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Follow These Long Exposure Tutorials To Make Your Ordinary Images Look Extraordinary

Long exposure photography is a genre where you intentionally increase the exposure time to blur certain parts of the image but there is also night sky photography or other night photography where long exposure can be made to capture as much light as possible. When you capture long exposure images depending on the time of the day and amount of light, you may need to increase the exposure times and sometimes use an ND or Grad-ND filter to lengthen the exposure times.

Photo by Lopez Robin

Besides using ND filters, you will also need accessories like a stable tripod and a remote release to avoid camera shakes. Long exposure photography can be applied to many genre of photography besides the landscape photography where this technique is more commonly used. In this article, we have put together a bunch of tutorials for you to get an understanding of long exposure photography and improve your skills.

Photo by Gerald Berliner

When capturing long exposure images, a few factors need to be kept in mind. The light in the location and how it is illuminating the subject, the time of day and what the end results would be, stabilising the camera, using the right settings based on the light and other elements, etc. Besides, you will need to use required accessories to get the best results. Check out these four easy to follow tips that will help make your long exposure photos successful.

Photo by Nathan61

If you are looking for a few more quick tips on capturing long exposure images, the above article has a few tips on the factors and settings you need to consider for good long exposure shots. There is also a useful chart that will help you to calculate your applied settings for normal light situations into the language of long-exposure photography.

Image by BenFrantzDale

Capturing long exposure during the day time can be quite tricky because the light can be bright in most situations and you will need to cut down light based on how long you need the exposure time to be. This is where ND filters come in handy and they come in various strengths. Check out the above article to learn how to use an ND filter for day time long exposure photography.

Here are some more handy tutorials:

Photo by Jason Row

Architectural elements can be great subjects in a long exposure photograph. If shot under the right light conditions and other elements in the frame like clouds or light trails architectural structures can lead to very interesting photographs. The above article is a quick guide on long exposure architectural photography.

Photo by H Matthew Howarth

Just like how you capture long exposure photographs during the day time, you can capture stunning long exposures at night too. Remember that you will definitely need a tripod and a shutter release to capture sharp images without any blur due to camera shake.

Photo via Pixabay

Night time photography can be interesting if you add a dynamic element to the frame. If you can safely photograph the light trails from traffic or from other interesting subjects like a carousel or a Ferris wheel, these can add visual interest and a story telling factor to the image. Here are some quick tips in the article above.

Long exposure photography is so fascinating that it does not stop with capturing just light trails, moving water or clouds, star trails and so on, but can also be extended to capture sun trails. Here is an article that shares the work of photographer Kristian Saks and the process of how he captures these images.

Photo by Federico Alegría

Now if you are a street photographer, you are surely missing out on some creative photography if you do not capture long exposure street photos. Yes, long exposure is a great way to add a dynamic element to street photos and will help you to capture intriguing photos. The above article will help you with some tips to capture long exposure street photos.

Photo by Jason Row

There are times when we capture long exposure images that we think are technically perfect but the results may be very disappointing. The most common mistakes are camera shakes, colour shifts, noise, diffraction, internal reflection, etc. The article above will help you understand why these mistakes can happen and how you can rectify them.

Photo by Diego Vitali

Some situations will help some photographers capture long exposure images by just handholding their camera if they have a somewhat steady hand. But when you become quite serious about this craft and look to capture perfect and sharp photos, you will need to invest in some very essential gear. Here is what you need to capture the best long exposure shots both during the day and at night.

Further Reading

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09/08/2025
30+ After Effects Video Intro Templates (Downloads for Your Company 2025)

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06/08/2025
Why You Should Embrace Your Photography Fails
You press the button, the shutter fires and then you get that sinking feeling, the pit of the stomach realisation that you have royally cocked up the shot. You feel bad, but not because you know the image will not look the way you wished. You feel bad because, in your mind, you failed.

Your knowledge of photography, honed over days, weeks or even years has let you down. You feel like your photography is not moving on. Yet, that very failure can be the trigger for you to improve your photography. Like any subject, photography is not learned just by reading books and watching YouTube videos, it’s learned by learning from your mistakes.

If as a beginner you are making lots of mistakes, then the chances are you are shooting often and learning lots. Today we are going to look at why you should embrace your photography fails.

My Most Common Fail

Let’s start with me. I have been shooting for over 40 years, much of that as a professional. Yet I still make many mistakes and one of those in particular. Take a look at the image below.

I have lost count of the number of times I have done this. By Jason Row Photography

There is a recent trend in photography called ICM or Intentional Camera Movement. It’s where a photographer intentionally moves the camera in a predefined direction during exposure to convey a particular emotion. Now I could lie and say that this is one such example. However it’s not. It’s a UCM, Unintentional Camera Movement and I do it all the time.

