Portrait inspiration

Shooting someone playing a role can bring a new dimension to your images. Here are 5 tips for photographing portfolio-worthy costume portraits.

There is something timeless about a black and white portrait. Let's look at a few examples. Here are 21 fine examples of dramatic black and white portraits.

Need some inspiration for indoor photos? Try this window light portrait technique. This is a basic indoor portrait with soft window light from one side. You’ll need: A window that does not face the sun (or it is overcast outside) Daylight A willing model Camera Setup Mode: Aperture Priority (Often shown as Av on the [...]

It's not often one gets to hear from a photographer with a full career behind them that's seen and met so many notable people like Douglas Kirkland has. If his name hasn't been on your radar before, it should.

A portrait is about capturing the subject’s personality. Senior portraits take it a step further, capturing a specific moment in a teen’s life. If you are not familiar with the teen, ask them questions. I know Courtney and I know she’s a free spirit. She loves playing guitar. As she was relaxing playing a song, […]

Here's a video of a recent shoot I did as part of a collaborative art project here in Atlanta. I was assigned to photograph a resident of one neighborhood an...

Tunnels are are a ubiquitous landscape feature that present a special photographic challenge. Tunnels can provide great light for portraits and an abundance of photographic opportunities. A...

Imagine a world in which the only thing standing between you and a life of movie-making stardom was a simple photo. A world where huge movie studios called all the shots and stars were made, not born. This was the world of the glamour portrait—the photo that could make or break your film career. The [...]

See the latest cameras and kit revealed, learn from industry experts, and discover the latest techniques and trends.

Every photographer should work on a personal project. Joe Martin has a series called 'Emotional Selfies.' See how he shot it.

Fabrics, hats, animals, flowers and glasses are commonly used props for beauty portraits. They make the photo more interesting by giving the subject something to manipulate. Since beauty portraits involve only a subject, lighting and a prop, there’s more pressure on the model to express herself beautifully because she is the main focus of the [...]

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. […]

This post is a companion to my guest blog post on Scott Kelby’s Blog where I discuss more about how to use to his Steve Jobs Portrait Project. I also wrote about this once before on Photofocus. Right now, Let’s talk about the technical aspects of making this portrait. It’s a pretty simple portrait to […]

How You Shot It is a series where you show us how you shot an image. Today's post comes from Lanye Bush of L. Michelle Images. Layne is a wedding and portrait photographer based in Arkansas.

Beach sunset portraits are always so beautiful; they make for a unique backdrop as each sunset is a little bit different from the next. With an hour long portrait session photos with the sunset over and over can sometimes get a little repetitive. This article will show you how to create diverse images out of […]

Inspired by the traditional clothing worn by the Zulu tribe in South Africa, one photographer wished to do a modern photo shoot to capture the essence of the tribe’s wardrobe and also have a little fun. In the behind the scenes footage below, you can see how the shoot was done and pick up a [...]