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Take better self portraits with this advice from professional models

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Self-portraiture has been around for much longer than the much-maligned selfie. It is as old as art itself and is a real genre of photography in and of itself. But it’s not easy. If you’ve ever tried to take photographs of yourself, you’ll know just how difficult it can be.

Fortunately, advances in technology have helped enormously. However, the fact remains that what we think we look like in our mind rarely is how we actually look in the finished image. It can be an exercise in patience and trial and error. But it is possible to improve and get better at posing yourself. In this video from Mango Street, professional models give advice on how you can look better in your self-portraits.

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How to take classical musician portraits that rock

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If you shoot portraits at all I can almost guarantee that you’ll get asked at some point by a musician to have some images taken. Whether you’re a professional or an amateur it doesn’t seem to matter. Musicians are generally hungry for photographs and need a constant carousel of images for their publicity and social media.

However, it’s not always that straightforward to take a great shot of a musician. And generally, they don’t just need action shots of them playing, they need a mixture of headshots, shots with the instrument, full-body shots, atmospheric shots, and often shots that would work on an album cover, even in today’s age of digital music downloads.

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Nine tips for raising your portrait photography to ninja level

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For me, portraiture is one of the most inspiring genres of photography. I also find it pretty difficult to master, there’s so much to learn – but it’s what makes it so fun and appealing. In this video, photographer Jamie Windsor shares nine fantastic tips for giving a new dimension to your portraiture work. He focuses on studio shots, environmental portraits and street photography, and shares some precious advice to help you get the best out of your portraits.

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From press photographer to capturing ailing children: John Maniaci’s Journey

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“This is the last picture where the family photo will have 5 children instead of 4…” John Maniaci tells me, before trailing off, letting the meaning of that simple sentence sink in. “What I’m doing in the children’s hospital is incredibly powerful.”

Some photographers invest their lives in finding beauty in the most unlikely of places. For John Maniaci, that turned out to be an intensive care unit for children at UW Health.

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Full Time vs Fake Photographer, can you spot the difference?

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In this very non-scientific exercise by Seattle based portrait photographer Ben Lucas, we see if subjects can tell the difference between photograph created by a full time working pro vs a paid actor.

The camera, lighting and setup is identical for each “photographer”, to try and illustrate that creating a portrait is about more than just the technical.  You need to be able to connect with your subjects to bring out their personality and real emotion.

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How to shoot portraits under pressure

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In the ideal world, you have an infinite amount of time during photoshoots to tweak the lighting and camera settings until everything is absolutely perfect.

Unfortunately, that’s not the reality of it. Oftentimes we’re left with too little time in too small of a space and all we can do is try to get the best picture possible.

Here to share how she makes the most out of inconvenient situations is portrait photographer Victoria Will for a BTS video from CreativeLive.[Read More…]

7 Tips For Taking Breathtaking Travel Portraits

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If you think about taking your camera with you to your holiday, this article gives you a insight about how to get some breathtaking travel portraits. All what I am writing about are tips and tricks from my own experience, travelling the world with my camera. From preparations, equipment to talking with a stranger this post covers all basics what you need to get out and enjoy making your own travel portraits.

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Elena Shumilova A.K.A Photographer Mom Shares Her Techniques For Photographing Kids

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Russian Photographer and mom Elena Shumilova became kinda famous when photos of her kids and family went viral in early 2014.  In total her photos were views over 60,000,000 times (and I guess they were viewed outside her profile some 60 million more).

Something about her photography struck a chord with almost everyone, photographers, mothers, father, young and old. I guess the innocence and feeling of childhood that projected from her photos were just irresistible.

Elena shared some great advice on photographing kids with the crew at Smugmug and agreed to share them with DIYP readers.

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Quick, Clever and Easy Method to Correct Skin Tones in Portraits

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When shooting portraits, getting the right skin tones is not a trivial task. Differences in lighting, skin tan and other factors can create uneven skin tones which our brains usually compensates in ‘real life’, but they can be quite distrusting when looking in a portrait.

Photographer Michael Woloszynowicz shares quite an easy method for correcting skin tones that automates the hardest part of the process – getting the correct skin tone to correct with.[Read More…]

Touching Group Portrait For Sick Friend Done With Shaved Heads

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There aren’t many single moments in life that you can lay your finger on and say that your life before that moment is completely different from the life after that moment. Discovering you have cancer is definitely a life changing moment. And is it in that moment that you need your supporting environment – friend and family – the most.

Last month, one of Gerdi McKenna’s friends wrote an email asking Gerdi friends to come and make a group portrait for her. Having diagnosed with breast cancer, all of Gerdi’s friends accepted the invitation.

But, this was not a trivial group shot. To show their empathy, Gerdi’s friends all shaved their heads prior to posing for the portrait, which despite the sad circumstances is one of the most touching portraits I’ve seen.[Read More…]

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