Tips for Shooting Celebrity Portraits in a Studio

You don’t have to wait for a celebrity to walk into your studio to use these techniques, you can use them for photographing anyone. But they’re sure to give your subject the star treatment, no matter who you’re photographing. Miguel Quiles shares a few tips to get you started:

 Choose a Good Portrait Lens

Quiles usees a Tamron 85mm f/1.8 lens.

Shoot Tethered

Shoot tethered whenever you can. This allows you to transfer your images in real time to a laptop—your camera’s LCD screen can be unreliable, to say the least. Plus, the person you’re photographing may also want to take a look at the images.

benefits of shooting tethered

Quiles suggests you get yourself an orange tethering cable. The black cables are hard to see and people can easily trip over them.

Use a Decent Laptop

With a good laptop, you can do your basic retouching after the shoot. Also, a good display will ensure that when reviewing your images they look exactly the way you have captured them.

Diffuse Your Lights

Good studio lights will ensure consistent color and accuracy. Quiles uses a Profoto D1 studio head with a 5’ FotoFlex octabox to diffuse the light and make it more conducive to portrait work.

studio portrait lights

Invest in a High Quality Backdrop

A canvas backdrop is a great investment that helps you produce professional quality portraits that you would normally associate with high end fashion magazines.

Overpower the Ambient Light

After dialing in the settings in your camera, ensure that you take the first shots without the lights to ensure that the ambient light is not affecting your exposure.

Establish Rapport

From here on, it’s all about engaging the subject and using your experience to bring out the best in them.

setting up a portrait shoot how to light a studio portrait studio portrait tips

These tips are simple enough, but they work every time.

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