One of my favorite genres is Blue Hour photography. By its very nature this often necessitates the use of a tripod. Having a somewhat flighty mind, I will often see shots whilst in the middle of a long exposure and drag the tripod away, causing shots like this.

I even do it in daytime shots such as the one below. The first shot is how it should have looked, and the second is using my patented UCM technique. And do you know what? I like both despite the mistake.

This is how it should have been. By Jason Row Photography

How it was using my (almost) patented UCM technique. By Jason Row Photography

The Most Common Mistakes Everyone Makes

Let’s take a look at the more common mistakes that every photographer makes. I say every photographer, because it doesn’t matter if you have been shooting a day or 40 years, these simple mistakes will happen.
- Wrong White Balance: If you shoot RAW, this is a solvable problem, yet there is still that heart dropping moment when your images load into Lightroom and they are all blue.
- Over or Underexposing: This is a mistake that happens often when you are new to photography. I think it’s also one of the most important mistakes we should make, more on that soon.
- Not Isolating A Subject: This is also a mistake that happens frequently to newcomers. In our desire to capture everything in front of our lens, we fail to isolate what the actual subject matter is.
- Lens Flare: This is a common mistake that when fully understood, can be used to great advantage. It’s a mistake that’s very easy to make, particularly with smartphone cameras.
Here’s the thing though, all of the above mistakes plus many more can be made at any time in your photographic journey. They are mistakes that need to be made to improve your understanding of both technique and composition. If you do make such mistakes, don’t see them as a negative, instead, keep the images, load them into Lightroom and look at them. Work out where you went wrong and try to learn from them.

A wrong white balance gives a moody, cold image. By Jason Row Photography

Turning Mistakes Into Technique.

Many of you will be aware of the work of Robert Capa. His images of the D-Day Landings are iconic. There is one in particular of a US soldier swimming ashore on Omaha Beach. It is, perhaps the most famous photograph of that historic day.

Now taking the emotion out of the equation, the technical side of the image is poor. It has motion blur, it has lots of grain and it’s not particularly sharp. Yet, the shot was captured by a photographer that knew all the technical issues he was encountering. He chose to embrace those difficulties in order to get the shot.

That leads us nicely to the point of this section. Those technical hurdles that we might face can be creative opportunities. Let’s look at camera shake as an example. Once we have recognised that a shutter speed that’s too slow can give us blurry images, we can embrace it. That might be by using intentional camera movements or it could be by panning with a moving subject to enhance that sense of motion.

Underexposing might seem a mistake when you first start in photography, but soon you will start to see that an underexposed shot can greatly enhance a dramatic sky.

Virtually every mistake that can be made in photography is a learning tool and can be used in a positive creative way, once you understand what you have done.

Undestanding shutter speed gives shots like this. By Jason Row Photography.

How To Learn From Your Photography Fails

The first and most important thing is do not delete. When you get that sinking feeling of having made a mistake, resist the urge to delete the files. Instead load them into Lightroom and assign them a specific star rating or colour tag. This will allow you to quickly find all your “mistakes”

The next thing to do is study those mistakes. If the image has camera shake, look not only at your shutter speed but also your focal length. Check to see if image stabilization was switched on. This will start to fix in your mind the handheld limits for different focal lengths.

By knowing the handheld limit, I got this shot. By Jason Row Photography

Perhaps you had incorrectly set a white balance. Take a look at those images and ask yourself does that colour cast add a particular mood to the image. Perhaps the white balance was too blue, yet it is making that stormy landscape look fantastic.

Analyse every mistake that you make and ask yourself whether that mistake has some creative merit. I think you will find that in many cases the answer will be yes.

Photography fails are something that we have to embrace if we want our photography to progress. When that shutter fires and you get the first realization that you failed, resist the urge to delete and instead use it as an opportunity to learn.

Further Reading
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30/07/2025
This Will Improve Your Photographic Creativity In One Hour

If you have followed my ramblings for a while here at Light Stalking, you will know there is one technique that I really like as a way to improve creativity.

That technique is to restrict yourself.

That can be done in different ways. Using a single prime lens is one that I talked about recently. Restricting the number of shots you take is another, as is revisiting the same location multiple times.

Today, I would like to talk about another restrictive technique that I think really boosts your creativity. Limiting yourself to just one hour. I tried it out recently for a YouTube video I was creating and found it a very compelling way to get more creative, and the images I have used in this article were taken in that one period. Let me explain a little more.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCwy6qGuJE4

Why Restrict Yourself?

Restricting yourself in photography, in general, might seem a counterintuitive way of doing things. After all, digital gave us the freedom to shoot as much as we liked for as long as we wanted (given enough batteries).

That, however, is the problem. That freedom to continue shooting everything can often come at the cost of creativity. We speed up, we shoot everything and anything, our photography becomes less considered, less patient, and in my opinion, less creative. I have a disdain for photographers who boast on social media about how many shots they got on a particular shoot. I would rather have 5 good shots than 500 average shots.

