Outdoor fashion portrait photography tips

Want to learn how to take better fashion portrait shots? Follow our top photography tips and be amazed with the results…

The importance of hair and makeup

To some, it may seem a bit extreme to get models to apply a full face of makeup and to get their hair done professionally before a shoot but it really can make the difference between amateur-looking shots and capturing professional portraits. It will not only ensure your subjects are looking their best, but when using flash light, a face without makeup can end up looking shiny as it reflects light. Good hair and makeup will also save time cloning out blemishes and stray hairs in Photoshop afterwards!

Direction of light

When shooting outdoors on overcast days, it’s not always obvious which direction the diffused sunlight is coming from. Before shooting, you need to know where the light is so you know where to position your subjects. To work it out simply hold up your hand then rotate it to see which side is brightest. It may sound simple, but it’s a really handy way to double-check the direction of the light!

Flash light

Using flashguns to light your subjects opens up more opportunities to be creative with your portrait photography, and firing off-camera flashes remotely will allow for even more artistic results. Here are eight reasons to use flash:
You can expose your shots to create darker backgrounds, with your flash artistically illuminating subjects to stand out from their surroundings for a more dynamic shot that simply wouldn’t be possible if you relied only on available light.
Whether it’s sunny or cloudy, day or night, you can continue to shoot and capture creatively lit portraits.
It’s a great way to inject life into your existing portrait photography.
Off-camera flash means you can light subjects from any side, unlike your on-camera flash that can only light subjects directly in front of your D-SLR.
Flash light can instantly transform portraits by capturing more vibrant colours, higher contrast and more depth, thanks to the creation of light and shadow.
You can use one, two or three flashes in unison for a multi-flash setup for a heavily shadowed, moody look.
You’ll get sharper photos, thanks to the speed of your flash light freezing your subjects in shot.
Once you’ve mastered flash, you can use your skills to light other subjects, such as for still-life and macro photography.

49 seriously good Canon DSLR tips, tricks, shortcuts and time savers

This entry was posted on Friday, July 20th, 2012 at 2:42 pm and is filed under Photography Tutorials. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a comment. Pinging is currently not allowed.