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Commercial and editorial photographer James Bellorini is no stranger to portrait photography and has captured many faces on camera, including entrepreneurs, performers, DJs and musicians. We wanted to ask James for his advice on how to capture a subject’s true personality behind the lens. Read More
It has been said many times that photography is about light, which is true but it is also about shape, shadow and creating story, drama and emotion. Getting to grips with how you can shape light and how your camera can control light, is one of the stepping stones to unlocking more of your skill as a photographer. Here are 10 tips on how to up your portrait game using lighting. Read More
By Alexander BatherI was always one of those people who would count down the minutes until it turned 5:30pm, but now I watch the clock counting down the minutes until my next photography assignment.
I enjoy the uncertainty of the job, as it could be anywhere in the world, photographing any subject and may have some unusual requirements thrown in for good measure. What is certain however, is that I will get to meet and create art with some interesting characters. Read More
As a long in the tooth war, conflict and humanitarian photographer, a camera, to my belief, is no more than a tool. Nothing more, nothing less. But, and there is always a but, it has to be a very very good tool indeed! Read More
Photographer Felix AAA has spent the past ten years touring the world with a variety of musicians, getting up close and personal with the artists to capture intimate, unseen, behind the scenes shots. In this article, he talks about some of his favourite images, and his experiences behind how he took them.
We hear more and more stories of photographers making the Fujifilm X Series their go-to kit for portraiture. The series is ideal for this style. The lightweight equipment allows portrait photographers to nimbly adjust around their subjects and the vivid colour processing makes subjects look stunning.
Get the most out of portraits with an X Series kit by following these tips.
You chose your X Series likely in part for its vibrant colour processing. So make colours pop perfectly in your portraits as you play with contrast and hue. To the extent, you control attire and scene for your shoot, find colours that complement each other and especially those in your subject’s eyes and skin. If necessary, look at a colour wheel to strategize your fashion and setting.
Image by Edo Xu
Not all portrait photography requires studio space or time slots for your subjects. Get to the streets and capture portraits from the urban bustle. For this style of portraiture, use the XF23mmF1.4 R, which has a 63-degree angle of view, or a similar wide-angle lens to capture both your subject and your scene in detail.
Image by Derek Snee
On streets, at events or in studio, permit your subjects to move freely, and then follow them for candid portraits. Make sure to get them in the act of something viewers can understand, and look for moments when their hand position adds emotion. For these fleeting moments, you want a lens with a quick autofocus sensor. Go with the XF23mmF1.4 R mentioned above or the XF35mmF2 R WR.
Image by Brandon Wong
One way to make your subject a focal point in a portrait is to use bokeh, the blurring of out-of-focus regions. To get this effect, portrait photographers favour lenses with wide maximum apertures. While the XF23mmF1.4 R and the XF35mmF2 R WR both fit this category, the XF56mmF1.2 R is the optimum Fujinon lens to achieve sharp bokeh.
Image by Ashri Husaeni
You can add a creative layer to your composition by placing your subject behind a framing foreground image. Tree branches, plant leaves, window frames and another person’s shoulder are just some of your options for framing. This style of composition works well with the bokeh effect, as you can accentuate the spatial gap between your subject and the framing device.
Image by Dan Ginn
With the right equipment, techniques and mindset, you are ready to snap captivating portraits with your Fujifilm X Series kit.