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!

People are among the toughest subjects to work with in photography. It doesn’t matter if you’re doing fashion, portraits, nudes, or glamour photography… It’s all work with people, and people

When photographing landscapes gets old, and you’re tired of the city, you often end up photographing people. Now, pictures of your friends at the bar do have a certain something,

In this photograph—which was taken and then retouched over the course of my last few articles—there are only a few editing steps left to take. In today’s article, I’ll show you how to emphasize airbrushing you’ve performed, add contrast to a photo, and make a face stand out better from its surroundings.

Sheets of glass, including shop windows and room windows, are very interesting objects. They’re also frequent photographic subjects. Glass reflects part of the light while letting the rest shine through. Every angle feels different, and many angles are quite original. There’s nothing new about taking pictures through glass; people have been doing it for many years, and meanwhile photos with reflections are still much-loved today.

No matter whether you’re planning to photograph portraits, glamour, fashion, or nudes, you’re taking “people pictures.” And they all have something in common. We’d like to help you get ready