Portrait Photography How To

If you’re looking for a simple technique to give your portraits a unique look, how about mixing natural light with colored gels on your strobes? The quick tutorial below demonstrates how it’s done.

Michael Woloszynowicz is a fashion and portrait pro based in Los Angeles. He’s also a popular instructor with an interesting online series entitled “How I Shot it.” The video below is episode four, and in just 11 minutes you’ll learn how to give your portraits a unique twist.

Woloszynowicz begins with his out-of-camera image, and walks you through the simple process of combining natural light with gelled strobes. Along the way he reveals the exposure settings and gear he used to capture the image. He also provides a lighting diagram to make everything clear.

You’ll also see how Woloszynowicz processed the raw image, before he walks you through his technique for editing the photograph in Photoshop. This approach is remarkably simple, although it does require a bit of experimentation for optimum results.

You can watch earlier episodes in this series, and find more interesting tutorials, on Woloszynowicz’ YouTube channel. And don’t miss the recent tutorial we posted, explaining how to make your own light modifiers from things you have at home.