture taken!”) and at their best (“Yes, this is really who I am!”). Whether it is a toddler, high school senior, or CEO, you are responsible to keep people calm, work fast, overcome technical and travel obstacles, and manage all the details of composition and lighting. In this column, we talk about all these issues as well as marketing your portrait photography business, the skills required for business success.

Manuel Ortiz is a Chicago-based wedding/portrait photographer who strives to capture the spirit and personality of his subjects. In this helpful tutorial video, he enlists the help of his pretty wife Diana to provide 10 effective tips on posing women.

At street level, Moscow-based photographer/adventurer Angela Nikolau appears to be a young photographer with the looks to be a model. But when you see the photos she makes after scaling some of the world’s tallest buildings, you realize first impressions can be very deceiving.

Shooting in the rain is a great way to capture some very impactful images, but without the right equipment it’s also a great way to ruin your expensive gear. In this instructional video from Matt Granger, however, you’ll learn how to get dynamic “rain” portraits on the cheap—without getting yourself or your equipment wet.

Michael Zagaris, aka “Z Man,” is a legendary rock and sports photographer who has photographed the likes of the Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, The Who, Madonna, Joe Montana and other icons. In the video below, you’ll go behind the scenes with Zagaris and learn some tricks for capturing priceless moments with emotion.

Shiny skin can ruin an otherwise nice portrait, particularly when shooting outdoors on a hot summer day or indoors when you’re using warm lights. Thanks to this video tutorial, however, you can repair those shiny photos with some simple editing techniques using Photoshop or Lightroom.