Portrait Photography: Creative Tips & Ideas for Great Images

This is the promotional and introduction to the course

Whenever a main light is pointed at someone, it throws some kind of shadow on the subject's face, and the pattern of that shadow will change depending on the angle of the light and the angle of the subject's face.

This lecture demonstrates the most poplar types of lighting patterns for portraits using a mannequin head and Carla, a real live model!

Although I've shot this video with external light sources, these lighting patterns are applicable to both flash and natural light

You'll notice that Carla has slightly unusual facial features, thanks in advance for your understanding as she talks about her genetic disorder at the end of the video

Exposure, metering modes and focusing for portraits

This film describes the settings I use most for portraits

Many factors come into play when taking portraits, lighting, composition, clean backgrounds etc..., and although I touch upon these in this video, the emphasis in this video is on camera and lens settings.

Windows, we've (hopefully!) all got them , you can use them to get some beautiful soft portraits by placing your subjects nearby.

I've categorised window light shooting into 3 different shooting styles, each one one will provide a completely different look to the other two. This is first of the three videos, with a short introduction and then live shooting, parallel to the window for a dramatic look

This is the second of the three videos, with a short introduction and then live shooting, with the window behind me for a lovely flattering look.

In a way, this kind of light is similar to lovely 'top-shade' light, as it comes in from the one direction, with no light coming from above.

This is the third and final videos in this series on window light, with a short introduction and then live shooting into the light for a very dramatic look.

Use this type of light with care in order to create powerful images, it's important that your subject isn't looking into the room, well not unless you particularly want a silhouette!!

This is the first in a sequence of sessions showing some great techniques for taking photos on location.

In this video, I photograph Pippa under a tree and what you might say is the wrong way around, i.e facing inward, but then I over-expose the image for a specific 'Alpine' type look.

This is the second in a sequence of sessions showing some great techniques for taking photos on location, using both natural light and off-camera flash.

In this video, I photograph Pippa on a canal bridge which goes off into the distance providing the 2 dimensional images with depth to make them look more 3D like .

The pose and composition is one of my 'go to' styles, the idea is to shoot the subject side on with a wide aperture and with lots of space behind them to get a nice blurry background.

This is the third in a sequence of sessions showing some great techniques for taking photos on location, using both natural light and off-camera flash.

In this video, I photograph Pippa by a small local lake, I had to contend with dappled sunlight coming through the tree, plus a fairly bright background. I started off by using just natural light, and then switched to off camera flash.

This is the fourth and final session with Pippa showing some great techniques for taking photos on location, using both natural light and off-camera flash.

In this video, I photograph Pippa in a small area behind a local supermarket. There were various large rusty containers that I thought might provide great backgrounds. I started off by using just natural light, and then switched to off-camera flash.

Here's some ideas, tricks and tips for getting natural, relaxed and fun expressions from people. Some you'll like, but some others may not be for you. Just pick and choose your favourites and give them a try during your next photo session.

Although I don't discuss posing in this video, there's many good examples of my posing ideas, just pick out and use the ones you like

Negative space is simply the area surrounding the main subject in a photo, it can give your photos an entirely different feel, and create an atmosphere that a photo of the same subject filling the frame will lack.

The absence of content does not mean the absence of interest, in fact negative space often adds interest as it can draw the viewers eye and place a stronger emphasis on the subject, be it a person a flower or an interesting graphic. 

There's lots of examples here on this compositional technique.

In my most humble opinion, you will get more creative portraits shooting in the landscape orientation. This video provides the reasons why I take nearly all of my portraits in Landscape orientations, and why I think you should too.

This is the 1st in a sequence of urban location sessions with the lovely Em, showing some great natural light and useful composition techniques.

In this video, I photograph Em by the side of an office building that form a corridor, I make use of top shade, leading lines, and reflections to to get some great images.

This is the 2nd in the sequence of urban location sessions with the lovely Em, showing some great natural light and useful composition techniques.

In this video, I photograph in the courtyard of an office building, It's a deserted area, not at all pretty, but I show how you can make the most of of small (mostly undesirable) areas for portraits

This is the 3rd in the sequence of urban location sessions with the lovely Em, showing some great natural light and useful composition techniques.

In this video, I photograph outside of an office block with windows along one side of a wall, natural light only

This is the 4th and final session in this sequence with the lovely Em, showing some great natural light and useful composition techniques.

In this video, I shoot against the outside of a steel air-conditioning structure behind a cinema, and with great effect. There was potential for this session to be ruined by the harsh sunlight, but I was able position Em to make the most of the light.

In a previous video on an earlier course, I introduced you to the subject of TopShade (sometimes called OpenShade). This video runs through the basics, but in addition to the more usual frontal flattering light, I also shows how you can use TopShade for a more creative look, and to get a really lovely looking professional type of light on your subject's face. 

In this video, I photography a family 4, mum dad, and two young boys. You'll see some family poses and how to make the best use of the available light.

It's also worth noting how I structure the session and interact with the family to keep things moving along nicely.

This is a continuation of the family photo session, you'll learn some family poses and how to make the best to use of the available light.

Continuing the previous session, but this time with just the 2 boys, watch and learn how I cope with the challenges of photographing children, trying to keep them happy and interested etc...

In this introductory video, I discuss my views on maternity photography, covering topics such as the light, flattering angles, clothing and posing.

There's no live shooting, instead I just prepare you for what is to come in the other videos in this chapter.

In the introduction to maternity photography, I talked about not 'over-lighting' the belly bump, so the thinking in this video is to light Katie from behind.

Shooting into the light does complicate the exposure, so you'll see me using the world famous Bernie Raffe 'trial and error' exposure method!

Here's another great pose, with Katie lying on the sofa in just her sexy lingerie. The lighting from the side window is subdued, but note the subtleties of the pose, which are very important 

Here's another relaxed, comfortable pose, with Katie sitting on a bed with her back to the wall. The lighting is all-important, soft light coming through the bedroom window on the left. This side lighting provides the shadow and light to fall across her belly 

Starting to get a little bolder now, with bare top and just some fabric covering her lower body

A change of mood and lighting for this video, as we venture into my makeshift studio for an off camera flash session. The main light is to the side and just behind Katie to produce that important shadow and light across her belly. A DIY striplight (made from a postal tube) sits just behind her on the other side, to provide some separation from the dark background.

All kinds of modifiers for on-board flash are available, but generally speaking they just bounce the light around to give an all over pleasing light.

While this is all well and good, it's far more difficult to get creative using the flash on-camera.

Enter 'The Black Foamy Thing', a piece of craft foam that allows you to direct the light for a more moodier type of look

Here's a quick cheap and cheerful trick for getting lovely lighting with a minimum of gear.

In this video I just setup a white shopping bag next to Carla and fire a flash through it, take a look at the great results I achieved.

In this video I demonstrate how you can get a black, or at the very least, a very dark background without going to the trouble of using a black background.

This works best on a cloudy day, or maybe at dusk, so that it's not too bright outside. If it is too bright, e.g on a bright sunny day, you'll need an aperture of around f22, and then the flash will not be powerful enough.

A mean looking gangster armed only with a replica non-working gun (well, this is the UK!)

This is an idea for creating a 'film-noir' dramatic, moody, low light shot of a pretend gangster or mobster peering through an upstairs window. Ok, sure that is a bit specific, but there's a few tips and tricks here that can help elevate and add drama to your portrait

This is an idea for creating a dramatic, moody, low light indoor portrait. You can do this with just one light and a piece of 3mm perspex sprayed with water.

There's a small section at the end refining the image using Photoshop.