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How to shoot action portraits on location using a wide angle lens

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I love using wide-angle lenses on location (although I don’t do it anywhere nearly as often as I should). They’re fantastic for showing your subjects in the context of the environment, enjoying their surroundings. They can really suck you into not only the feeling of the location but the mood of the subject, too. They’re not always easy to shoot, though.

In this video, Pye Jirsa shows us how he uses wide-angle lenses on location for engagement shoots to shoot action portrats and create images that he describes as “alive and immersive”. Pye talks about a number of techniques that offer a lot of different options for using wide-angle lenses on location.

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Here’s when, why and how to use flash for outdoor portraits in bright daylight

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Have you been wondering why anybody would use flash outdoors during the daytime? After all, it’s daytime. It’s pretty bright already, isn’t it? So, you’re not ramping your ISO up high, so why would anybody use flash outside? Well, yes, it’s bright-ish, but the natural light isn’t always giving you what you want. Sometimes it needs a little help.

In this video from Andrew Boey at Beyond Photography, we learn how, when and why you might want to use flash outdoors in the daytime – even on a bright sunny day.

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How to shoot stylized beauty portraits with just one light and a reflector

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Keeping the amount of kit you use at a low level can sometimes be down to simply a lack of availability. But it could also be that you’re simply limited in what you’re able to carry with you to shoot at a client’s location. Or, maybe you just want to bring things right back down to the bare minimum to really understand light and how your gear works.

Whatever the reason, Lindsay Adler is here to help. Using just a single strobe with a big softbox and a big reflector (in this case, a white v-flat) she creates a very effective and dramatic portrait. That’s the key word here, though. Big. Big light sources produce beautiful light for portraits as Lindsay demonstrates in this shot breakdown.

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Shooting portraits in the studio with continuous lights isn’t as intimidating as you think

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Light is key to photography. Of that there is no doubt. But typically when we shoot portraits, particularly in the studio, many of us will opt for strobes. They’re tried and tested, they give us plenty of light and you can stick some huge modifiers on them. But it’s absolutely possible to shoot portraits with continuous light, too.

Making the switch from strobes to continuous, can feel a little daunting, though. But in this video, photographer Emily Teague dumps her strobes and switches over to an array of continuous lights to shoot some portraits in her home studio to show that it’s really not all that difficult. After all, light is light.

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These five tips are the secret spice of genuine and striking environmental portraits

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I’m not much of a portrait photographer. But if I had to do this genre, I’d definitely choose environmental portraits. If it’s something you’re just dipping your toes into, B&H has an amazing video for you. Photographer Alison Wright will tell you about her five top tips for environmental portraits. And it’s not technical tips about gear, composition, or light settings. It’s rather a selection of, let’s say, “human” tips that will make your portraits truly striking and help you tell a story.

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2021 fall foliage prediction map will help you capture the best fall photos

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Probably the best thing about fall is the leaves. All those warm colors look amazing in landscapes or serve as a perfect backdrop for portraits. Want to make the best of this year’s fall and its colorful foliage? The 2021 Foliage Prediction Map will be your best friend!

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Watch this 10-step guide to shooting “shutter drag” portraits on location

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Shooting portraits with slow shutters can be a lot of fun, whether you’re doing them during the day or at night. They’re not that easy to pull off, though, often requiring a lot of practice to get good at. Well, to help get you started, here’s wedding photographer Pye Jirsa with his 10-step guide to how he shoots his environmental shutter drag portraits.

You’ll notice that there are seven whole steps before your subjects actually get in front of the camera. This is because it gets boring for subjects standing in front of the camera waiting for you to take a shot while you fiddle with your camera for five minutes. So, get everything prepared and ready so that when they step in front of it, you can just hit the shutter.

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Are these five most BS portrait photography facts?

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We’ve all received a bunch of tips and heard lots of facts or “facts” since we first picked up photography. Some of them are amazing, others are okay, and yet others are complete BS. In this video, Miguel Quiles teams up with Manny Ortiz to bring you five portrait photography facts that they think are the worst you can hear. Let’s see if you agree and if you’ve heard them, too.

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How to get a good natural light look when using flash outdoors

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I’m always asked why I use flash outdoors and the answer is quite simple. The natural light doesn’t always give me what I want. Sometimes I want to complement or augment it and sometimes I want to override it completely. There’s nothing wrong with natural light and I use that too when it looks good, but yeah… It just doesn’t always look the way I want it to.

But how can you work with flash outdoors and still have it look natural when shooting things like weddings or portraits? Well, in this video from Vanessa Joy, we look at several different ways you can light a subject with flash, balancing it with the natural light to create a natural look. And, yes, there’s more to it than simply adjusting the power level to even out the brightness.

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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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