Adding any of the restrictions I mentioned above, you will tighten up your compositions, take more time, and get better shots.

So why one hour?

This image is from about 20 minutes in. By Jason Row Photography

Restricting Yourself To One Hour

When we go out with no fixed time frame in which to capture images, we can get lazy. We can overthink a single image, or conversely, we can try to capture far too much without thinking creatively. We can get a good shot, but ignore the fact that the light is going to improve in 5 minutes, missing out on a great shot. In short, we lose focus on what’s important.

Many of us live busy lives, and often that can mean that when we do get the chance to take some photos, we tend to try and shoot as much as we can.

As I mentioned, restricting yourself in general can be a very good thing in photography. Restricting yourself to one hour has some very specific and perhaps surprising results.

The first thing that you will notice is that you start to think and compose quicker. You start to notice things faster and, in turn, see more of the details in a shot. You may well start to see the light differently, how it can change minute by minute at a given location.

Time limiting can actually boost creativity. By Jason Row Photography

Another thing that you may well notice is that you don’t actually feel rushed. You are not trying to cram in as many shots as you can, rush around from location to location. That lack of haste is actually a creativity boost. You will find yourself slowing down despite the time restriction.

So, how would you go about a one-hour photo shoot?

The first thing is to manage your expectations. Not just about what you will capture but the location and the weather as well. The concept works best without too much preplanning.

Pick a location that you think will be suitable. It could be a district of a city or town, a beach, or perhaps a mountain landscape. Choose a time to go and shoot, and don’t worry too much about the weather.

In terms of equipment, don’t weigh yourself down with loads of kit. Like having too much time, having too much gear leads to indecision on what lens to use, whether to set up a tripod, etc. I like to restrict myself to one camera, one lens, which can be a prime or zoom. My preference is for zooms when shooting in just one hour.

Get to the location and take a few minutes just to relax and look around. Then set a timer on your phone for exactly one hour and just wander. Try not to look at the timer; doing so can introduce haste. Instead, take your time to observe, compose and shoot. The key to a one-hour photo shoot is not the quantity, but the quality.

Remember to look back on your stroll. By Jason Row Photography

If a particular shot or location is working, don’t feel the need to rush it and move on; instead, simply enjoy what you are doing. I would also advise not to chimp your photos, trust your instinct and enjoy the fruits of your labour when you get home. Often, chimping can lead us to continually retake the same shot, as well as delete shots that might not have worked. Those poor shots are worth keeping as they show us where we went wrong.

When the timer alarm goes off, stop shooting, regardless of what you are taking at that moment. Put the camera away, perhaps get a coffee, relax and think back over the shots that you have taken.

There is always something to shoot. By Jason Row Photography

What Will You Learn In One Hour?

In a single one-hour shoot, you will learn not to rush and to take time with individual compositions rather than shooting everything you see. However, if you use the one-hour technique on a regular and frequent basis, you will learn much more.

The first and perhaps most important thing is that you will become much more instinctive with your camera controls. The simple act of raising the camera, choosing the settings, and shooting will become second nature.

The last shot of the hour. By Jason Rowe Photography

You will find yourself scanning a scene much more carefully, yet picking out good compositions much quicker. You will also find yourself working on a single composition instead of hunting for many.

Perhaps most importantly, you will find yourself gaining confidence. Confidence not only in your ability with the camera, but also with the work you are capturing.

Restricting your photography to just one hour might seem counterintuitive; however, if you try it out regularly, you will soon find your creativity improving and your ability with the camera getting more instinctive. That can only be a good thing considering the limited time you need to put into it.

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15/07/2025
13 Incredible Tutorials To Improve Your Black And White Photography

This week we have been talking about black and white photography but since the early days, there have been many articles shared about black and white photography, by almost all writers here at Light Stalking. At some point, we all get into this genre and sometimes struggle to get the best out of a scene or situation, or get stuck during the post-processing part.

Today we thought that we will put together some very useful tutorials on black and white photography, so you can refer to the ones that are really important or useful for you.

Many photographers may have a questions as to why one should shoot black and white, when there is colour photography. There are a dozen reasons why one might honour black and white photography and four of those are discussed in this article.

Photo by Reuben Mcfeeters

Black and white photos look surreal, they are emotive and they evoke a lot of emotions that sometimes a colour photo cannot. Shooting black and white photos can be quite tricky and the photographer needs to know when shooting the image, if a scene, subject or scenario will work well as a black and white photo. So, here are some ways to tell if a scene will make a great black and white photo.

Photo by Alex

Black and white photographs are beautiful and it makes many of us wonder how someone could have captured and post-processed such a stunning but simple photograph in black and white. This article discusses a few tips on how to capture and edit stunning fine art black and white photographs.

