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Smile?
Ever wonder why models never smile in advertising photography? Why they always look so serious… aggressive even, sometimes? Because they want to look perfect, that’s why. Smiles create smile lines… but...
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Cannot.
You cannot shoot a portrait handheld at 1/15th second. And you cannot shoot a portrait at f/1.4. Right? So that was shot as follows: Canon 1D Mk4 35mm prime lens (equivalent, therefore, to around 45mm)...
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The best camera…
…it is often said, is the camera you have on you. But you need to use it well. I shall share with you an example of an iPhone picture I took, to illustrate this. To do an iPhone picture is easy. But to...
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Glasses are not a problem
In a shot with glasses, avoid reflections – and it is easy. Move the lights (umbrellas, softboxes, whatever you use) 45 degrees to the subject’s side, and 45 degrees up. If you see a reflection, like...
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Forbidden word
A forbidden word when doing portraits, especially of men: “SMILE!”. I say that for two reasons. First, you do not necessarily need a smile in every portrait. Art portraits, glamour: fashion,...
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Angle
A word about a very important aspect of people photography: angle. When I make a portrait, one of my main tasks is to find the right angle. People have flattering angles, and less flattering angles....
View ArticleQTOTD: Music
Or “Quick Tip Of The Day”: I am setting up for a portrait shoot, and his reminds me to mention to you the following quick tip: Always have some music on the in the background when shooting a portrait....
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Look in my eyes
..or, do not! What I mean is this: for a character portrait, you do not necessarily need eye contact. In fact, often, there is more of a story – more intrigue, more for viewers to work out for...
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Not too shallow
I hear people say sometimes that “you cannot shoot portraits at wide open apertures”. So then how this available light portrait, shot on a full frame camera with a 50mm lens at f/1.2 (yes, f/1.2!)?...
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A simple chiaroscuro portrait or two
In the last few days I took two people’s portraits using just one off camera flash. Here’s Michelle and Adnan, respectively: How did I take those? First, I set the camera so that the ambient light...
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Faceless faces
Here’s an exercise for you. Capture expressions without visible faces. Huh? How? Is that even possible? Yes. Look at this silhouette from Monday’s class at Sheridan College: Now let’s make it slightly...
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“Smile”…?
“Opa en Oma Willems” To emphasize what I wrote yesterday, look here. My grandparents, in 1928 in Tilburg, the Netherlands. In other words: just before they were to set sail to the Dutch East Indies,...
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How quickly things change.
The thin veneer of civilization… I am sure it has been mentioned enough to be a cliché. But just like truisms, clichés are true – that’s why they are clichés. Civilization can change, turn bad, or...
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