Three Tips for Better Portraits
So, your photos look a little boring, despite your use of off-camera flash? Here are three ways to dramatically improve your portraits using intentional lighting placement, basic posing, and background lighting.
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On-Camera Flash for Beginners
If you’re new to flash photography, this post might just put you on the fast track to becoming a flash expert. At the very least you should see a dramatic improvement in your on-camera flash skills. Then it’s only a matter of taking a few more steps toward more advanced professional lighting setups. Amazing Portraits…
Mixing Ambient Light with Flash for Portraits
One of my favorite lighting techniques involves mixing flash with natural light, particularly when the natural light is strong and coming from behind the subject. This method creates a beautiful backlighting effect that adds dimension to your photos. The Basics Using natural backlighting alone can work if there’s enough illumination bouncing around to reach the…
What is TTL for Flash Photography
Photographers know that creating a properly exposed image requires balancing three main exposure settings: ISO, shutter speed, and aperture. The optimal combination of these settings is based on the lighting conditions in your scene. But most people can’t just look at a scene and know exactly what settings to use. Even an experienced photographer’s guess…
$3 Softbox Alternative?
Softboxes are the preferred lighting modifier for many portrait photographers. This is especially true if the goal is to achieve a flattering, softer-looking light. A softbox allows you to create a nice, even, and relatively larger light throw than you’d get with a basic flash or strobe alone. By doing this, it reduces contrast and…
What You Need for Off-Camera Flash
Off-camera flash is an important skill set for photographers. It’s a game-changer in the truest sense. If you’re into portrait photography, you really — and I can’t emphasize this enough — you really should know how to build and use your own off-camera flash setup. And you should be able to do this in the…
Understanding the Exposure Triangle
One of the most important concepts every serious photographer should understand is the exposure triangle. Here, I’ll break down the three components of exposure: aperture, shutter speed, and ISO, and discuss how they work together to create an image in your camera. What is the Exposure Triangle? The exposure triangle is the relationship between three…