Photo by Etienne Delorieux

Some photographers convert an image to black and white, in order to hide the imperfections in their colour version. It may be fine to do this occasionally, but making it a habit is not the way to creating black and white images because creating great black and white photographs is an art. So, here are some things to think about when getting into black and white photography.

Here is another article that touches on this issue – Do You Still Make These 2 Mistakes When Working In Black And White?

Photo by Jason D. Little

Before capturing a shot, or after you have captured one, have you ever been caught up in a dilemma if the shot should be in colour or black and white? In the early days, photographers made the choice to shot either in colour or black and white film, but in the days of digital photography, we have the luxury to capture raw files and work on them the way we wish to later. So read to find out how you can make this decision between colour and black and white for a particular shot.

Also, for further reading – How to Use Your Eyes to Create Better Black and White Images

Photo by Jason D. Little

Photographers think that it is easier to shoot images for black and white but the problem arises when we try to convert an image to black and white. Most photographers think that removing the colours by bringing the saturation slider to the negative, or clicking on the black and white setting or applying a preset when post processing will help. The truth is, you need to capture images using a black and white film mindset.

Photo by Archie Binamira

We all would have seen the famous landscape photographs of Ansel Adams that are shot in black and white. Although we can see in colour and in these days photograph in colour too, we still feel the emotions better sometimes in a black and white photograph, especially landscapes that are vast and colourful. So, if you want to shoot black and white landscapes, here are five keys to improve your shots.

Photo by tombabich24

If you are someone who is interested in shooting dark scenes, then film noir photography is a genre that you can explore. These types of photos can be used to portray dramatic, mysterious scenes and it suits only particular types of situations, light and stories. Here are some tips and techniques to capture interesting film noir photographs.

Photo by Andrew Amistad

Not only do street photos or landscapes work well for black and white photography, even portraits become more beautiful when converted to black and white. It lets you focus on the subject and their characteristics, without any distraction. So here are some tips to convert a portrait onto black and white.

And here are “The Secrets to Compelling Black and White Portraits“

Screenshot by Federico Alegria

Once you capture the images for black and white conversion, you need to make some important adjustments when post processing your image for black and white. This article discusses the best monochrome practices for photographers in both Lightroom and Photoshop.

Photo by Jason Row

If you just shoot in black and white or convert an image to black and white by the click of a button or by desaturating it, you will nowhere be near to those images of olden days that were shot in film. The images will mostly look flat with not much contrast or tonality. Black and white film photographers used colour filters to give a punch to certain elements in their shots and these days, it can be achieved in Photoshop using the channel mixer tool. Read to find how to use it.

Photo by Jason Row

A lot of street photographers shoot in black and white and it is a very common thing for decades now. Most photographers really do not shoot in black and white, but instead shoot in colour and then convert their images to black and white and they think street photographs should be in black and white. Read to find why photographers make this decision.

Photo by Federico Alegría

And of course, street photographs also need some amount of post production, because we always advise to shoot in raw in order to get the best results in the final photo. A lot of street photographers also believe that the colours in the streets may not be always visually appealing to have the street photograph in colour. Here are some tips to convert a street photograph to black and white.

Image by Federico Alegría

If you would like some inspiration to shoot black and white photographs, here are links to dozens of quotes and images that you can refer to:

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04/07/2025
Check Your Composition

I gotta tell you, I have no idea how any of us ever managed to learn this craft well enough to make the photographs we do. There’s just so much to learn! Exposure alone can be tricky at first, but these days, there are so many different modes and buttons and dials. With time, it becomes intuitive-feeling, but it’s a lot.

And even then, we can master the camera without ever really mastering the skills needed to make a compelling photograph.

Last week, I was going through the many resources I’ve created for you over the years, and I came across one that you might not have seen: The Composition Checklist.I’d like you to have a copy of that, together with a video I made with three suggestions on how to make the most of the checklist.

When I first introduced these two resources, I made the mistake of advertising them on Facebook. Totally free resources—no catch, no strings attached—and they still drew out the haters and the critics! 😂 One of them berated me for the idea that composition could be reduced to a checklist, which, of course, it can’t (and I didn’t at all mean to imply that it could be). But there are ideas that are helpful to remember when you’re framing a photograph, and I thought an easy-to-reference guide might be useful to you.

Composition is important; it’s the visual language photographers use to make their photographs compelling. And for some reason, it’s some of the last stuff we are taught (if we’re taught at all).

