Portrait Photography How To

Shooting evocative portraits in the field requires special skills, especially when photographing indigenous peoples in faraway locations. In this interesting tutorial, you’ll learn why one pro says the key to travel portraiture is “knowing where your subject’s eyes should be looking.”

Adventurer Mitchell Kanashkevich is a professional photographer who travels the globe making unique documentary and portrait images that are quite engaging. In the video below, he demonstrates how properly capturing the gaze of a subject’s eyes will help you become a better visual storyteller and enable you to make more compelling portraits.

You may think it’s a small nuance whether a subject is glancing up or down, or looking directly at the camera, but Kanashkevich says these subtle differences impact the ability of a portrait to evoke character and emotion. And while watching this video, you’ll no doubt gain inspiration from his stunning imagery.

Kanashkevich explains the concept of “visual weight” as a more fluid approach to portrait composition. By knowing where a subject’s eyes are looking, you can also direct the eyes of those viewing your images to what you consider the most important aspect of a scene. You’ll also be able to convey feelings of strength, power, trepidation, happiness, and other emotions.

There’s much more to see on Kanashkevich’s YouTube channel, and be sure to look at the Photoshop tutorial we posted earlier, explaining a simple technique for brightening the eyes of  portrait subjects.

Via ISO 1200