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  • How To: Use A Window For An Environmental Portrait

    People and places in one frame
    • By Peter Kolonia on August 7, 2012

    As far back as the Renaissance, portraitists have made endless use of windows: to bathe a subject in the flatteringly soft light that falls through a north-facing casement, or frame a portrait within the picture’s frame.On a psychological level, a window allows you to contrast what’s happening inside and outside. Such contrasts can draw you into the inner life of your subject by pointing out disparities or similarities between the two worlds.

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  • Tips From a Pro: Shooting Shadows

    Often, great subjects can be found right at your own two feet
    • By Peter Kolonia on July 6, 2012

    Look down. Wonderful photos might lay at your feet, camera-ready, in the form of the cool interplay of shadows. Says Ian White, a pro shooter based in Venice Beach, CA, “For me, shadows equal mystery.”They fascinate for the incomplete suggestion they offer of whatever is casting them. “What you can’t see, but only guess at, makes shadows so enticing,” he says.

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  • How To: Emulate a Filter By Tweaking White Balance

    Glass or gel filters aren’t the only way to change the tone of an image
    • By Peter Kolonia on December 27, 2011

    The character of a landscape is conveyed, in part, by tonality. Rosy-hued sunsets, for instance, suggest an inviting world of warmth and intimacy. As Portland, OR, pro photographer Mike Vraneza discovered along the banks of the Potomac in Washington, DC, a cool blue scene communicates something else.

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  • Quick Tip: Try Tilting Your Camera for Better Composition

    Straight lines can be boring, give that camera turn for a more exciting look
    • By Peter Kolonia on October 29, 2011

    Straight-lined subjects add structure, solidity and form to a composition, but they can also be staid and boring. Luckily, it’s extremely easy to jazz them up. When lines travel perfectly parallel to frame edges, they can lend a static quality, robbing a photo of energy or dynamism. Photographer Jeff Amadon noticed this when shooting vertical shafts of lavender at the University of Kentucky’s Arboretum in his hometown, Lexington.

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