A quick story. Years ago, before Covid wrecked everything, I did a series of workshops in places like Italy. We’d put some time aside in the middle of the day to look at images and discuss them. The assignment was (I thought) simple: look at the image and describe one decision the photographer made to make the image and what that decision contributed. You could talk about balance and how it was achieved. You could talk about how the vertical framing reinforced the vertical elements in the image. Perhaps you might talk about how the main subject was well isolated using depth of field or a longer lens. Or you could talk about what didn’t work. Maybe important elements were getting cut off by the edges of the frame. Maybe the chosen moment wasn’t strong enough to create a dynamic composition. I mean, the sky was the limit. Yet, the reply I most often got was just a blank stare and a mumbled, uncomfortable version of, “Well, I like it…”

“That’s all? That’s all you can say about this photograph? That you like it??” I felt like I was taking crazy pills. I wanted to have a lively conversation about composition, and it always ended up feeling like an interrogation.

It taught me an important lesson. I was asking photographers to think in ways they hadn’t yet been taught. I had ambushed them and expected them to have the same vocabulary that I did. Many of them knew cabalistic things about cameras that I still don’t understand, but when it came to photographs, they struggled. Ideas like balance and tension, or using contrast or juxtaposition (I talked about this in this recent post/article). Ideas like repeated elements or thinking about the energy of the photograph were all a bit foggy.

So let me ask you: how’s your composition? Do you think about the way the elements in the frame relate to each other and what they accomplish in the image? Is it time to check in with some of those ideas?

Anyways, The Composition Checklist is a simple thing, but combined with the accompanying 10-minute video, I’m hoping it can give you a bit of a nudge and maybe help you ask some important questions as you shoot.

You can get your copy of The Composition Checklist by clicking here. Still free, still no strings attached. Just click this link, tell me where to send it and I’ll send you both the PDF checklist and the video to download.

Don’t be that photographer who knows more about camera design than visual design. And once you’ve checked out these two free resources, if you want to chat about composition or ask questions, I would love to have that conversation in the comments here on my blog.

For the Love of the Photograph,
David

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02/07/2025
How to use crop modes on your full frame digital camera.

The reality of the world is that images are almost always cropped from what they were in camera no matter how we share them. This is largely due to the constraints of mobile phones where wide aspect ratio images can be hard to view on phones when the phone is held in portrait mode.

The weird thing is that every website or app is a little bit different. Some sites force your images into their own highly restricted crop such as Instagram, and some sites like Flickr don’t care what crop is used. The main concern for using either of those services is how people are most likely to view your images which as far as I know is still a mobile device.

To help photographers deal with this, did you knot that most (if not all) full frame 35mm digital cameras have built in “crop modes” which apply a digital crop to your image in camera?

For example, my camera will shoot in 4 different crop modes (also called aspect ratios). It will shoot in a 4:3 aspect ratio which is the old TV standard for HD television. It will shoot in 1:1 format which is a square format used as we all know on Instagram. It will shoot in 16:9 which is the modern standard for television screens, computer monitors, and many TV shows. Take a look at the comparisons below to get more of an idea of how these different formats relate to each other.

When using these alternate aspect ratios the RAW image remains unaffected. After opening the RAW files in Lightroom a crop will be automatically applied to the image but you can just remove the crop and voila, you’re back to having a full frame image again. If shooting JPG the final image is cropped and the 35mm full frame image can’t be recovered.

Since the RAW file retains the 35mm full frame image a different aspect ratio can be used as a bit of a cheat to help avoid framing mistakes. Say you’re the type who tends to shoot with a tilt or off to the right all the time, or maybe you tend to shoot with the subject low or high and cut off people’s feet. If you’re one of those types then using one of these alternate aspect ratios can force you to frame your images better.

For instance, if you want to make sure you always have room on the sides of your images, you can use the 4:3 crop to force yourself to frame a little wider on your subject. This might be especially useful if you’re shooting fast action such as sports and you want to make sure that there is room in the image to get a nice frame around your subject for publication.

For instance, if I was shooting baseball or basketball where there is usually a focus on what a single player is doing, I might choose to shoot in RAW with the 1:1 crop active. This would force me to put the player close to the center of the frame at all times.

Think of it as a way of making a repetive job a little easier on yourself and you might start to see the benefits of using different crop ratios when you’re taking pictures.

It would be really cool if the camera allowed me to create a couple custom crop ratios for all the different websites out there as well, but, I haven’t heard of a camera that can do that yet.

The R5 can also shoot with a full APS-C crop. Below is a comparison of the full frame area vs the APS-C area.

If you’re far away from the subject, say a bird or other kind of wildlife, then shooting with an APS-C crop not only saves some file size but it can help the photographer get better framing for their final images. It also allows the R5 to work a little more seamlessly with other APS-C cameras if other people happen to be using those.

Despite all this, many if not most photographers will immediately ask why anyone would throw out all those pixels that they paid so much money for in a full frame camera. Well, they honestly have a good point and it’s why I rarely to never use APS-C crop on my camera. For one, while the APS-C crop does offer some logic, it’s really better to use a longer focal length to achieve precise framing. On the R5 a full APS-C crop is still 17.2 megapixels which isn’t too far off from actual crop sensor cameras that are often around 24 megapixels. But it is a far cry from the 45 megapixels of the R5’s full frame sensor. Bottom line: going to APS-C on the R5 throws out more than half the resolution and that would be true with any FF camera that offers the ability to shoot in crop mode.

