Portrait Photography How To

Getting started running a portrait photography or headshot business can be intimidating for some photographers because it may seem like you need to spend a lot of money on lighting gear. That’s not always true as professional photographer Denise Duff points out in the video below from Advancing Your Photography (AVP). 

In the short tutorial, Duff shows how portrait photographers need to keep their eyes open in public spaces to find attractive backgrounds and beautiful natural lighting that costs nothing and looks flattering on your subjects. While the lobby of a large apartment building in New York City might not seem like the ideal place to capture portraits, Duff demonstrates in the clip that there are actually multiple spots in these types of environments to shoot attractive photos of clients.

The key, according to Duff, is that you need to visualize your backgrounds, and know where the light is coming from and how it will look on a subject’s face. As an example early on in the video, she finds a column that has interesting texture in it to serve as a background for a portrait. Then she shows how if you stand in front of it, you will notice how the column gets hit by a wall of soft natural light, creating an idea location for some quick portraits. Bingo!

It’s a great short tutorial for portrait photographers. If you want to see more helpful educational videos for photographers, visit AVP’s YouTube page. You can check out more of Duff’s work on her website. You may also like this Shutterbug video from photographer Jordan Matter, who shows you five great portrait photography locations you can find right outside your door.