St. Valentine’s Day isn’t just great for business. It’s great for photographers too. So grab the opportunity and take an original Valentine’s photo that’s sure to please lovers everywhere.

Work with a model depends on more than just posing. You also need to talk right and act right. Act natural, and you’ll get good results without actually having to instruct your model at all. Read on for some tips before you try out model photography for yourself.

There’s a first time for everything. If you’ve only been shooting nature photos until now, and you’d like to start working with models, you may be a little nervous at first. In today’s article we’ll offer a few tips that can help you with these tough beginnings.

The summer months bring heat, with heat the sun, and with the sun, sharp light. For a photographer, harsh and direct light is among the most unpleasant light there is.

Like many beginning photographers, you may wish for your own studio. But do you really need one? Many pro photos today are born outside the studio. In fact, more and more photographers are avoiding classical studios completely. This trend has been apparent for the past several years. So here’s a tip on how to work like a modern pro from the comfort of your home—by creating your own home studio.

Depending on the visual culture where you live, the genre called naked portraiture may be an occasional part of the “advertising environment” around you. It also turns up in beauty contests and in the marketing materials for cosmetics, hairstyles, and various other products. It combines nakedness and portraiture, though not necessarily in an erotic, unfit-for-television, or offensive way. After all, if it did, it would not be as widely used in advertising—at least in Europe—as it is. If you’re curious about this subgenre, how to photograph it, and what to avoid, read on.

For many, Christmas is the most magical time of the year. The family is together, and it would be a shame not to document them together too. “Document” them? Yes—because Christmas photography can be about more than just children before the tree. How should you approach this task, and what equipment should you use? Read on to find out.

Looking around, you may get the impression that portrait and fashion photography are only about tall, thin women models. But men are out there posing too! Today we’ll be taking a look at just how much you can carry over into male fashion and portrait photography... and at the differences. How should your models dress? And pose? What should you retouch, or leave untouched? Read on to learn all this and more.

Geniuses are made, not born. Math geniuses, soccer geniuses... even posing geniuses. So if your model looks awkward in every shot, on the one hand, it’s not your fault. On the other hand, you do need to get a good pose. And you can!

Every photography job demands some preparation. You need to check the batteries, card space, lens cleanliness, and more. This is all a core part of taking pictures, and yet doesn’t require any special pro knowledge. Are there more things like this you can do to push your portrait photography forward without being a pro? You bet!