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Don’t make these mistakes when shooting with natural light

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Natural light is probably what most of us begin with when we are starting to get into portrait photography. It makes sense. The sun is free, it’s dependable (depending on where you live) and it’s just so easy! After a while of shooting with natural (or available) light, we then start to find it a little underwhelming, and that’s when we typically begin our forays into strobes or artificial lighting.

But as we realise with more experience, shooting portraits with natural light isn’t necessarily easy or straightforward, and there are many things we can do to improve our shots. In this video, Omar Gonzalez shows us which pitfalls to avoid when shooting in natural light.

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Photographer throws an epic photo shoot for an 8-year-old girl who was denied school photos

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An 8-year old girl Marian Scott was recently denied school photos because of red extensions in her hair. It made her feel singled out and left her in tears, crushing her self-esteem in an instant. When he heard this story, photographer Jermaine Horton felt like he needed to do something. So, he threw an epic professional photoshoot for Marian in an attempt to get her confidence back.

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10 tips for getting kids to smile naturally in photos – secrets from a children’s photographer

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Everyone has been taught from birth how to get a kid to smile.  You just tell them to say “cheese” and they respond with a nice big natural smile, right?  Well, anyone that’s actually tried this can testify to how well it works (if you didn’t catch my sarcasm… it doesn’t).  You end up with a photo of a kid with clenched teeth, a scrunched nose, and raised eyebrows. In this article, I’m going to give away all of my secrets that I’ve picked up as a professional children’s photographer for getting nice, natural smiles out of children.

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Photographer shares posing and editing tips for this gorgeous candid photo of children

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You know those moments when you aimlessly scroll through Facebook feed, and all of a sudden, a gorgeous photo captures your attention? It happened to me with this beautiful photo by Amy Weiblinger of Lainey Lou Photography. It got me smiling and I was curious to learn how she got it. So, I contacted Amy, and she shared her settings with us, along with some valuable tips for directing and editing photos of children.

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Photographer creates painterly masterpieces inspired by the old masters

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I would probably need an infinite number of counting beads to count how many times a photographer says they are trying to capture the master painters of old in their work. But one photographer embodies this style whilst infusing it with their own master touch more than any other. Meet Gemmy Woud-Binnendijk, one of the sweetest people you will ever meet and a master of portraits! I first saw Gemmy’s work a few years ago and was blown away by the attention to detail and subtle touches. At first, I thought they were paintings until I looked closer. Her influences are worn clearly on her sleeve for all to see, but she never copies. Gemmy’s work forces you to star at it, looking for the little touches that add character, and that is where the magic lies.[Read More…]

Photographer uses a 19th-century technique to capture haunting portraits of children

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In the age of digital images, Spanish photographer Jacqueline Roberts goes over 160 years into the past. She uses a 19th-century photographic process to create hauntingly beautiful portraits of children.

Her artwork is made by using wet plate collodion, the process introduced in 1851. So, her photos aren’t only tangible and immortal, but they also stand out from any modern photographic work. The kids in her images stare right into your soul, and each plate she creates is one of a kind.

Jacqueline has shared a few words about her work with us. She also shares some of her amazing photos, and you’ll find it hard to stop looking at them.

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Why I never hung this photo on my living room wall

Sometimes you find what you are not looking for

I always tell people to plan the photoshoots ahead, and urge them to try to see the complete image in your head already before taking the first shots… However, sometimes it takes a full U-turn and completely uncharted routes to end up with an amazing image. Now, I am doing a full breakdown on this image on my workshops, but I wanted to take a second and explain how this photo came to be, and why it failed to serve its purpose.

The story of this image started with the weird things the long holidays does to the brains. Generally a vacation tends to get your creativity in full speed; for me it means that I see ideas for images everywhere. For my wife it means seeing renovation projects everywhere… This could have ended badly for me, but luckily she had already renovated our living room walls during my trip to France and only asked me to make a new picture of our kids for the newly painted walls. Like I said, my head was already bursting with images so this was a perfect opportunity for me to explore one idea I have been wanting to try: to take well known M.C. Escher –style optical illusions such as the “impossible” penrose triangle or steps and make them look more “real”.

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