Striking photographs – the kind that makes you stop you in your tracks – usually owe their impact to the use of lighting. It could be the mood conveyed by atmospheric sun flares or the way the subject’s eyes seem to sparkle from the studio flash; either way, it’s your ability to notice and manipulate the light that is the key.

Available Light

Many professional portrait photographers work exclusively with available light. This can include both natural light and artificial light (that’s already in the location) or a combination of the two. When using available light, your challenge is to work with or modify the light that’s already in the scene to achieve your desired result.

Shooting portraits in direct sunlight: 3 tips

Many portrait photographers shy away from direct sunlight. The common wisdom is that you can’t capture beautiful portraits in harsh ...
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Studio-Style Rim Light With Two Windows

You don't need flash to create a studio-style portrait like this one; you only need a little lighting know-how... One ...
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Outdoor Newborn Portrait

If it’s hot outside, here’s a newborn portrait that you can replicate. Everything is a potential source of inspiration: this ...
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Using A House As A Reflector

Sometimes the best light is from an unexpected source: find out how I used the white wall of a house ...
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Soft Portraits In Hard Sun

Sunny days are a mixed blessing: lots of light but it can be harsh & unflattering. Here’s how you can ...
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Windowlit Groom’s Portrait at Le Manoir

We had just a couple of minutes to capture this portrait. To achieve it, I needed to consider the various ...
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Topshade & Frames Within Frames

You can find top shade and framing devices in most natural and urban environments. These give your portraits great lighting ...
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Super-Simple Daylight Portrait

You don't need studio flash to achieve a clean, simple portrait with great lighting. This was taken outdoors at the end ...
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Location Lighting

Pack your speedlites and portable flash: this section is all about bringing artificial lighting on location to achieve results that wouldn’t be possible with available light alone. You’ll learn how to make daylight turn into night-time, freeze BMX-riders mid-air and light up snow and smoke for beautifully atmospheric portraits.

Lights, Fans and a Seriously Fit Spin Class Instructor

The creative part of a portrait photographer's job is to look beyond the obvious shot and create something that makes ...
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Lighting Up An Ancient Lecture Theatre For A Science-Themed Portrait

This shot was about fire, camera and action, as part of a commercial commission to create a visually striking portrait ...
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Opaque Smoke & Background Bokeh

How to backlight smoke so it becomes opaque, and using a slow shutter speed to capture background lights as out-of-focus ...
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Creating Hero Portraits

Using a low camera angle to make your subject the ‘hero’ in your portraits, and underexposing a bright sky for ...
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Rembrandt Portrait Lighting

There are locations for portraits everywhere - even in an alleyway. This is how I created a dramatic shot in ...
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Lighting An Outdoor Action Shot

This comic book-inspired action portrait was taken for my local junior football team. Here’s how I used two portable flashes ...
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Environmental Chef Portrait

Sometimes you’ve got loads of light sources, stuff everywhere and very little time: this is the world of environmental portraits, ...
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Horror-Inspired Fashion Portrait

Stylised portraits can be the most fun to create, especially if you enjoy overcoming technical challenges. For this shot, I ...
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Lighting The Snow For A Night-Time Kiss In Winter

This is one of my most popular portraits: the drama of the red dress and wintry weather mixed with the ...
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Including Flash Heads In The Portrait

99.9 per cent of the time, I don't want my portable flash units to be in the final image. In ...
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Studio Lighting

Who cares if it’s cold, raining or night-time? If you’ve got a studio, there’s no need to put down your camera. In fact, even if you don’t have access to a studio, learning studio lighting will improve your available light and location light portraits. Visualise where you would place the lights in a studio setting, then find ways to replicate that with whatever light you have available to you.

Photographing both light and dark skin tones with a single studio light

Sometimes photographing multiple clients at once is pretty straightforward. If the people in front of your camera have similar face ...
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Action gymnast portrait in the studio

There’s specific studio lighting know-how you’ll need if you want to try your hand at catching an athlete mid-air with ...
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Flattering Faces: Broad and Narrow Lighting

Different face shapes benefit from different lighting patterns. Read on to find out how to slim down a wide face ...
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One-light low key studio portrait

You've got one light. One subject dressed in dark clothing. And one dark paper background. All the ingredients for a ...
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Award-Winning Portrait Of A Modern-Day Explorer

When an extreme adventurer came into our studio for some commercial clothing shots, my favourite picture happened when we ventured ...
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Traditional Lighting Patterns

These are the traditional lighting set-ups that studio photographers used to be taught as standard. The set-ups create different ‘light ...
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Teenager Headshots

Of all the age groups I photograph, teenagers are by far my favourite. They are at their physical peak, and ...
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Sculpting Faces With Shadow

Shadows give your portraits a sense of depth and shape. Here’s how to achieve the ‘Rembrandt’ lighting pattern, and turn ...
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How To Feather Studio Light

Sometimes a gentle, subtle portrait is the best representation of your subject. Here I used feathered, low key lighting and ...
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Hollywood Glamour Portrait

The pros and cons of working with a beauty dish, and how to use subtractors to reduce the amount of ...
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One-Light Studio Portrait

Often, the simplest things are the best. Here’s how you can replicate my go-to studio set-up to get flattering lighting ...
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Sensual Portraits

Sensual portraits tease the viewer's imagination. Learn why it’s best not to reveal too much, and how to feather your ...
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Low Key Hair Salon Portraits

Sometimes you’re aiming for a specific look, but your subject arrives wearing something that doesn’t align with your vision. Here, ...
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High Key Striplight Portrait

Can you shoot a pale subject on a pale background? Yes, you can, if you control your lights. Here’s how ...
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Channeling James Dean

Bruno walked into my studio wearing his leather jacket. It appealed to me from a photographic point of view and ...
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A Cover Story

The cover of Mastering Portrait Photography features a portrait of young Ben (who is now a professional rower!). Here’s the ...
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Beautiful, Studio-Lit Stranger

There's only one complete stranger that I've approached, asking her out-of-the-blue if I could photograph her: that's Dory, who you ...
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