How to Choose Your Portrait Photo Background on Location
When shooting portraits on location, choosing the right background is critical, and just like anything in photography, there is no one size that fits all.
When shooting portraits on location, choosing the right background is critical, and just like anything in photography, there is no one size that fits all.
Photographer Sara Melotti's career started with a meteoric rise in the world of fashion photography. But 3 years into a job that took her to some of the most glamorous places on Earth, she realized that she was contributing to an industry that she simply didn't believe in any more. That's how her project Quest for Beauty was born.
Los Angeles-based pet and family photographer Danielle Spires has been shooting humorous portraits of people and their pets in the style of 1980s-style studio portraits.
Photographers Rachel and Daniel at Mango Street decided to try out a few "photo hacks" they found on TikTok. These sorts of quick "hacks" are notorious for being fake or exaggerated, and they wanted to see which ones actually work, and which ones are only "meh."
NYC-based photographer Dani Diamond took a V-Flat and his portrait skills out to the Jersey Shore and shot fashion photos of complete strangers he ran into. You can see the project and results in this 6.5-minute video by AdoramaTV.
Over my past 7 years as a professional photographer, I have received many questions from startups and amateurs who are worried about the considerable investment they thought they had to make on cutting-edge equipment. Luckily, I am able to suggest more affordable alternatives while keeping quality as high as possible.
Sculpted busts give us an idea of what ancient Roman emperors looked like, but what if they had posed for photo portraits? That's what designer/cinematographer Daniel Voshart explores using AI and Photoshop in his Roman Emperor Project.
Photographer and YouTuber Jiggie Alejandrino loves to show his viewers what's possible when shooting with just one light; but for his most recent tutorial, he took the concept one step further. Not only did he shoot this using a single LED light panel, he used a point-and-shoot camera instead of his more professional gear.
Sam McKenzie from the YouTube channel 3D Printor recently embarked on a fun project. Using a 3D printed adapter he found on Thingiverse, he modded a classic Game Boy Camera, shot portraits using a 70-200mm lens (approximately 3000mm equivalent), and printed one of those portraits on canvas.
Back in May of 2019, Jared Polin of Fro Knows Photo ran a side-by-side Eye AF comparison that showed (to nobody's surprise) that Sony was the king of Eye Autofocus. But a lot has changed since then, including several firmware updates and an updated focus system from Canon. Is Sony still king? Jared wanted to find out.
The rumors were right: Sigma has unveiled a new 85mm f/1.4 DG DN Art lens designed specifically for mirrorless cameras. Promising stellar optical performance and coming in at just $1,200, the lens undercut's Sony's 85mm G Master by a whopping $600... and yet it doesn't skimp on features.
Mirrorless photographers take note: Sigma is allegedly planning to release a new prime lens next week. The new 85mm f/1.4 ART lens for E-mount and L-mount will join the other mirrorless "DG DN" lenses in the Sigma lineup, giving Sony, Panasonic, Leica, and Sigma fp shooters another portrait prime to choose from.
Bonnie Rodríguez is on a mission to help people shoot better portraits. The photographer and photography educator has attracted a following of over 745,000 followers on Instagram by regularly sharing side-by-side examples of what you should and shouldn't do when photographing people.
A nursing home in England has come up with a fun and clever way to lift its residents' spirits during the COVID-19 pandemic. They've been taking turns recreating the photos found on iconic album covers.
For his project The Descendants, photographer Drew Gardner has been recreating famous historical portraits with the descendants of the subjects.
Our friend Pye Jirsa over at SLR Lounge has put together a great portrait photography tutorial that explains when and why you SHOULD blow out your highlights sometimes. It might seem obvious to seasoned shooters, but a balanced exposure is not always the right choice.
Canadian freelance photographer Christy Turner recently ran into a bit of good luck in the form of some "bad" weather. In the aftermath of a violent thunderstorm on the day of a graduation shoot, nature rewarded her with a spectacular backdrop of mammatus clouds ... and a rainbow to boot.
Researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences have created a deep learning algorithm that can turn rudimentary "freehand sketches" into hyper-realistic photographs that are nearly indistinguishable from real-life portraits.
Billie Weiss is the Senior Manager of Photography for the Boston Red Sox, and this is the time of year when he'd usually be shooting some creative portraits of the players for the marketing department. Can you really shoot creative team portraits from home... over FaceTime? Weiss decided to give it a shot.
For those that have followed my work for a while, you’ll know that I love to show a sense of depth to my images. Sure we can all shoot wide-open (f/2.8 for example) to get that shallow depth of field, but nothing beats the depth of showing not only a separation between subject and background, but a foreground element to your image too.
We’re forever taking photos of our children. We want to remember those first experiences, milestones, and adventures. But how many of those photos come out the way you intended, and how many make it onto your walls and into photo books?
Filipino portrait and wedding photographer Jiggie Alejandrino recently released a great beginner's guide to creating a basic photography studio at home. In the video, he shows you how you can set yourself up to take beautiful portraits using just one light, a 5-in-1 reflector, and not much else.
Cubes is a new photo series by Hamburg, Germany-based photographer Seb Agnew that consists of 9 conceptual portraits. Here's the twist, though: all of the locations seen in the photos are actually miniature sets.
Unmesh Dinda over at PIXimperfect has released another exceptional photo editing tutorial that you'll want to bookmark if you shoot portraits. In this video, he shows you a detailed step-by-step method for removing glare from glasses in Photoshop—something all of us have probably had to do at one point or another.
Celebrity portrait photographer Daniel Kennedy was recently commissioned to shoot a spread for Billboard Magazine, his first job since the widespread lockdowns caused by COVID-19. He took the opportunity to give us a look at what magazine shoots might look like as the world begins to open back up.
Window light portraits are something we all can do from the comfort of our own homes. It's quite amazing during this time of lockdown, actually having the time to observe the light around the home at different times during the day and how it can transform a room as the sun pops out from behind the clouds. So what a perfect time to learn and practice lighting.
Following last year's release of the AF 85mm f/1.4 FE for the Sony E Mount, Samyang/Rokinon today unveiled a version of the lens for Canon's full-frame mirrorless RF Mount. According to Rokinon, the new AF 85mm f/1.4 RF is "arguably the best value, high performance and affordable autofocusing portrait prime available."
Dutch commercial photographer Roelof Bos has, like many of us, been looking for a creative outlet ever since his professional work ground to a screeching halt. But while many photographers have opted for in-door projects or "porchraits," he wanted to create something more stylistic... and striking.
San Diego-based photographer Angela Garzon recently teamed up with fashion and art blogger Sarah Grossman to inject a bit of color and creativity into the world during these strange and difficult times. The result is a set of six monochromatic "group" shots captured using only the clothes and props they had at hand.
Ever since joining the San Jose Sharks two years ago, I’ve looked for different ways to photograph hockey and showcase our athletes. There was one specific photo that I had been thinking about for a while. The concept would be to create a photo from below the ice, as if looking up at a Sharks player inside SAP Center.