--- title: Portrait Photography description: Portrait photography focuses on capturing the personality, identity, and essence of a subject using lighting, backdrops, and poses. You will understand how to control exposure, direct subjects, and use natural or studio light to create compelling human portraits. category: arts-design subcategory: photography difficulty: beginner, intermediate, advanced url: /subject/photography-portrait-photography --- # Portrait Photography Portrait photography focuses on capturing the personality, identity, and essence of a subject using lighting, backdrops, and poses. You will understand how to control exposure, direct subjects, and use natural or studio light to create compelling human portraits. ## Available Resources 4 Books • 1 Courses • 2 Websites ## Websites ### 1. SLR Lounge Portrait Guides SLR Lounge's portrait section collects free tutorials from working wedding and portrait photographers on posing, natural and off-camera flash lighting, and lens choice, most paired with sample images and setup diagrams showing how each shot was built. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.slrlounge.com/category/portraits/ **Tags:** portrait-photography, posing, lighting, off-camera-flash, photography-tutorials ### 2. fstoppers.com Fstoppers is a photography-focused site offering tutorials, gear reviews, and behind-the-scenes videos that teach composition, lighting, and post-processing techniques to help photographers improve. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://fstoppers.com **Tags:** websites, arts-design, photography ## Courses ### 1. Portrait Photography MasterClass Learn portrait photography techniques from master Lindsay Adler. Elevate your skills & capture stunning portraits! **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.creativelive.com/class/portrait-photography-lindsay-adler **Tags:** portrait-photography, posing, studio-lighting, photography ## Podcasts ### 1. The Portrait System Podcast **Author:** Sue Bryce Education Join in as Nikki Closser, a mentor in the Sue Bryce Education community, interviews photographers who manage successful portrait photography businesses from around the globe using the business model Sue Bryce teaches. Subscribe to hear stories that will fast track your success and transform you as a photographer and business owner. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** en | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://suebryceeducation.com/podcast/ **Tags:** portrait-photography, photography-business, posing, interviews ### 2. PhotoBizX: The Ultimate Wedding and Portrait Photography Business Podcast **Author:** Andrew Hellmich Weekly interview podcast in which Australian photographer Andrew Hellmich talks with successful portrait and wedding photographers and industry experts. Episodes cover pricing, marketing, client experience, sales sessions and studio operations, helping photographers build a profitable portrait business. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** en-US | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://photobizx.com/ **Tags:** portrait-photography, wedding-photography, photography-business, pricing, client-marketing ## Books ### 1. Picture Perfect Posing **Author:** Roberto Valenzuela Valenzuela treats posing anatomically, working from the spine and neck outward through head tilt, arms, hands, and weight distribution, with drills for each. Photographers finish able to diagnose why a pose fails and correct it while the subject is still there. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/0321966465?tag=edmonddante07-20 **Tags:** books, arts-design, creative-arts ### 2. The Portrait Photographer’s Guide **Author:** Christopher Grey Grey recreates studio portrait lighting styles from 1910 through 1970, giving the light placement, modifiers, and modern equivalents for each era's look, plus Photoshop steps for period tone. Readers can reproduce a specific decade's portrait style deliberately. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/1608952215?tag=edmonddante07-20 **Tags:** books, arts-design, creative-arts ### 3. Portrait Photography: From Snapshots to Great Shots **Author:** Erik Valind Valind covers camera settings, lens selection, available-light and single-flash setups, and directing subjects, using annotated example photos that list the exact exposure used. Readers leave able to plan and shoot a controlled portrait outside auto mode. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/0321951611?tag=edmonddante07-20 **Tags:** books, arts-design, photography ### 4. Lighting for Portrait Photography **Author:** Neil van Niekerk Neil van Niekerk breaks down how direction and quality of light shape a portrait, using available light, flash and modifiers. Readers finish able to read a scene's light and build repeatable studio and location setups. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/1608958159?tag=edmonddante07-20 **Tags:** books, arts-design, creative-arts --- *This content is part of Dantes.io - Your Treasure Map to Knowledge* *Curated by humans at Dantes.io. Personal study use welcome; republishing this curation requires permission (team@dantes.io).* View this page online: https://dantes.io/subject/photography-portrait-photography