DIY Photography

Your one stop shop for everything photo-video

  • News
  • Inspiration
  • Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • DIY
  • Gear
Search

Submit A Story

New photographers, stop believing these five lies about portrait photography

Nov 6, 2020 by Dunja Djudjic 11 Comments

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

We were all newbies once, and it’s a phase that’s equally stressful and exciting. There’s so much to learn, and you enjoy every new thing that you discover. Unfortunately, there are also many lies and misconceptions that you’ll hear – and since you’re not experienced enough, you’ll likely believe them. In this video, Miguel Quiles brings you the five biggest lies about portrait photography that you should stop believing right now.

1. Great portraits are a result of work in Photoshop

I know I’ve heard this a bunch of times myself – but I also know that it’s not true. Professional portrait photographers usually take photos that look as clean as possible in camera. In most situations, they should be able to show the portrait to the client while it’s still in the camera, so it should look almost the same as the finished image will.

Sure, there is always some post-processing. But it should basically come down to the finishing touches and interventions that will add your “personal stamp” to the images.

2. Professional portraits are all about the bokeh

When you start portrait photography, all you may want is background separation and “bokehlicious” background. However, great portraits don’t necessarily have to be shot wide open or with a longer lens. In fact, including background or the surroundings will sometimes significantly contribute to the story. So, think about your locations and backgrounds and how they can be incorporated into the images, instead of just blurring them out with a wide-open aperture.

3. Models should know how to pose themselves

Everything you include in your image is up to you. As a portrait photographer, it’s your responsibility to direct the pose and the expression from your model and get the best out of them. You need to tell them what you want, they can’t read your mind no matter how good they are at modeling.

4. You can’t take great portraits without expensive gear

We’ve discussed this many, many times. You can take great photos no matter the gear, and nowadays you can even take a great portrait with your phone. As you know, even some magazine covers were shot on a smartphone. As long as you know the fundamentals, understand the light, and know how to direct the model, you can shoot with pretty much anything.

5. It’s easier to take great portraits of beautiful people

This is something I’ve seen plenty of times in the comments on Flickr, in Facebook groups, and so on. People often comment on portraits by praising the model’s beauty and saying stuff like “it’s easy to make a great portrait with a model that beautiful.” But of course, it’s not true. There are plenty of great photos of “everyday-looking” people, as Miguel describes them, and of people who aren’t models. A good portrait has nothing to do with how a person looks, but how they are represented within an image – and that is, you guessed it, your responsibility.

Bonus lie: nudity and sexuality automatically makes portraits better

There’s one bonus point Miguel adds, and it’s about the sexy look in the portraits. Even if your aim is a sexy-looking image, your model doesn’t have to be nude or in lingerie. You can still achieve that look even if they keep their clothes on, as long as your photo has a story and you know how to direct the model to get the shot you want.

Have you also heard these claims in your career? Do you perhaps agree with some of them, or you think they’re all lies?

5 LIES Portrait Photography Newbies Believe via FStoppers

FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Related posts:

Portrait Photography: can you capture what lies behind the social mask? These are five lies every photographer hears “The camera never lies” is a myth and these photographers explain why 5 lies your camera tells you

Filed Under: Inspiration Tagged With: lies, Miguel Quiles, portrait, portrait photography

Dunja Djudjic: from diyphotography.net

About Dunja Djudjic

Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

« Watch: Video tests to see if the Nikon Z6 II Eye AF really that much better than the Z6
Xiaomi shows off retractable smartphone lens with IS, increased sensitivity and sharpness »

Submit A Story

Get our FREE Lighting Book

DIYP lighting book cover

* download requires newsletter signup
DIYPhotography

Recent Comments

Free Resources

Advanced lighting book

Recent Posts

  • Here’s a bullet time video booth you can build yourself
  • Ricoh has discontinued the HD PENTAX-DA 21mm F3.2AL Limited silver lens
  • This “stellar flower” unravels the twilight’s evolution in 360 degrees
  • Strobes vs Continuous LEDs – Which is right for you?
  • Wave goodbye to Apple’s My Photo Stream next month

Udi Tirosh: from diyphotography.netUdi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.

Alex Baker: from diyphotography.netAlex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

David Williams: from diyphotography.netDave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

John Aldred: from diyphotography.netJohn Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

Dunja Djudjic: from diyphotography.netDunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

Copyright © DIYPhotography 2006 - 2023 | About | Contact | Advertise | Write for DIYP | Full Disclosure | Privacy Policy