How to shoot
How to shoot: a working photographer's notes
Light, settings and the decisions that actually change a photograph.
How to shoot
Light, settings and the decisions that actually change a photograph.
Written from ten years of shooting fashion, portraits and hotels — not from a manual. Each piece answers one question and says when the advice does not apply.
Set ISO first for the light you are in, then aperture for how much of the frame you want sharp, then shutter s…
Shoot vertical at 4:5 or 9:16 from the start, leave dead space at the top and bottom for interface elements, p…
Put the camera on something solid two metres away, use the timer or a phone as a remote, focus on a stand-in o…
85mm on full frame is the standard portrait lens because it renders a face with natural proportions from a com…
Golden hour is the hour after sunrise and before sunset, when the sun is low enough to light a face from the s…
Expose for the face rather than the background, accept that the background will blow out, and use spot meterin…
Move into open shade, turn the subject so the sun is behind or beside them, or commit to the hard light and us…
Open the aperture, raise ISO further than feels comfortable, and hold the shutter at 1/125 or faster for a per…
Convert when colour is competing with the subject — mixed light, a distracting background, uneven skin tone — …
Shoot every look at three distances — full length for the cut, mid for the styling, close for the fabric — kee…
Next step
London-based, and straightforward about what a session can and cannot deliver.