Everything about Portrait Photography

You’ve obviously seen and heard of black and white portrait photography, but perhaps you’ve always found that you’re drawn to color in your work. If you want to completely change the mood of an image, shooting in black and white can make a significant difference.

As an experiment, try shooting a portrait at night and be prepared to discover a totally new look and feel in your work. This might include incorporating off camera flash (OCF) or using interesting ambient light such as neon signs, car headlights, etc… you get the idea.

Low-key photography is a style of photography that requires you to shoot in a low key (i.e. dimming the front light). Doing so results in a dark photo where only certain, predetermined areas of the frame are lit up by either natural light or artificial light.

Natural light may not sound exciting, but try to challenge yourself by looking for interesting shadows or shooting from different angles. Things in the environment like a white wall can act as a reflector to soften the light on your model. You may notice a huge difference by paying close attention to how you shape the natural light in a scene.

Don’t be afraid to embrace studio portrait photography when booking your clients. While you may not get as much variety in your backgrounds, in some cases, having a neutral backdrop can be best because it allows the focus of the image to be on the subject.

Environmental portrait photography is done when you capture the subject in their “natural” environment. This can mean at home, at work, or doing their favorite activity. The emphasis is still on the subject rather than the activity they are completing, but by incorporating the natural environment, we get an effortless photo that makes the subject look right at home.

Film photography creates a really unique aesthetic that is difficult to replicate digitally, and each film has its own characteristics when it comes to grain, color, and tone.

You can recreate 80’s portrait photography by having your model dress in nostalgic, vintage clothing, but you can also use Photoshop to give your image a vintage feel during the post-production process.

Portrait photography doesn’t necessarily require a person to be fully present in a shot. Portrait photography can focus specifically on one body part of a person. The eye is a great point of focus because there tends to be a lot of variability, and they can convey deep emotions.

We also always encourage portrait photographers to play with their angels when they are looking for a way to switch things up. In particular, low-angle portrait photography can add something unique to an image.

Annie Leibovitz is an American portrait photographer, best known for photographing celebrities using a unique style of lighting, rich color, and posing. Born in Connecticut in 1949, she went on to study painting at San Francisco Art Institute, where she developed her love of photography. Leibovitz worked at Rolling Stone Magazine, Vanity Fair, and Vogue. Arguably her most famous shot was an intimate portrait of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, taken just hours before Lennon’s untimely death.

Dorothea Lange was an American portrait photographer, most famous for her photojournalism and documentary-style photography. If her name doesn’t immediately come to mind, likely her photograph of a Depression-era migrant mother with hand on chin, surrounded by children will. Lange practiced learning by observing from a young age, which would help her later as a photographer.

Steve Mccurry is an American photographer, best known for his photojournalism, Born in 1950, he became interested in photography while shooting for his college newspaper in Pennsylvania. Not long after, Mccurry moved to India and began freelancing, taking searing portraits of subjects and various regions in the midst of conflict. His most famous photograph, Afghan Girl, shows the intense gaze of a young girl living in a refugee camp.

James Van Der Zee was born in a small town in New England in 1886. Creative from a young age, he grew up learning how to play the violin and piano, and as a teenager, took photographs of his family and hometown, creating his own darkroom in his childhood home. At 20 he moved to Harlem, New York City where he went on to open a portrait studio, his primary space for shooting, documenting photos of Harlem residents.

Julia Margaret Cameron was a British photographer, born in 1815 in Kolkata (formerly Calcutta), India. She grew up among the upper class members of society, with an aristocratic mother, and a father who worked for a trading company. She didn’t take up photography until her late 40’s, yet she was prolific until her death at 63. Julia Margaret Cameron’s photography style utilized close-ups of subjects and a softly focussed lens, however she received criticism at the time for her photos’ “unrefined” quality.

Yousuf Karsh was a Canadian-Armenian portrait photographer. Born in 1908, he became a refugee due to the Armenian genocide, coming to Canada in 1932 and settling in Quebec with his uncle, a portrait photographer, who gave Karsh a camera. After opening a studio in Ottawa, Karsh began taking photos of many dignitaries and public figures. By his retirement, the portrait photographer had published more than 20 photos in Life magazine.

Born in Riga (then a part of the Russian Empire) in 1906, Philippe Halsman was a Latvian-American portrait photographer. After experiencing deeply traumatic antisemitism in his early 20’s, Halsman fled Europe soon after the start of WWII. Throughout the 1930’s however, he had been working in France and establishing himself through his work for fashion magazines.

Born in 1904, George Hurrell was a photographer known for his 1940’s Hollywood glamour portraits. Hurrell originally studied painting, and only used photography to document his work. After moving to California, he began to pursue photography. Hurrell’s style of shooting often included a full body portrait, and his Hollywood glamour portraits led him to work for MGM Studios.

Diane Arbus was an American photographer, who grew up and spent most of her life in New York City. Her portrait subjects were varied, however she often shot those with unique features or identities–twins, socialites, drag artists, carnival performers, the vast majority found on the streets of New York City and surrounding area. Arbus started with 35mm cameras, then moved to the more crisp, detailed ability of medium-format film cameras. Arbus’ famous photos were often shot in homes, parks, streets, and beaches, her black and white portrait-shooting style can be described by centered, front shooting, often utilizing a flash during the daytime to bring subjects distinctly out of their surroundings.

