#LightroomTethering: ultimate guide to tethered capture in Lightroom: https://zorz.it/Wtgfr

#PyeJirsa #ImportingImages #settings #workflow #TetheringGear #Lightroom #TetheredCapture #CopyrightInformation

How to take creative portraits with Plexiglas and a single light

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How to create and fake a realistic tilt-shift look without using a tilt-shift lens

#tutorials #photoshop #pyejirsa #tiltshift #tutorial

Five steps to faking golden hour lighting with just one flash

#tutorials #flashphotography #goldenhour #pyejirsa

The easy way to turn your garage into a professional home portrait studio

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Use these three Lightroom techniques to save your blown-out photos

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How to Shoot a ‘Day vs Night’ Portrait In-Camera

Special effects are a fantastic and fun way to tell compelling stories through images. While they may seem complicated, the truth is, many special effects are easily done in-camera using tools you likely already have. In this video, I’ll be walking through how to create one of our signature portraits, the “Day vs. Night” effect.

Let’s begin by walking through what you’ll need for the Day vs. Night portrait:

Step #1: Composition

For my composition, I placed my couple against a plain white wall. I framed them in the center for the symmetry. To capture these images, I’m using the Canon EOS R5 with the RF 28-70mm f/2 mounted on the Peak Design Travel Tripod.

Step #2: Ambient Light

Our goal is to create an image with half the image bright and the other half dark. To start, I exposed the scene for the bright side.

Then, used the Tiffen Water White 1.2 ND filter by holding it in front of the lens to darken the left half of the image.

Step #3: Modify Light

Now, let’s add light to the dark side of the image using flash. I have with me a Profoto B10 Plus with the CTO and Grid kit up on a stand just out of frame. I use the grid to keep the light focused on Will’s face and prevent spill.

Step #4: Photograph

Edited with VF Presets > Crush Pack

Combining all of the steps so far, we end up with this final image. Adjust the ND filter as necessary to get the division between perfectly down the middle.

Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed this article/video. Next time you're out on a couple's portrait shoot, give this technique a try. As you can see, you can create great special effects using simple tools in-camera.

P.S. For an inside look on how we do all of our signature portraits over at SLR Lounge , head over to SLR Lounge Premium for our SFX Photography Course. In this course, we walk through how to create our most popular signature portraits such as the Ring of Fire. In addition, check out VF Presets for intuitive lighting based presets such as our Crush Pack that we used for our final image. Thanks for watching and we’ll see you next time!

About the author: Pye Jirsa is a wedding photographer based in Southern California and the co-founder of SLR Lounge. The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. You can find more of Jirsa’s work on Instagram.

#ideas #tutorials #couple #creative #dayandnight #daytonight #incamera #portrait #portraiture #pyejirsa #specialeffects

A Bright Idea for Subject Placement in Portrait Photos

With careful composition and editing techniques, you can take your portrait game to the next level. In this video, I'll show how you can level up your portraits with this one simple tip.

Before we begin, be sure to download the exercise file here and follow along as I edit.

What is the Tip?

The tip is quite simple: Place your subject in the brightest part of the frame.

I have two reasons for this: First, the eyes are naturally drawn to the brightest part of the frame. Second, doing this will give you more flexibility when you edit. I’ll demonstrate the second point shortly. First, let’s begin with how to apply this technique when shooting.

Composing the Shot In-Camera

I found this beautiful location just off the side of a hotel and a major highway. I began with a test shot of my couple and the first thing I noticed was the patch of open sky in the middle of the frame.

Since our eyes are naturally drawn to the brightest part of an image, it’s usually a bad idea to place your subjects away from it. Our goal is to draw the attention to the couple so I placed them right over the patch of open sky. Notice that in the second photo, we’re naturally drawn to the couple.

Here’s another example of this tip. With this open sky behind my couple, I simply placed them right in front of the sun. The natural vignette helps draw the attention right to them.

In the second example, we were shooting right next to a large open door. The light was pouring in from the side and I placed my subject directly in the light which my assistant was diffusing with a large scrim. Pairing that with a darker background helped draw the focus directly to her.
In this example, there are no direct highlights like the first two. Instead, we have a dark background and light pouring in from the side. I placed my subject right in the light which my assistant was diffusing with a large scrim. With most of the light falling on my subject, she becomes the main point of focus in the photo.

Enhancing the Images in Post-Production

Let’s see how powerful this tip can be when you take your portraits to post-production. I began by applying the Modern > Soft Light preset from VF Presets.

Simply add a radial filter to darken the areas around your subject. When our subjects are placed in the brightest part of the image, we can essentially modify the light while still looking natural. Notice that in the edited image, it looks as though the couple was lit by a soft-box when it was actually just ambient daylight.

The same principle applies here. After applying a preset, I added a radial burn around the couple. I’m essentially enhancing the natural vignette to pull more focus onto my subjects.

For my last example, I took a different approach. Instead of a radial filter, I began by lowering the overall exposure. Then, I used the “Dodge Highlights” brush from the Retouching Toolkit to paint light back onto my subject. The brush selectively lifts the highlights and makes my subject pop from the background.

All Images provided by Lin & Jirsa

I added a subtle radial burn and arrived at this final image.

Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed this article/video. Give this tip a try next time you’re out shooting portraits. All you have to do is look out for the brightest spot in your frame and place your subject there. Then, you’ll see how it can transform your image as well as the editing flexibility it will provide once you take it into post-production.

For a full course on editing, be sure to check out the Mastering Lightroom over on SLR Lounge Premium. You can also find intuitive lighting based presets like the Modern Pack as well as the Retouching Toolkit at Visual Flow.

Don’t miss our next episode of Mastering Your Craft on Adorama’s YouTube channel next week! If you want to catch up on all the episodes, make sure you check out our playlist!

About the author: Pye Jirsa is a wedding photographer based in Southern California and the co-founder of SLR Lounge. The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. You can find more of Jirsa’s work on Instagram.

#tips #tutorials #composition #editing #portraits #portraiture #posing #pyejirsa #tip

How to shoot action portraits on location using a wide angle lens

#tutorials #locationphotography #portraitphotography #pyejirsa #wideangle

How to shoot action portraits on location using a wide angle lens

#tutorials #locationphotography #portraitphotography #pyejirsa #wideangle