Today’s letter is all about how to work with a portrait subject. Hey Mike, Do you have any advice for making non-models comfortable in front of the camera? I always have trouble getting people to relax.
-Kevin Hi Kevin, Thank you for the question. Let’s start from a nervous subject’s point of view. What could. thephoblographer.com
Music and commercial photographer Ed Rode spent decades making pictures of Tennessee’s most iconic brands: country music talent and Jack Daniels Whiskey. The key to making a good photo, he says, is having a healthy respect for the subject, whether it’s a living, breathing being or an object waiting for its moment to shine. petapixel.com »
2024-11-07 22:58
Insta360 recently released the Insta360 Flow smartphone stabilizer, and it can do some amazing things for stop-motion video creation. However, users don't need the AI-powered Flow gimbal to take advantage of these awesome stop-motion and hyperlapse video tips. [Read More] petapixel.com »
2023-05-25 20:40
I don’t enjoy my Zenit camera (it keeps chewing up film) but the lens that comes with it (the Helios 44/2) is legendary for its surreal swirly bokeh, so is an excellent choice to adapt. petapixel.com »
2023-04-15 18:39
In the past, double exposing film was one of the most popular special effects used in photography, and often could be hit or miss. The idea was to combine two (or more) photos into the same image. [Read More] petapixel.com »
2022-10-17 21:22
As creatives are tasked with greater and greater volumes of work, accessories to help speed up their workflow become more and more valuable. While editing consoles can be incredibly useful, they can also be incredibly expensive, which is why YouTuber "Pedro" of DSLR DIY CNC has shared how you can build your own custom "InfiniteDeck" for just about $50. [Read More] petapixel.com »
2022-10-17 19:28
Have you ever had a repeated inconvenience that finally makes you say to yourself, "Okay, I’m done with this garbage"? Well, that’s the exact feeling I had with using contrast filters on my enlarger. petapixel.com »
2022-09-24 18:33
I’ve used poly-boards, bounce-boards, and even white sheets and white walls as lighting modifiers to soften the light in the past, but arguably the quickest and most efficient way to instantly achieve beautifully soft light, is the V-Flat. [Read More] petapixel.com »
2022-07-23 18:56
Creating a do-it-yourself lighting setup for dappled natural light backgrounds isn’t as tricky or as involved to achieve as some setups and techniques, but it is a nice little idea to play with if the occasion arises. petapixel.com »
2021-11-20 21:00
The Deakinizer lens is a specially modified optic that was commissioned by Roger Deakins for the 2007 film “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford” used to create an old-timey feel to the footage, giving the scenes captured in it an almost tilt-shift look. petapixel.com »
2021-11-12 19:09
If you follow food photographers on Instagram, I am sure you have seen some of the light or what I would describe as “airy” food photos that are popular at the moment. This dreamy, bright way of photographing food is a great way to make the food itself really pop and stand out, while still […] petapixel.com »
2021-10-29 23:16
Domestic and international travel restrictions have loosened and more photographers are able to travel for leisure. But, besides practicing landscape or wildlife photography, are there ways of creating less predictable holiday photographs that still showcase your vision and creativity? For the most part, if a photographer plans to capture photos while on vacation, they tend […] petapixel.com »
2021-09-24 19:05
Just about everyone feels some discomfort when posing for photographs. Whether they’ve never had a professional photoshoot before or stiffen up in front of the camera, getting the perfect shot can be difficult. petapixel.com »
2021-06-16 22:53
Recently a squirrel noticed our nut box that was waiting to be raided for almost a year now. But as our squirrels here are a bit skittish, I needed to come up with a way to get in close to take nice pictures of them. petapixel.com »
2021-03-24 18:14
Over the past year, it seems the whole world has been on hold due to the rampages of COVID-19. In the Facebook groups I’m in, many users were seeing shortages in analog photography supplies. Some online stores stopped shipping Rodinal (a caustic liquid) and other products were just nowhere to be found. Added to all […] petapixel.com »
2021-02-25 19:34
Despite what some people think about LIDAR for cars, in the near future it is foreseeable that this technology will take its rightful place in our daily lives. Not just for cars but with almost anything and everything. petapixel.com »
