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How to take creative portraits with Plexiglas and a single light

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There are numerous setups you can create with just one light and take stunning portrait photos. Well, unless you’re in this unilluminable room. But if you add a sheet of Plexiglas and some water to the equation, the possibilities for creative portraits largely expand.

In this video from Adorama, Pye Jirsa shares a simple setup that will get you tons of creative studio portraits. With just one strobe, some Plexi, and a spray bottle, he builds up the set to show you how to take interesting foreground bokeh portraits.

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Use these three Lightroom techniques to save your blown-out photos

Whether it’s a mistake or a consequence of circumstances, it happens that we end up with blown-out highlights in photos. But if you shoot RAW, it’s possible to fix them. In fact, there are several ways to do it, and in this video from Adorama TV, Pye Jirsa will show you three of them to use in Lightroom and make your photos perfect.

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How to use reflections in sun glasses to enhance your images not distract

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I remember when I was studying photography that the most difficult assignment we were given was photographing shiny objects. I stupidly chose to photograph a pair of orchestral cymbals (ie. shiny all over with multiple angles). The next most difficult thing after that was probably the sunglasses. Those reflections are necessary, you don’t want to remove them altogether, but you do want them to enhance the product, not detract from it. And that’s just product photography! What happens when you’re using artificial light with a person wearing sunglasses? How do you avoid those cartoonish round white blobs?

In this video from Adorama, Gavin Hoey shows you exactly how to use reflections of light sources to your advantage when photographing sunglasses.

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These are the best and worst ways to shoot portraits with on-camera flash

Shooting with a speedlight on camera is not something most of us would choose for portraits. But sometimes there’s no other choice, whether you don’t have the equipment to shoot off-camera or you don’t have enough room. So, Gavin Hoey comes to the rescue. In this video from Adorama, he’ll show you a few solutions for getting flattering light with your speedlight attached to your camera.

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Should you sell your RAW files if a client wants them?

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Do you let your clients have the unedited photos along with the edited ones? Do you think that’s the way to go or it’s a huge no-no? There are different opinions on this topic. In this video from Adorama, David Bergman discusses why you should and shouldn’t sell your RAW files to clients.

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How to get three different looks with a single $5 gold background

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There are plenty of cheap and easily available items that you can add to your shots and raise them to a whole new level. In this video from Adorama, photographer Gavin Hoey takes you to his studio to show you how to get three different portrait looks with a single gold background. He uses a $5 gold emergency blanket, so this is a pretty cheap, yet versatile trick to add some sparkle to your portraits.

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How your phone will make you a better photographer with your camera

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Most of us rely on our DSLR or mirrorless cameras for photoshoots. Some also take them on causal walks, while others rather rely on their phones or these casual shots. But instead of just using your phone to capture quick snapshots, you can use it to hone your skills. In this video from Adorama, Pye Jirsa talks about how taking photos with your phone can make you a better photographer with your camera.

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Turn your male model from Forrest Gump to Jason Statham with these ten posing tips

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There are plenty of tips out there for posing women who aren’t models. However, tips for posing male non-models are still not that common, so we always love when we find some useful ones. Well, this video from Adorama has quite a few of them. Pye Jirsa teams up with Derek Pratt to share ten male posing tips in about ten minutes. Other than having fun watching Derek goof around, you’ll learn some great tricks for turning your model from Forest Gump to Jason Statham.

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Glow has launched a new range of windproof lighting umbrellas

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Umbrellas are probably the most common lighting modifier out there for those who work with speedlights or strobes. They’re lightweight, inexpensive and easy to get hold of. But if you want to get out on location, they all have one pretty fatal flaw. It’s the same flaw that affects umbrellas designed to keep the rain off your head, too. That flaw is wind!

Well, no more. Adorama has developed a line of new Glow windproof lighting umbrellas. Taking advantage of the natural reflectivity of aluminium fabrics, the new umbrellas are available in various shallow, deep and wing-style designs in five sizes from 33″ up to 65″ and use an open weave design to let the wind pass straight through them.

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Follow these five steps to instantly improve your location portraits

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Like every genre, portrait photography comes with a set of challenges. It gets even more challenging when you shoot on location. The background and the lighting may not be perfect, but you may also not be doing enough to make the best of them. In this video from Adorama, Gavin Hoey guides you through five steps that will take your portraits from “meh” to “wow!” He shows you what you can do and achieve amazing results with minimal equipment wherever you are.

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