Articles By Topic

Black and white two light portrait setup featuring model Lizzie on dark background

How I Build a Studio Portrait From Scratch

Two lights, a roll of black paper and a portrait built from scratch: here's how I light a moody studio ...
Black and white two light portrait setup featuring model Lizzie on dark background

Two Lights And A Kiss – A Moody Portrait On Black Paper

Pattern: Short side lighting from a big soft source, with a gridded kiss light coming back from behind. Mood: Dark ...
Photographer demonstrating understanding continuous light techniques in a studio setting

Seeing Light Differently: An Evening Exploring Continuous Light

There’s a common misconception in portrait photography that better photographs come from buying better lights. Spend enough money on the ...
Woman with curly hair surrounded by dramatic smoke effect portrait studio

Using The PMI Smoke Ninja Dry Ice Nozzle For Portraits

I love the dry ice nozzle for the PMI Smoke Ninja. What it does, essentially, is cool the smoke as ...
Woman with long hair posing on stool in natural movement portrait photography

Photographing Natural Movement – Play With Hair

Photographing Natural Movement As a portrait photographer, I'm always looking for moments that look great but are also really natural ...
Young male model portrait with dramatic lighting against dark grey background

Angle Of The Light Part 1

When we talk about lighting patterns, it can feel like there's a myriad of variables at play. And of course, ...
A portrait of a woman with long hair, featuring clamshell lighting setup.

Clamshell Lighting Setup For Portraits

A few people have asked about the next steps for setting up clamshell lighting. This technique involves using two lights ...
Young woman wearing glasses with visible lens reflections against dark background

Eliminating Reflections In Glasses

I am often asked about eliminating reflections in glasses during a shoot. The good news is that modern anti-reflective coatings ...
How to make a scene look cold

How to make a scene look cold

We often associate cold with blue tones, right? So here’s a little trick I use to make a scene feel ...
Ordinary to Extraordinary: Portraits in Crappy Locations (The Societies Convention)

Ordinary to Extraordinary: Portraits in Crappy Locations (The Societies Convention)

There's a special kind of location photographers know all too well. Not a "location", really. More a "this will do" ...

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