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18/06/2025
DJI Has Released A Teaser Clip “Spin Your World” Ahead Of Its Product Launch

DJI has been one of the leading manufacturers for high quality drones and they have constantly been innovative and bringing drones into the market that suits every photographer’s needs. Their drones range from beginner’s to professional models and the technologies, hardware used are constantly improved with each new model.

While a lot of drone professionals have been waiting for this new drone that has been rumoured about, DJI released a new teaser on its channels, which is a very short video clip titled “Spin Your World.” It looks like the drone’s gimbal is capable of rotating, which means it will be a great feature for filmmakers and content creators to capture dramatic aerial footage.

The released video can be seen below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHYubl5JlRs

The video released by DJI shows how the drone is capable of capturing more dynamic videos using unique perspectives. The footage on DJI’s social media like X and YouTube, also shows a three camera system which is spherical with “Hasselblad” written on top. The spherical system may allow for more flexibility for the cameras to move sideways, up and down and may come with advanced stabilization features.

A lot of rumoured information have been flooding online sites and forums about the new drone and its specifications. Followers on social media and especially drone enthusiasts, seem to be very excited about this new technology and predict this drone could be a Mavic 4 Pro following DJI’s Mavic 3 series.

The new drone seems to have a compact foldable design like its predecessors and may be weighing less than a kilogram. This also means that the drone pilot will need a license to fly the drone in most countries. The product is expected to be launched next week on the 13th of May.

We have more news for you to read if you are interested at this link here.

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07/05/2025
How to Position Your Subject for the Best Shot – Path
Getting the hang of using a camera and photo editing is one thing, but directing subjects? Now, that’s hard! Even pro photographers can struggle with an awkward or camera-shy person in front of their lens.

How can you guide your subjects so your portrait shoots are consistent in quality, there are fewer retakes, and the result looks great? It’s a mix of technical shooting and composition skills, with plenty of soft skills, like getting your subjects to relax and smile.

Want your next portrait shoot to be a success? Check out some practical tips for how to pose any subject—from corporate execs to creative professionals and family groups.

Prepare for a successful portrait shoot

The secret to great portrait poses actually starts before your subject arrives. Here’s what experienced photographers do to prepare:

Set clear expectations

Help your clients arrive confident and prepared by sending them key information ahead of time:
- Share simple wardrobe guidelines: solid colors work best, avoid busy patterns
- Explain the location and background setup: indoor/outdoor, how many outfits to bring
- Give grooming tips: classic styling usually photographs best—and a fresh shave won’t hurt!
- Outline the session timeline: how long it will take, how many looks you’ll capture
- Send examples of poses you’ll try: helps them visualize the result
To speed this up, you can create a standard pre-shoot guide you can quickly customize for each client. Use apps like Canva or Adobe Express and export the guide as a PDF or create a shareable link.

Build trust and rapport

Most people aren’t naturally comfortable in front of a camera. Posing for headshots can be stressful even for the most successful business people, so your first job is to make them feel at ease. Try these quick tips:
- Start with a quick chat about what to expect and what you’ll shoot first
- Demonstrate poses yourself—it’s easier than explaining and helps break the ice
- Pay attention to what works for each person—a pose that looks great on one subject might feel awkward for another, so stay flexible
- The same goes for instructions in general—some people need more guidance than others
- Keep the conversation natural while you work, but keep your directions simple
- Give positive feedback when you capture great shots, and if something’s not working, smoothly guide them into a different pose instead of pointing out problems
Main posing frameworks for any portrait shoot

Let’s break down some of the best poses for professional headshots and relaxed portraits that consistently deliver great results and let your subjects shine.

Standing poses

Standing poses are a great choice for both corporate headshots and casual portraits. They offer plenty of ways to help subjects feel comfortable—from leaning against the wall to interacting with the surroundings. Standing shots also work anywhere—in a studio, office, or outdoors—and you can repurpose them to crop in for tighter headshots or waist-up portraits.