2021-01-02 20:16
If you’re a film photographer who likes to go the do-it-yourself rather than store-bought route, here’s a fun little tutorial for you. In this 3-minute Darkroom Magic episode by the George Eastman Museum, Historic Process Specialist Nick Brandreth shows how you can make your own photo paper developer at home from scratch. First you’ll need […] petapixel.com »
2020-12-22 21:47
Waiting while flatbed scanners scan a color negative film is nothing to be excited about. This process and the subsequent color precorrection can take anywhere from an hour to two. Tools available today, such as Negative Lab Pro, make it easy to achieve great color negative conversions. So fastening the scanning process using a camera […] petapixel.com »
2020-09-23 21:14
It’s nearly the end of April 2020, the coronavirus lockdown is in full swing here in the UK, you’ve already been out for your one hours allowable exercise, and you’re bored! This was me, and my predicament. petapixel.com »
2020-05-11 19:05
Want a tabletop wooden backdrop you can use for photographing everything from products to babies? Here’s a 10. 5-minute video by Erik Tande of DIY done wrong showing how you can make your own for basically zero cost. petapixel.com »
2019-10-23 19:01
For those of us born in the 1970s and 80s, this new phenomenon of mottled, cloudy backdrops appearing in modern portraits is an odd one. You see, back when we were kids, we had horrendously cheesy family and school portraits taken in front of these bizarrely arranged patterns, so to us, it’s pretty weird to […] petapixel.com »
2019-08-14 18:13
While a lot of photographers out there are shooting to make a living, there's also a big chunk of the population who do it as a hobby. Work can often "get in the way" of doing photography for some, but Spanish-American photographer Adrian Otero says it's definitely possible to squeeze it into our busy schedule. thephoblographer.com »
2019-08-13 13:00
Want a camera stabilizer that’s sure to attract (perhaps unwanted) attention? Just add a rifle-style stock to it. Alex over at I did a thing made this humorous 5-minute video showing how he built such a stabilizer for his own DSLR. petapixel.com »
2019-03-06 21:38
The Trekpak Case Divider System is a beautiful piece of design. It’s simple, it’s clean, and most importantly, you can change your configuration as you needs. It’s meant to replace the current pick-n-pluck foam system that Pelican and other hard shell manufactures use. petapixel.com »
2019-02-15 16:20
I have been looking into shooting other sports outside of the motorsport world, and I have been particularly interested in soccer, basketball, and baseball. After doing some research, I found that some sports shooters covering these type of events use different remote trigger setups such as foot pedals and cable release buttons. When I setup […] petapixel.com »
2019-01-29 22:10
After Canon handed out camera lens mugs at the Vancouver Winter Olympics in 2010, novelty lens look-alike mugs and cups have flooded the market. If you’ve received one or more of them as gifts, one thing you can do is turn them into camera lens desk lamps. Filmmaker and freelance media producer Dave Knop of […] petapixel.com »
2018-12-27 18:05
I love bokeh and wanted to incorporate it into some upcoming holiday-themed beauty shoots. Well, I didn’t want to shoot in the cold and I really didn’t want to buy strings of lights (or generally spend any money at all) so I put together this great backdrop with basically just tinfoil. I was really happy […] petapixel.com »
2018-12-17 21:37
Thinking of putting together a professional photo portfolio as a high-impact way of sharing your work with potential clients? Check out this informative and inspiring 5-minute video by photographer Caleb Kerr, who recently built a portfolio of his own and put together a helpful walkthrough for anyone interested in doing the same. “Having a beautiful […] petapixel.com »
2018-06-26 18:12
Professional portrait backdrops can cost over $1,000 apiece. If you’d like to get creative without getting broke, photographer Jessica Kobeissi has a thrifty DIY idea for you in this 4. 5-minute video. petapixel.com »
2018-04-10 21:02
Ilford recently released a popular 8-minute video on how to process black-and-white film yourself, and now the film company is back again with another helpful crash course on how to make a black-and-white print in a darkroom. petapixel.com »
2018-03-06 20:36
This video tutorial will teach you how Rob Woodcox uses Photoshop to create surreal images.
