On the one hand, portrait retouching is a complicated skill that takes years of practice to master fully. But on the other hand, Zoner Photo Studio offers a number of tools that will let you get started with retouching very fast. Read up on the retouching basics that every portrait photographer should master. With our guide, you’ll learn them fast.

Sure, you can go to a friend, hand them your phone or camera, and let them just take a snap. That’s one possibility. But you’ll get better results if you think a little first. A profile photo is actually a portrait, and so it follows portraits’ usual rules. Master the basics among these rules, and you’ll take great profile photos one after another.

Every good photo should have a subject. And that subject needs to be the most visible thing in the photo, so that it dominates. Choosing a good composition will help, and so will adjusting the photo’s background. Join us for a look at how to do that.

Even when you’re shooting portraits outdoors, you can still have your light under control. You just have to take advantage of combined light—that is, artificial plus natural light. It’s generally ideal if you can keep the two light sources in balance. It’s best of all if your audience can’t even tell that you used both types of light.

Artificial light has one large advantage—you have it entirely under your control, and there’s nothing to hold you back from your creative goals. So learn to master flashes and continuous lights, and you’ll take your portrait photographs to the next level.

For many photographers, taking portraits under natural light is the simplest and most common option of all. That way you don’t have to worry about equipment costs. However, you do have to take into account the characteristics of natural light and subordinate your subject’s placement and your exposure settings to these.

Just about every photographer has tried portrait photography at some point. But many of them run into trouble when it comes to portrait lighting. There are several ways to go here. But for all of them, you have to keep in mind basic parameters such as the light’s intensity, quality, and color. Take a look at how to master these.

There may not be a single photographer out there who hasn’t struggled with red eye. This unpleasant problem happens when a camera’s flash is reflected in the retina of an eye. It’s most often seen in photos taken using a compact camera with a flash. But why does it happen, and how can you remove this defect in a photo editor?

Full-length shots give dramatically different impressions depending on your height. When you’re photographing someone from up high, they can end up distorted in your picture—for example with shortened legs. Let’s take an illustrated look together at the effects that height and distance can have on portraits.

A good portrait, fashion, or glamour photograph grabs your interest without having to shove anything unusual or crazy in your face. The latest trends prove that natural poses are more popular than ever, and retouching away wrinkles is no longer in.