Here’s how to pose for standing shots:
- Turn feet about 45 degrees from the camera—this creates a naturally slimming angle
- Have subjects shift weight to one leg—usually the front one—to avoid looking stiff
- Ask them to lean forward slightly from the hips, with just an inch or two being enough
- Change arm positions between shots—relaxed at sides, hands in pockets, or arms crossed
- Remember “if it bends, bend it slightly” for natural-looking poses
- Keep shoulders relaxed and dropped because tension shows in photos
- Ask the subject to change the direction of their gaze slowly from one side to the other to get a wide range of angles
For corporate shots:
- Keep poses clean and professional
- Arms relaxed at sides or one hand in pocket
- Subtle lean forward to engage with the camera
- Maintain a straight posture while avoiding stiffness
- For tight headshots, still keep the body slightly angled, like on Treeconomy’s team page
For personal branding:
- Allow more dynamic movement
- Try casual leans against walls or furniture
- Experiment with crossed arms or hands on hips
- Include interaction with the environment (desk, tools of trade, products), like Liz, owner of Wild Pines, an arts and crafts store
- Allow space for naturally big smiles and laughter, too—it’ll create warm and welcoming portraits, like on Sojo’s company page
Flattering seated poses

Seated portraits can create a variety of engaging shots. Just because your subject is sitting doesn’t mean options are limited—it’s all about working with posture and leg positioning to create natural, dynamic results.

Key principles for seated portraits include:
- Guide subjects to sit at the edge of their chair or sofa instead of slumping back
- Avoid letting subjects sink into soft furniture (like in the example below of Noura Sakkijha, CEO of Mejuri)
- Keep the core engaged for good posture
- Point toes in the same direction to elongate legs
Professional settings:
- Position at a desk with a slight forward lean
- Hands clasped or resting naturally—play around with a variety of hand positions to find a flattering pose for your subject
- Encourage subjects to engage with what’s on their desk, such as their laptop or notebook
- Cross ankles rather than legs for a polished look
- Keep shoulders level and relaxed
- Walk around the subject to capture different angles—from camera-facing to slightly angled to full-on side profile
Casual settings:
- Allow more relaxed postures while maintaining good form
- Create asymmetry by shifting weight to one hip
- Use arms for support when sitting on floors
- Avoid both legs pointing directly at the camera—instead, either extend one leg towards the camera or angle them both slightly away from the camera
Creating dynamic duo shots:
- Use seating to create interesting height variations
- Try one person seated while the other stands
- For co-founder shots, have one person sit in a chair while the other perches or leans on the armrest, like in the example below of ettitude’s co-founders
- Vary the height of chairs or use different seating positions to add visual interest
- Keep subjects at different heights but maintain connection through body language or eye contact
Relaxed group portraits

Whether you’re photographing a corporate team or a family, group photos present unique challenges.

Basic principles for group shots:
- Create depth by avoiding straight lines of people—unless you’re shooting a sports team photo that traditionally requires one or two straight lines of players
- Stagger heights naturally using stairs, chairs, or standing/sitting combinations
- Keep heads at different levels but close enough to feel connected
- Position taller people towards the back or center
- Arrange people in a slight arc to ensure everyone’s visible, like in Ora’s team photo below with the two people on both sides slightly turned inward
- For large team shots, shooting from an elevated position, such as another floor, can help include everyone, but you could also use a drone
- Shoot more photos than you think you’ll need—there’ll always be someone blinking so it’s best to have more images to pick from
For professional teams:
- Keep poses consistent but not identical
- Use the rule of thirds to arrange larger groups
- Break bigger teams into smaller clusters
- Maintain equal spacing between subjects
- Ensure everyone’s shoulders are angled slightly rather than square to the camera—or, if facing the camera directly, ask the subject to shift weight from one leg to the other
For family portrait poses:
- Create natural connections through gentle touching (hand on shoulder, arms linked)
- Position children in front or held by parents
- Use props or furniture to create natural groupings
- Let small kids move around and play between shots to stay engaged
- Capture both formal and candid interactions—experiment with both seated and standing poses
- Switch between some or all subjects looking at the camera to fully candid shots
Common posing challenges and tips to solve them

Even experienced photographers run into tricky posing situations. Maybe you’ve got a group with significant height differences, someone nervous about being photographed, or the shoot ran late so now you’re rushing to cover all your bases. So, what are some common challenges you might run into?

Height differences

If you have subjects with drastically different heights, it can make for an awkward portrait. Position taller people slightly behind or sitting. Seated poses work the best to tackle this, but that doesn’t mean you should avoid standing poses altogether. You can use elements like stairs or slopes to minimize extreme height gaps.

You can also create diagonal arrangements instead of straight lines. Avoid placing the tallest and shortest people next to each other—unless they’re standing behind each other.

Confidence issues

If your subjects are camera-shy, start with simple poses to build trust. Give specific compliments about what’s working well, and show them the preview shots when you capture something great.

It’s a good idea to have a few go-to safety poses that work for most people. Some might also feel more relaxed if there’s music playing in the background, especially if you’re shooting in a studio.

Your own confidence and body language as the photographer make a difference too—stay positive or even a little goofy if appropriate. Make sure to edit your portraits and headshots to show your subjects in the most flattering way while keeping their appearance natural

Photographing glasses and reflections

If shooting something reflective in the frame, slightly tilt the head down to avoid glare. You can also ask subjects to push their glasses slightly up their nose. Position lights at angles that don’t create reflections. If the reflection doesn’t cover the subject’s eye in full, you can always fix it with retouching.