The post How to Make Your Subjects Levitate appeared first on 500px ISO.
iso.500px.com »2017-09-20 16:29
In this 20-minute tutorial by PiXimperfect, learn how to use Photoshop to create a realistic bokeh effect in your photo. Creating a shallow depth of field after you’ve taken the shot can be tricky to do convincingly, but this tutorial will show you one method for how to do it. By harnessing the power of depth […] petapixel.com »
2017-08-29 22:10
Bored of the standard camera strap that came with your camera? In this 37-minute video by Nick Exposed, learn how to upcycle old leather belts into stylish camera straps. You can get a leather belt from a thrift shop, eBay, or old forgotten drawer. petapixel.com »
2017-08-03 18:56
I’m as interested in an “easy life” as much as the next person, so if somebody else has already done the hard work of making a product for me, and I can purchase it for a reasonable price, I’m all over it. petapixel.com »
2017-07-19 20:49
Beauty dishes are great pieces of equipment to have in your lighting arsenal, but they come at a price. You can spend hundreds of dollars on a dish, yet using a cheap shoot-through umbrella can easily produce the same effect, as this 10-minute tutorial by Joe Edelman shows. A beauty dish is very handy in portrait […] petapixel.com »
2017-07-11 17:08
Leather harnesses look super stylish, but they can cost upwards of $200 retail. What’s a cash-strapped photographer to do? French photographer Duncan Dimanche has a DIY solution for you, and it’ll only cost $70. petapixel.com »
2017-06-06 22:39
Need something fun to build this weekend? This step-by-step tutorial will show you how to turn an old bicycle wheel and some fabric into a simple DIY softbox that you can use for photography or, just as a cool studio accent light. petapixel.com »
2017-05-11 21:53
I visited all these places from my studio. I created all of this miniature landscapes here in my studio with help of very basic products. I used old cardboards, plaster, polystyrene sheets, newspapers and acrylic colours. boredpanda.com »
2017-05-09 20:24
A video is made up from 25 single photos per second, that, when placed back-to-back, trick our mind into seeing motion. But what would happen if we only took one photo every minute, and then played them back at 25 frames per second? The result is a magnificent hyper-realistic compression of time. We call this […] petapixel.com »
2017-04-05 19:01
A couple of weekends ago I was playing about with some ideas for a new portfolio shot involving a wall clock. Now, this clock happens to look a bit like a pocket watch, and a pocket watch normally has a chain (see where I’m going with this?). So I figured: “what if instead of a […] petapixel.com »
2017-03-07 23:25
Working with a portrait subject in the studio first and foremost requires you to stop thinking about them necessarily as your subject and instead more as your collaborator. Now don't get me wrong, you're essentially going to the conductor of the orchestra most of the time so to speak--but you need to think about people in a different way. thephoblographer.com »
2017-03-03 20:02
There are two important lessons in this simple, short, inspirational tips video by photographer Moose Winans. The first is how to use complimentary backgrounds to create separation and make your subject “pop”; the second is that you should go out and shoot, even when conditions are crappy and you don’t think you’ll get anything. On […] petapixel.com »
2017-02-14 01:54
Patience is not one of my many virtues and I’ve always preferred practice to theory. Instead of taking the time to learn the essentials before starting, I usually jump in head-first… come what may! This behavior has caused me disappointment, loss of time and money. petapixel.com »
2017-01-31 22:43
Yes, that's right. A photography composite isn't a photograph. It never was. We were just calling it that for most of history. We've never called a bunch of paintings put together a single painting: we called it a collage.
A while back, Apple gave us a really cool feature in the Photos app: reading text in the images. This is immensely useful combined with the ability to detect faces, locations, etc. You can search for things like photos of your favorite slice of pizza and more with relative ease.
The biggest problem for many photographers getting into portrait photography is establishing a connection. Lots of folks just don't know how to do it. One of the best lessons that my mentor taught me was to actually talk to folks.
50mm vs 85mm? That's the question. And most often, it's associated with portraiture. Both of these lenses have their advantages and disadvantages. And the truth has to do with what you want to do with each lens.
The trend that has taken over Instagram and lots of cinema is firefly lamp portrait photography. But lots of folks don't know how to do it themselves or simply just associate it with other photographers.
Several years ago I wrote an article that gave advice about managing confrontation in street photography. I spent time putting together an action plan, including ways in which you can avoid confrontation altogether.