Richard Avedon was an American photographer best known for his fashion photography. His interest in photography emerged in childhood, often taking photos of his sister. He went on to study photography at The New School, quickly finding work in art direction for Harper’s Bazaar, and setting up his own studio. Avedon infused vibrancy and movement into his photographs, shooting in studio and outdoors.

Born in 1917, Irving Penn was an American fashion and portrait photographer. He studied art in Philadelphia, and while there, also worked at Harper’s Bazaar in the art department. Several years later his photos started showing up in Vogue, where he continued to work throughout his career. Penn preferred the control of a studio-environment, even creating make-shift ones while on assignment abroad.

Arnold Newman was an American photographer. He grew up in Atlantic City, New Jersey, but twice moved down to Florida, once where he studied painting and drawing at the University of Miami, later to open a business of his own in Miami Beach. He moved to New York in 1946, where he opened a studio and worked as a freelance photographer for many popular magazines at the time.

Born in Los Angeles in 1952, and returning after attending Bard College in New York, Herb Ritts got his start in photography while photographing friend and aspiring actor, Richard Gere. The American fashion photographer became famous for his black and white portraits of models and celebrities. Ritts’ career began in the late 70s and took off through his work at magazines and on advertising campaigns. His photography was concerned with shapes and simplicity, and his fine art photography continues to be exhibited.

If you shoot fashion portraits, you’ll want a hashtag strategy that gets in front of photography lovers as well as fashion lovers who will be more likely to save the image.

#fashionportrait #fashionphotography #fashionshoot #fashioneditorial #portraitfashion #fashiongram

Black and portraiture will always be in style. Try these hashtags the next time you post a black and white portrait.

#bnw #bnwportrait #blackandwhite #bnwmood #blackandwhiteportrait #monochromeportrait

If you play both model and photographer and turn the camera on yourself to create your images, use these hashtags to get those photos noticed.

#selfportrait #selfportraitphotographer #selfshot #instame #portraitpage #artofselfportraiture

Travel portraits can help transport viewers to a place, helping to capture the essence of a location through the people who call it home. Tag your travel portraits with these popular hashtags.

#postcardsfromtheworld #peopleoftheworld #travelportraits #natgeohumanity #worldface #atlasofhumanity

If you prefer shooting portraits the old fashion way, on film, try these hashtags.

#thefilmcommunity #filmphotographic #filmportrait #filmisnotdead #analogportrait #grainisgood

If you create portraits that would be right at home in an art book, on a gallery wall, or displayed in a home, you’ll want to get those art photography portraits in front of art lovers online. Use these hashtags to make your portraits searchable.

#artphotography #fineartportrait #artofinstagram #contemporaryphotography #portraitoftheday #streetvision

If you shoot celebrity portraits, the best audience for those images will be fans of that particular celebrity. Try these celebrity portrait hashtags:

Wedding photographers straddle the world of event photography and portrait photography.

#weddingportrait #weddingphotography #weddinginspo #bridalportrait #weddingmoments #weddingwire

As a family portrait photographer, your hashtags should aim to get your family portraits in front of potential clients in your geographic area. You can add a location tag to all of your images, as well as some geographically-relevant hashtags.

#familyphotography #familyphotoshoot #familygoals #maternityphotography #familysessions #(yourlocation)familyphotographer

Artistic, conceptual portraits can perform very well on Instagram if they reach the right audience.

#conceptualphotography #conceptualart #capturedconcepts #artisoninstagram #abstractphotography #experimentalphotography

Full and part-time self-employed photographers also accounted for 71% of respondents, with photography hobbyists, students and employees making up the balance. The data reflects the views of a seasoned group, as over half of survey participants reported having more than 10 years experience.

On the heels of a “slower-than-expected” 2021, the survey participants are cautiously optimistic about the current year business climate. Even though a robust 89% reflect an overall optimistic attitude about business this year, a closer look reveals a spectrum of sentiments.

Over 83% of photographers disclosed that they work with 3 or fewer types of clients, with 37% saying that they work with just one type. The vast majority of clients are categorized as individuals or small/medium businesses, while enterprise, institutions, publications and agencies comprise the rest.

When it comes to finding clients, traditional word-of-mouth marketing is still the top method, while portfolio websites are the most important online tool for client acquisition. Instagram is the preferred social media channel for showing off work to reach a larger audience.

discover which cameras and lenses are preferred by photography speciality and see what other photographers in your specialty are shooting with.

Even though most digital cameras can shoot both still images and video, the survey reflected that still photography is by far the primary medium for most of the survey participants with 64% shooting stills and 35% shooting a mix of still and video. Merely 11% divulged outsourcing video production to someone else. Online file transfer accounts for half of the logistics for video delivery.

54.7% Adapting how I conduct shoots. 20.7% Generating revenue online. 46.8% Taking on new types of clients/shoots

Selling prints and downloads to my clients and Selling prints in an online store or marketplace dominated how photographers are generating revenue online.

As reflected in the COVID Impact on 2021 Activity chart above, even though a majority of photographers said business was slower than expected, 23% of full-time and 14% of part-time photographers were actually busier than expected. What activities generated revenue for photographers during the year?

Similar to the experiences of most businesses over the past two years, the photography industry was not immune to adverse repercussions and operational challenges. However, when considering “fight or flight” responses, photographers as whole showed resilience by adapting and sticking with the craft and commerce they love.