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16 top tips for shooting beautiful portraits

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It’s that time of year again, gathered around our families. They all know we have that fancy camera. So, it’s down to us to document the event and get portraits of everybody for history. Shooting portraits, though, isn’t always that easy if it’s not something you’re used to doing.

Well, here’s Ilko Alexandroff with 16 portrait photography tips to help get you going. It’s not one of those “cram as many tips as you can into 3 minutes” videos either. Ilko goes pretty in depth on some of them, and talks about his reasons for choosing one thing over another. All in, it’s a 47 minute video, and well worth the watch.

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Create amazing night portraits with orange gels and white balance tricks

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Using gels to correct your flashes to match the ambient, or as creative effects is common. It’s something many of us do from time to time. Sometimes we use creative gels want that cool colour contrast. At other times we just have to deal with really horrible lighting and need to compensate with corrective gels. But, corrective gels can also be used creatively.

Japan based Photographer, Ilko Alexandroff regularly brings orange CTO gels along with him to his night shoots. They allow him to get a little more creative with the harsh sodium glow of the background while still getting perfect colour on his subject. In this video he talks us through how and why.

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Pouring rain is your shot at spectacular portraits

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Pouring rain can be an excuse to stay home and do nothing. It can also be a great opportunity to go outside and use the elements at your advantage. Japan based photographer Ilko Allexandroff (interview) is maybe the master of shooting stunning portraits in the rain. You know what, it only takes perseverance and some knowledge to turn a rainy night into your playground.

Ilko uses a very consistent 2 lights setup, a soft(ish) front light and a hard backlight. The front light – a Nissin MG8000 with a 60×60 foldable softbox – lights the model, while the backlight – another Nissin – does a double duty. It freezes the rain drops and provides a kicker light. Both lights are triggered using a Cactus V6 trigger.

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How I Shot it: Hairmake & Blue Dots Body Art Photoshoot

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This is a project of my hairmake friends we did together some time ago, I have another article from the same project, too I bet you’ve seen it, but here is the article for it too. It’s been really hard work putting all the blue stamps on both the model’s face and the background, but definitely worth it, as I really love that set of images! I’m using a 2 lights setup,which I’ll write about below! finally, it has a bit of style to it, either you love it or you don’t!

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How I Shot This Light Painting Photo In Fushimi Inari Shrine, Kyoto, Japan

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The location for this light painting shoot is one of the most famous tourist spots in Kyoto, the Fushimi Inari Shrine. It is famous for its endless red gates, that look like tunnel! I’ve been there so many times, and always wanted to do something with this wonderful location, but this was the first time to actually take some photos!.

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15 Hard Core Lighting Setups To Have You Light Like A Ninja

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If you are struggling with your lighting sometimes it is a good idea to drop your camera for a while (ok, not drop, gently put aside) and get some inspiration from photographers who excel at lighting. Japan based photographer Ilko Allexandroff has a strong lighting style and he was kind enough to share 15 of his lighting setups with us.

If you want more info you can follow the three small little dots

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DIYP Interviews Portrait Photographer Ilko Allexandroff (From Bulgaria To Japan)

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Aside from being a kick butt photographer, Ilko Allexandroffhas quite an amazing career course. A butterfly effect that started in a corridor chat in Ilko’s school in Bulgaria ended in Ilko being a renowned portrait photographer in Japan, we took Ilko for a round of questions and had a blast doing so:[Read More…]

How I Shot This Portrait In Pouring Rain

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Hi, Ilko Allexandroff here, in this post I’m happy to share the behind the scenes for one of my favorite shoots that was shot in the rain. Conditions were far from trivial and I’ll share some of my secrets as well as information about my location choice, lighting and how I usually shoot in rain.[Read More…]

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