A friend of my daughter sent me an email with a few observations and a question, which in turn, set of a much longer train of thought about portrait photography, and making it more spontaneous. My portrait photography tends to be controlled on some levels. I don't strictly pose, but I do control the pose and the lighting and composition - while still trying to retain some spontaneous reaction from my subject.
Here's Terry's email (which was titled: Intrinsic Splendor)
I was thumbing through one of your books to brush up on something Read more inside...
I met Marco when he attended one of my photography workshops - he is charismatic and with that photogenic ruggedness, I thought he'd be a great subject to photograph on location. He was visiting New York from Germany for a few days, and I asked if he would be up for a photo session. And here we are.
With this photo session, I also wanted to try out something I saw Dani Diamond does - where he has an on-camera stabilized gimbal for his Go-Pro, to give a wider point of view from the photographer's perspective. A kind of Read more inside...
Chiaroscuro is defined as the use of strong contrasts between light and dark - bold contrasts affecting a whole composition. Chiaroscuro in an Italian phrase meaning Light and Dark. Chiaro = Light; Scuro = Dark.
In Film Noir, there are many examples of the use of Chiaroscuro, enhancing the mood. Here though, we're going to look at a straight-forward way of using Chiaroscuro as a lighting technique. This then becomes an easy starting point to experiment further.
By adding planes that have a gradient between light and dark, you can enhance Read more inside...
Informal / candid portraits on the street - Applying what you know
New York City abounds with characters - interesting and colorful people. This is one of those constants if you're out on the streets in NYC, especially when taking photos or busy with a photo session ... or as in this case, during one of the individual photography workshops in NYC. This man approached us to sell his artwork ... and we ended up taking a few photos of him. With a few quick, automatic steps, the informal portrait is improved.
I'm one of those people, who, if tourists in Times Square give me their Read more inside...
Photographing portraits with a personal connection
Of all the portraits I've taken over the years, this photo is one of those that I am most proud of - my friend Petra Herrmann. This photograph shows her strength as well as vulnerability.
I'd mention her sense of humor, and her warmth and kindness .. but she'd just tell me to fuck off. So there's that. But it's true. She's a remarkable person and friend ... and I am glad she's going to be around much, much longer.
Petra is a well-known boudoir photographer in Kansas City. Somewhere late in 2014, she was diagnosed with breast Read more inside...
Portrait photography: Show us a favorite or break-through photograph
This photograph remains one of my favorites. It was taken circa early 90's during a studio shoot-out arranged by a camera club (CCJ) I belonged to in Jo'burg. In this photo, the models are waiting for their turn to be photographed in a studio setup, using studio lighting, as well as available light in the large studio. It was a candid moment, as I knelt in front of this model, Megan.
For me, this was a transitionary photograph - I was at a point where I knew basic photography techniques. I read voraciously, and Read more inside...
Photography tip: available light portraits - that sweet spot of light
A regular theme on Tangents, is using interesting found light sources while shooting portraits on location. For example: using sunlight reflected off a traffic sign.
With this straight-forward portrait of Irene, a photographer friend in New York, I want to show a neat little trick here - helping your subject understand exactly where you want them to stand.
Here we had random reflections of glass structures in Manhattan, giving random spots of lights. I wanted to use one of these spots of lights here as Read more inside...
Business headshots in the studio with a contemporary, modern look
When Matt Sweetwood, the owner of the largest Camera Store in New Jersey, discussed doing new new business headshots for him, we agreed that a more contemporary look suited him. There's a large dynamic personality at work here ... and using an 85mm f/1.4 lens wide open would place attention on his eyes and his expression. Nothing else is really in focus aside from his eyes, and this really makes for a compelling portrait that grabs your attention.
We shot various sequences, with the background brighter and darker. Read more inside...
Portrait photography: Dramatic lighting with LED Fresnel lights
For the portrait session of Jennifer Rozenbaum, I wanted to show her in her "office" - the studio where she shoots boudoir images of her clients. But instead of photographing Jennifer in a boudoir style, I wanted this to be portraits of her, the boudoir photographer, where she works. Her office as such. Still, it needed to be sexy, a little feral, yet sweet, and very much her. Read more inside...
In previous articles we could see how a fast 85mm can be used for shallow depth-of-field to shoot nearly anywhere by melting away the background. There's another aspect to this - the bokeh of the lens. The bokeh is a reference to how the quality of the background blur is rendered by a lens. It can be smooth, or have "jittery" patterns to the edges of objects, and the highlights.
Do note though that bokeh and shallow depth-of-field are not quite the same thing. While the DoF / choice of aperture does affect the appearance of the bokeh of Read more inside...
