As photographers, it’s easy to get sucked into the mindset that it takes tons of fancy equipment to create stunning studio images. The truth is, killer images can be created on the smallest of budgets. It’s all about how you use your gear and understanding how to refine the light you create.
Senior portraits are what really kicked off my photography career and made me fall in love with photography. I’ve been in business for four years now and have been using only natural light with all my senior portrait shoots since the beginning!
It’s rare that someone figures out what they are going to do for a living in middle school, but I did. Ever since I used to design Nike shoes in history class instead of paying attention to my teacher, I loved two things: art and sports.
Before I jump into the meaty topic of in-studio posing, I want to begin with a premise from which all of my tips in this article emanate. I believe all posing can be broken down to the same fundamental goal: honour who the subject is that’s standing in front of your camera and make them look damn good
I found that the best way to use strobes is to either bounce it, diffuse it further, or even both. I would use that rule at any setup, with some adjustments depending on the concept itself. Here I will be talking about different ways of using your lights, which will keep your body of work looking consistent yet diverse.
If you’re a portrait photographer, you know how important it is to master posing, especially if you work with clients who are not professional models. As a portrait photographer specialized in maternity portraits, my eye is trained to look for poses and angles that flatter every woman’s body shape while showing the belly and the curves of pregnancy.
You can create your own magic anywhere you want with a battery-powered light and a small softbox or umbrella. When shooting outside, I love using the sun as my hair light and a softbox as my main light. No matter how bright the natural light is, placing the sun behind your subject will either create a subtle rim light on a cloudy day or a brilliant one on a sunny day.
As photographers, one of the things we gravitate to is light. Makes sense right? Light is the foundation of an image. How you use light is what starts to help you develop your identity as a photographer.
So many elements and considerations go into the physical aspects of posing, from facial expression to the point of the toe. It’s all important, but that’s not what I am going to cover in this article. I won’t bore you with the usual posing tricks and principles taught in most basic photography blogs or tutorial videos on the internet.
Back in July I wrote the article on five tips for shooting the Milky Way.. In it we covered the basics of shooting this beautiful piece of our galactic home. I talked about gear, planning, safety, settings and how to set your focus for tack-sharp stars. Now I’m going to explain how to add a human subject into your Milky Way images.
