Portrait Photography

Photo Shoot Tips

Fashion Portraits with Movement

There are so many visual tools that photographers have available to influence the viewer’s experience with a photograph. Things like using diagonal lines to guide the viewer’s eye to the point in the photograph that is most important. The idea of using foreground objects to frame and highlight your subject.…
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Photo Shoot Tips

My 5 Best Tips To Stop People From Blinking in Photographs

Blinking in photographs is a problem that every photographer deals with and while it frustrates many, most photographers come up with little tricks to avoid the blinks, but even those tricks aren’t foolproof and usually don’t account for the real reason the blinks are happening in the first place. You’re…
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Photography Lighting Techniques from Joe Edelman (Cr.Photog.)

The Importance of Catchlights for Portraits

If you are going to shoot portraits, don’t overlook the importance of catchlights. They’re a small detail that can easily make or break your shot. So what’s the big deal about catchlights? Catchlights play an important role in creating dimension and depth and in adding life to a portrait by…
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Photo Shoot Tips

Create the Wow – Make Your Portraits EPIC

PhotoPlus Expo 2019 is in the books and once again I had the honor of presenting for Olympus at the three day tradeshow in New York City. My talk was titled Create the WOW – Make your Portraits EPIC and it featured portrait photography and studio lighting techniques done with…
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Events From My Photography Career

Bold and Beautiful Fashion Portraits at WPPI

The Wedding and Portrait Professionals International (WPPI) show was held in late February again this year at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. Once again, I had the honor of presenting on the Olympus stage using the new Olympus OM-D E-M1X. Olympus was kind enough to allow…
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DIY Photography Tips from Joe Edelman (Cr.Photog.)

DIY Portrait Backgrounds To Improve Your Holiday Portraits

Learn how to make some glorious DIY bokeh ball backgrounds from your Christmas decorations- for less than ten bucks.
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DIY Photography Tips from Joe Edelman (Cr.Photog.)

DIY Portrait Backgrounds

Have you ever considered the idea of painting with light to make a portrait background? The possibilities with this live composite technique are endless and it’s actually a lot easier than you might think. Some of you may be thinking that, although light painting has been around for decades, it’s…
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DIY Photography Tips from Joe Edelman (Cr.Photog.)

3 DIY PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS to Create Depth in Studio Portraits

3 DIY PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS Solid colored backgrounds are great when shooting people because they let you isolate your subject, and since they come in different colors they are very versatile – if you have enough money to buy every color. I already showed you in this YouTube video that gray…
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Photo Shoot Tips

Top 3 Tips and Advice To Hide a Double Chin in Photos

How To Hide a Double Chin in Photos Table of ContentsIntroductionWhat’s the Big Deal With a Double Chin?How To Hide a Double Chin in Photos – The Tips1. The Turtle Stretch2. Shoot From Above3. MakeupChin TuckersLighting Techniques To Hide a Double Chin in PhotosDon’t Hide Behind Your CameraConclusion Introduction Turkey…
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Shoot Breakdown

Self Portrait Tutorial

How I shot my self portrait for social media and my photography website The task: I got a new pair of glasses and that means it was time to update my profile photo for my website and social media. When shooting a portrait, ask yourself: WHO is the subject? Me!…
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DIY Photography Tips from Joe Edelman (Cr.Photog.)

DIY Christmas Light Portraits

When my wife made her annual pilgrimage to the Christmas in July sales, it got me to thinking about Christmas lights and wondering what kind of DIY Christmas light portraits and beauty shots I could do with some cheap LED lights. You know that when it comes to lighting portraits…
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Photography Advice

80% Of Portrait Photography Is Psychology

I have mentioned often that 80% of portrait photography is psychology and 20% of it is photography. I go into the psychology in a lot of other pieces, so I wanted to take a moment to address that 20%. 20% of portrait photography. . . Understand that the 20% that…
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DIY Photography Tips from Joe Edelman (Cr.Photog.)

Portrait Lighting Arrangements With DIY LED Studio Lights

Now that you have your own DIY LED studio lights- or you maybe you are planning to build a set- you need to learn how to use it. I’ll walk you through a dozen different ways that I use these lights, plus I’ll give you some not-so-obvious tips that I…
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Photography Lighting Techniques from Joe Edelman (Cr.Photog.)

How To Shoot a Casual Portrait With One Light and One Modifier

The casual portrait is taken in a studio… Which is not exactly a casual setting… So what does it really mean? For me it starts with an attractive subject, photographed in simple casual clothing, in a relaxed posture with simple, flattering light. This is a shot that I would do…
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Photo Shoot Tips

How To Plan a Portrait or Headshot Shoot

Today’s assignment: a headshot sitting, a good old-fashioned business headshot. This isn’t going to be one of those crazy beauty shots with all kinds of makeup and stuff blowing around. This is for marketing purposes for a young woman who’s setting up a practice as a therapist. So let’s get…
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Photography Lighting Techniques from Joe Edelman (Cr.Photog.)

Photographing People With Glasses – How To Avoid Glare in Eyeglasses

One of the most common questions I receive: what’s the best lighting to use for photographing people with glasses, so that you don’t have reflections or glare on eyeglasses? The answer is easy… and I can use any kind of lighting arrangement I want to. I just set my lights,…
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Photo Shoot Tips

Best Way To Find the Good Side of a Person’s Face

My left side is my good side… no wait – it’s my right side… oh come on – with a face like this – there is no bad side :-) Keep reading and I will explain how to find the good side of a person’s face – to make your…
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Photography Gear

Best Lens for Portrait Photography and Headshots

So you’re ready to begin shooting portraits or headshots. Now, the question is: what is the best lens for portrait photography?? This is a question that has multiple answers depending on several factors. First and MOST important – what is your style of photography and what kind of portrait does…
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Shoot Breakdown

How Not To Shoot a Self-portrait

Radio DJ’s often say that they have a face made for Radio. Hence the reason they aren’t on Television. (Unless your name is Ryan Seacrest) There is a reason I work behind the camera, I simply hate having my picture taken. Probably because I am never happy with what I…
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Photo Shoot Tips

How To Shoot a Portrait in Bright Sunlight

Shoot a portrait in bright sunlight? Are you kidding me? Harsh light? Heavy shadows? Squinting subjects?… OMG that sounds like a recipe for disaster. Well, it can be a disaster unless you are willing to break some rules and be a little creative. Let’s take a look at how we…
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