If you’re just getting into the world of off-camera lighting, you’ve probably heard of light modifiers. Commonly-used light modifiers include umbrellas, softboxes, and beauty dishes. While they all share the same purpose — to diffuse harsh light originating from a bare flash — each modifier comes with distinctive qualities that you should be aware of. Today, I’m going to show you how to use umbrella lights to create professional-looking portraits.

Senior portraits can be a highly lucrative source of income for the established photographer. This results in market saturation, with people shooting young girls against brick walls, slapping on some Photoshop filters, and then calling it a day. Fortunately, you’re better than that. In this article, I’m going to share 4 senior portrait ideas that will make your work stand out among the sea of competitors.

A few years ago, I decided to start a self portrait project after hearing how it greatly benefitted a close friend of mine. Now that I’ve completed it, I’m quite surprised to hear that there is such a negative connotation towards self portraits. Today, I’d like to share with you my experiences and show you the many ways that it can help speed up your learning process.