Today, I’d like to share a few tips for taking better portraits (as mentioned last Friday, the Monday videos are on hold for a bit). Looking back at the many entries on prophotolife, I was surprised to see that the psychology of making portraits hasn’t received it’s own post. This is a huge topic (a personal favorite) and one of …

Another week, another installment of the location photography gear saga. This week we’ll look inside our kit of portable strobe units. This kit of 2 strobes and accessories doesn’t get used a ton but it’s invaluable when we need it. It’s rare that we use these as main lights since we rely more on studio strobes (primarily the Travelite 125 …

Last week I introduced our standard location photography gear setup. We’ll be looking at different bags week by week and today it’s the heart of the business, the camera bag.
You won’t find the latest, trendiest equipment necessarily. This is what we’ve amassed over years in the business and what has produced a good return on investment for our commercial studio. …

As we were packing for location photography this week I thought it might be interesting to show an overall of just what we take along on the average location photo shoot. This is our “medium” location kit, sometimes we pack less, sometimes we take the whole studio. Most of our location jobs (probably 75%) fall around this “medium” category.
It’s important …

video episode 28
I’m often asked, “how do I calibrate my monitor”? What exactly is color management and what are the benefits? The implementation of a good color management system will help you get consistent results when viewing your photos on-screen and when printing them. While implementing color management isn’t critical for the hobbyist, it sure can be nice to make …

* I want to mention that this article has been revised after receiving a helpful comment from yz (check out the beautiful images on his photoblog). I appreciate the clarifications, we’re all here to learn…
In this day and age it’s possible to create quite beautiful photographs without fully understanding focus and depth of field. As long as your auto focus …

*Let me preface this post with a reminder that Epic Edits Weblog is having their very cool $50 Film Camera Project, running through mid-September. Shooting film can be a great way to break your usual photo routine.
There seems to be some curiosity about shooting film among younger photographers and it’s reviving the medium (just when you thought the film …

Have you seen the new Microsoft image technology “Photosynth” yet? I first saw the demo of this product about a year ago. After viewing the initial demo I was honestly left speechless.
First, a quick explanation. Imagine walking around a building, any building, large or small, taking multiple, overlapping digital pictures as you go, kind of like a David Hockney Polaroid …

How many megapixels do you need? Do most of your images remain in digital form, displayed on the web? Or do you create large prints for display?
As camera sensors grow in resolving power, greater demands are placed on lenses. A kit zoom lens that resolved just fine for a manufacturers 6 MP model might not rate so well on a …

 
For the next three weeks we’ll be looking at outdoor portrait photography tips. Hopefully this episode will help out if you’re interested in ideas on how to photograph a senior portrait. It’s pretty timely, too, since DIYPhotography.net is running their Portrait Professional 8 Giveaway at the same time. If you’re looking for portrait photography inspiration, check out all the entries …