Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time
Ever wondered what kind of portrait $10 in photographer’s fees will get you? Ever wondered what $25 in fees will get you?
I am not really sure if this can even be a serious question but apparently, there is a variance even in the lower end of the price market.
Photographers mainly use light tents for capturing product shots. But have you thought of fitting a human into a portable light tent? Konseen Photo Studio is a pop-up light tent that lets you photograph portraits. It’s foldable and comes with the built-in LED light, so you can set everything up without hassling with too much gear.
Headshots and portraits on a white background are a timeless classic. And most of us who shoot portraits have had to do them at some point. If we haven’t, we likely will sometime in the future. Processing and editing them, though, can often be a pain, especially if you’re shooting a whole bunch of people at once. A group of employees at a company, for example.
In this video, Sean Tucker talks about his white background workflow. How he finds his selects, basic raw processing, and finally his retouching (which is very minimal). It’s a very clean and efficient workflow. And while there is a timer playing in the bottom, the process goes a lot quicker if you don’t have to explain it for a YouTube video.
As a portrait photographer, you may have a task of shooting corporate headshots. It differs from traditional portrait sessions: you have much less time to get your models comfortable and to get the best shots. In this fantastic video, Sean Tucker shares his workflow and plenty of tips and tricks that will help you get into corporate headshot photography and be great at it.
These days, social media is a huge part of one’s branding. It needs to represent who you are as a person and a company. There needs to be consistency between Facebook, Instagram, YouTube. It needs to convey who you are, either as an individual or as a company, and your personality.
Photographer and YouTuber, Joe Edelman recently had to update his social media profile photos after acquiring a new pair of glasses. Joe treats this task as he would any headshot shoot for a commercial client. Because that’s essentially what he is. His own commercial portrait client. In this video, Joe walks us through his process, with some great tips, whether you’re shooting for yourself or somebody else.
This has to be one of the silliest things I’ve seen for a while. Not the product itself, but how it’s being marketed. Iris claims to offer professional automated headshots in a booth for $20. Your $20 gets you a “photo session” including half a dozen shots, “helpful posing tips”, and one free high res digital file (the other 5 cost an extra $5 each).
When you watch the promo video, don’t worry, your speakers aren’t broken, there’s just no audio to go with it.
Long before I decided to start shooting portraits, I was asked to photography people. Friends, family, their friends, and their friends. At the time, I wasn’t interested in photographing people, and didn’t really have much idea how to go about getting great photos of people. I usually declined and deferred to people who knew what they were doing. But it’s a valuable skill to learn.
In this video, photographer Joe Edelman shows us how to get great casual portraits and headshots using very minimal kit. With just one light and one modifier, Joe shows us how to create some fantastic portraits. I wish I’d had this video 15 years ago.
Here is a fun little trick that photographer Andrew Tihi (facebook) sent us. If you are looking for a pure white backdrop, why not walk down the street till you stumble upon a bus stop. The light coming from the illuminated sign is (almost) perfect for a quick portrait.
The secret is over exposing the sign, until it turns 100% white. In this case it was ISO1600@f/4 and 1/50.
As a photographer, I’m incredibly lucky to have had many experiences on the other side of the camera; it’s enabled me to have a greater understanding of a photo shoot from the subject’s perspective and has massively shaped the way I handle photo-shoots. If you are in the portrait or headshots business then the vast majority of your clients won’t be professional models and for everyone else a headshot or portrait shoot is a totally alien experience so having some insight from the other side of the lens is hugely helpful for photographers.
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The idea that a person’s face has a “good side” is not an unfamiliar concept. Many of us consistently favour one side of our face when we see a camera pointed at us. We are presenting what we believe is our “good side”. But, have we got even our own face wrong?
In this video, portrait photographer Joe Edelman discusses some of the science behind a person’s “good side”. Science, however, can only take us so far. Other factors like lighting, expression, hair and makeup also affect how the camera sees us. Joe expands on these ideas with some of his observations from his time as a portrait photographer.
You can find out more about John on his website and follow his adventures on YouTube and Facebook.
can change a lens mid-rappel, swap a memory card while treading water, or use a camel as a light stand.
To see more of his work please visit his studio website blurMEDIAphotography, or follow him on Twitter, 500px, Google Plus or YouTube.
JP’s photography is available for licensing at Stocksy United.
Find my work on My website or follow me on Facebook or My page