Rushing through poses

Prepare a shot list ready but be flexible—you can have the shot list on your phone or even photograph it so you can flick through your camera during the shoot without stopping the session.

Start with your most reliable poses first. Give clear, concise directions, and keep subjects engaged by showing progress.

Are you ready to direct your next portrait shoot?

Working with people can be unpredictable because everyone’s unique—but that’s exactly what makes portrait photography so rewarding. The trick is to adapt your approach for each subject while keeping your photo quality consistent. With these posing guidelines, you’ll be better equipped to direct any portrait session confidently, from corporate headshots to family gatherings.

And if you need help getting those portraits polished and ready to share, our team of expert editors at Path can handle the retouching while you focus on capturing more great shots.

Polish up your portraits with pro retouching from 79¢ per image

Portrait poses FAQs

How do you pose for a professional headshot?

Start by turning your body 45 degrees from the camera, then face back toward it. If you’re standing, shift your weight to your front leg, keep your shoulders relaxed, and lean forward slightly from the hips. Small adjustments make a big difference—change arm positions between shots and keep movements subtle. Allow yourself to smile and laugh, too!

How do you look professional in a headshot?
- Maintain good posture without looking stiff
- Keep shoulders back but relaxed
- Sit at the edge of your chair for seated shots
- Cross ankles instead of legs
- Let hands rest naturally
What are the best poses for group photos?

Avoid straight lines of people. Instead, create depth by staggering heights using stairs or chairs, and arrange people in a slight arc. For professional teams, keep poses consistent but not identical. With families, encourage natural connections through gentle touching like hands on shoulders.

What are common mistakes to avoid when posing subjects?

Common portrait mistakes include forcing unnatural smiles, rushing through poses without direction, and not adapting poses to fit different subjects. Stay engaged with your subject throughout by having a conversation and provide positive feedback. If something doesn’t work, simply switch to the next pose.

How to pose different body types?

Work with your subject’s natural body language instead of forcing uncomfortable poses. The 45-degree angle works well for most people, as does shifting weight to one leg. For seated poses:
- Focus on good posture
- Create asymmetry through slight head tilts
- Adjust your camera position rather than making subjects twist
- Make sure subjects feel confident in their pose
- Don’t let the subject sink back into a soft chair or sofa
How do you pose someone who is camera shy?

Start with simple poses and build trust gradually. Show them preview shots when you capture something great, keep the conversation going, and guide them into different poses smoothly. Playing background music can help relax in studio settings.
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25/04/2025
Unlock Your Photography Potential — Mikko Lagerstedt
4. Breaking down goals

This is how you can achieve goals and track them in your journal. Write down each of these and be as thorough as you can.

Specific Goal
What do you want to improve? “I want to improve my Lightroom Color editing.”

Specific Action
What are your action steps? “Use the HSL panel in Lightroom and watch tutorials on how to use it.”

Timeframe
How many hours does it take? “I will spend 1 hour per day editing in the HSL panel to improve my color editing.”

Track your Actions
How many hours have you spent this week? “I have spent learning 2 hours this week using the HSL Panel?”

Results
Write down what you learned. Be specific and acknowledge your improvement. “I understand the HSL panel easily and can identify how to improve the colors in my photography.”

I believe these steps will help you improve your photography and make you continue to enjoy taking photographs.

5. Goal ideas for Your Photography

When you set inspiring goals, it’s easy to feel inspired to start creating and have fun in the process. Let your creativity flow and create what you desire!
- Practice shooting in different lighting conditions, such as sunrise or sunset, to improve your skills in capturing the golden hour
- Experiment with using filters, such as polarizers or neutral density filters, to enhance the colors and contrast in your photos
- Work on composing your shots more effectively by learning about the rule of thirds or practicing leading lines
- Practice shooting in different weather conditions, such as fog or rain, to capture unique and atmospheric images
- Learn how to use a tripod effectively to capture sharp, blur-free photos, especially in low light
- Experiment with different focal lengths and perspectives to create different effects in your photos
- Practice shooting in manual mode to have more control over your camera settings and to create the desired exposure and depth of field in your photos
- Experiment with different types of lenses or camera settings to create other effects in your photos
- Shoot in a new location or visit a new destination specifically to photograph landscapes
- Work on improving your post-processing skills, such as using software to enhance colors and composition
- Collaborate with other photographers or participate in a photography workshop or retreat
- Work on developing a personal style or theme in your landscape photography
- Explore new local locations. Many beautiful locations are likely near your home, even if you cannot travel far. Aim to explore these new locations and try out different compositions, lighting conditions, and subject matter.
If you want, you can do daily tasks, such as the one below. You can Download Your Free Photography Planner I made last year.
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24/04/2025