Portrait Photography Session

Scout your location early or on another day with similar lighting conditions, The goal is to create great photographs and that requires you to have a great rappor with the model or family keeping the thoughts and fun going, Keep a good conversation going with the model and ‘look’ at them making sure they are comfortable, Learning to read someone’s body language will dramatically improve your posing and portraits overall, Know your equipment Use your histogram and screen (sparingly) Use a single focus point and put it on the model’s face or eye, Think about composition and what you want to create & ALWAYS fill the frame, usually solid color clothing with no or minimal logos is recommended, Shoot a few angles or crops of each scene so you can maximize potential.

N.B. The photographer has a caption saying to leave questions in the comments section, but if you do have any questions for him you will need to visit his site directly to ask him.

Comments

vietbuhletz says:

ur a very good teacher. Especially for people who just starting out. Thanks for the videos Greg

vietbuhletz says:

can you do a video about posing ? If you are working with a person who’ve never done it before?

GregoryCazillo says:

Its in the works I promise.

IstoryangPagibig says:

Thank you for this vid, Greg. Do an indoor one. 😀

theheroamr says:

what lens u used it in this video ?

GregoryCazillo says:

70-200 2.8 Nikkor.

iAmBrendaLee says:

Poor wardrobe choice on her part for the seated shots.

BigGulp62 says:

Why are bigger longer lenses used for portraits?

Good question! It is more flattering for the model since it compresses their face (instead of stretching it like a funhouse mirror) and you also have the option to blur the background (called bokeh) which separates the person from the background. That separation brings the viewers eyes to the subject (person) and away from the background.

GregoryCazillo says:

I recommend 70mm or longer lenses for portraits, no matter what size sensor is in your camera. Shorter lenses (like the notoriously bad 50mm) distort the face and do not give a flattering look to tighter headshots.

Any reason why you always count 1 , 2 , 3 ?? there is nothing better to stress the modele. Best case, it is just useless. you know when is right moment to trigger. So why counting?

Mrimperfectcircle says:

Any chance you could post your settings on each photo as you display it on the screen? You said in another video that you primarily shoot in manual so I would like to see what the range of adjustments are in your shots as you move the model.

GregoryCazillo says:

You can see all the photos on my flickr page with settings if you like. flickr .com/cazillo

GregoryCazillo says:

Works for me. To each his own.

Dana Rouleau says:

Depends on the type of shooting you’re doing – for the type that Greg was doing, it’s perfectly normal and any model with experience in front of a camera is fine with it. It also gives them the chance to get ready for the shot and not blink or make weird faces in between shots. This really comes in handy when shooting groups as well.

John Reynolds says:

would the 55-200 mm on a d3100 be good for portraits?

John Reynolds says:

You do a really good Job on your photos

GregoryCazillo says:

Its probably a good lens to start with, eventually you will want to upgrade to a 70-200 2.8.

cockyjeremy says:

The beginning of the video looks weird. Almost looks like a green screen instead of a real park. lol.

pigchaser123 says:

ok greg you showed us how to do a shoot with a single woman, but will this work with a married one?

rawkstar47 says:

hey greg about how long was this shoot or how long does a typical shoot last for you and about how many images do you get all together?

MrGotemcoach says:

don’t ever question the man.he is the man.

GregoryCazillo says:

Usually an hour or so.

moesnuts says:

Question… Are you focusing on her face when focusing? Do you put your focus points/boxes on her face or are you also putting your focus points on her whole body or top half? … Btw GREAT VIDEO Greg! Keep up the good work! I’m learning a whole lot. Thank you!

Yes focus point is always placed on the face/eyes if possible. See this video it might help more with focus questions. youtube .com/watch?v=h5ojUnXxiNI remove space from url.

desmondlaugh says:

Greg, have you upgraded to a d4 or d800 yet, or do you plan to? I would think the 800 at least becuase I know your mainly a portrait photog. great vids as usual keep up the good work.
thanks

I don’t but will put it on my list.

samon1ful says:

Hello there, are you familiar with “MagicSFXphoto” (search on Google for it)? On their website you will find a smart free video showing the way to shoot amazing photographs. It made it possible for Matt to shoot pictures which have a jaw-dropping-effect whenever you look at them. I hope it will work for you as well…

predatorjoutube says:

one question, which metering system did you use? spot metering?

GregoryCazillo says:

no I don’t recommend spot metering, rather prefer matrix

a3w3m says:

i love this type of video. Keep them coming! thanks

tramained says:

On a serious note greg… I own a entry level canon.. it has partial metering, center weighted and evaluative, which do you advice I use?

GregoryCazillo says:

Evaluative, I have a video explaining it somewhere…getting harder and harder to find them with over 100!

tramained says:

Thank you so much greg… silently watched most of your informative videos even before i got my dslr, never shot an auto shot & I SHOOT RAW!
Tramaine from Barbados

chevyguyarmen says:

I could not get used to shooting portrait with my battery grip with the blackrapid strap. How do you like it?

GregoryCazillo says:

I never leave home without it!

jmanr78 says:

Awesome video thank you.. it was almost like being there on hand. Your videos have great pointers look forward to more videos

tjsdaname says:

do you use the in camera meter?

GregoryCazillo says:

all the time

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