Videos

Karl Taylor draws eight faults from member images critiqued live: distracting backgrounds, ignored details like stray hairs and loose threads, subjects posed square to camera, claw-like hands lacking a staircase shape, black backgrounds swallowing dark clothing without rim light, formula lighting unsuited to the subject, over-bright hands, and missing narrative.

Andrew Boey continues his list of portrait mistakes with Alicia: over-tilting the camera when a level frame can be tilted later; shooting the first spot seen instead of walking the location together; opening with complicated setups; barking instructions without smiling; over-posing; and stumpy fingers, badly posed feet and over-extended legs.

Andrew Boey lets model Alicia list what annoys her about photographers. Mistakes include blurring a location into nothing, kit lenses that cannot open beyond f/4, giving no separation, shooting backlit scenes without fill flash, fiddling with metering while the subject sweats, forgetting napkins and grooming, and trusting the meter blindly.

Rupert of Fine Art Street Photography uses backlit Barcelona scenes to show how figures read in silhouette against architecture. Hats, flowing coats and expressive walks add character; he shoots at small apertures, underexposes a third of a stop, exposes for the brightest areas, and favours continuous shooting and low angles.

Paul from Photo Genius sets his nineteenth photo challenge: silhouettes, with the rule of thirds as a composition focus. He analyses a sunset surfer shot, shows how backlighting against a bright sky renders a subject black, and demonstrates darkening the figure and tightening the crop in Lightroom, Photoshop and Snapseed.

Andrew Boey distinguishes a shadow from a silhouette, then builds one with a Canon 580EX II hidden behind the model in slave mode. Settings of f/16 to f/22, low ISO and 1/250s keep the subject black, the flash's wide panel widens the spread, and gels colour it, costing two stops.

Gavin Hoey shoots silhouettes with the sun overhead, placing Kerry in shade against a bright background and dialling minus two stops of exposure compensation in aperture priority at f/5.6, ISO 200. Dark clothing and graphic props sharpen the shape, then a smoke machine and Photoshop's stack script combine several frames.

Gavin Hoey lights Christina from behind and in front with a single Canon 580EX II speedlight, bouncing light back into her face with a 5-in-1 reflector against a background. An assistant up a ladder sprinkles flour behind her, which the flash turns into a sparkling backdrop, before Camera Raw tweaks.

Julia Trotti explains why backlighting is her default for portraits: with the sun behind the subject, contrast drops, skin texture softens and images turn dreamy, even at midday. She shoots a Canon 5D Mark IV with f/1.2 and f/1.4 primes at ISO 100, using white walls or rocks as reflectors.

Mike Browne introduces shooting against the light, where a rim wraps the subject's hair and shoulders. Photographing Nat, he keeps her against dark trees, fits a lens hood against flare, and beats the camera's confusion with plus one stop of exposure compensation, auto exposure lock or manual 1/60s at f/5.6.