Learn Portrait Photography

Learn Portrait Photography Online for Free

Learning portrait photography online for free has never been easier. There are hundreds of credible educational creators within the niche of portrait photography. We have compiled the best portrait photography educators on this page for you to browse through easily.

What is Portrait Photography?

Portrait photography is a niche of photography that involves capturing the personality and story of an individual while utilizing the surroundings. Many think that portrait photography is simply about putting a person in front of a camera, clicking a button, and you’re done - but there’s much more to it than that. Portrait photography is often one of the easiest types of photography to get started with, but it’s the hardest to master. A good portrait photographer is as much a good artist as they are a good photographer. As we’ll touch on later, there are many skills that a portrait photographer needs to be successful outside of the realm of photography.

How to Learn Portrait Photography?

If you want to learn portrait photography, there are many good resources, including this page. Let’s take a look at some of the best resources and learning paths one can take if they were looking to learn portrait photography.

Portrait Photography Creators

The first way we recommend learning portrait photography is through educational creators who are in the niche of portrait photography. Learning from experts who are in the field of portrait photography is the best way one can quickly learn what works and what doesn’t. You can find educational creators in the portrait photography niche on this page. We have gathered and collected all the top credible creators in portrait photography and displayed them all on one page based on educator ratings. Be sure to explore the creators on this page and their offerings so you can see who the best creator is for you and your learning style.

Portrit Photography Books

The second way we recommend learning portrait photography is through books. There are many great books on portrait photography written by educators (some of them you can find on this page). When looking for a book on portrait photography, it’s important that you find one with a lot of images and examples because text can only get you so far when you’re looking to improve portrait photography.

Portrait Photography Paid Courses

The third way we recommend learning portrait photography is by enrolling in a paid course. While we include this as a way to start learning, it’s also important to remember that there is a ton of free information out there written by the top educators in each niche - such as the creators on this page. So before emptying your wallet on a paid course, be sure to check out the portrait photographers on this page and their free offerings because we’ve organized them for you! Long gone are the days of trying to learn portrait photography online and trying to figure out whether it’s a good resource to learn from, because you can quickly do so by checking out the educator ratings and offerings on this page.

Portrait Photography Blogs

The final way we recommend learning portrait photography is by reading blogs written by actual photographers. There are many great blogs out there, including our own Portrait Photography blog category! If you don’t feel like checking out our blog, then many of the portrait photography creators we have listed on this page have their own blog where they write about their own experiences and pitfalls, so be sure to check that out on their Contact Details section on their Creator Profile page!

How do You Get Into Portrait Photography?

Once you’ve educated yourself as much as you can on portrait photography, then it’s time to jump into the action and start photographing. But where do you start? It can be daunting at first knowing where to even take your first step on your portrait photography journey so we’ve put together a list for you. Let’s dive in!

Education

The first step to get into portrait photography is to educate yourself as much as possible. We’ve already touched on this in the previous section.

Ask Friends or Family if They Need an Updated Portrait

Once you’ve feel like you learned as much as you could about portrait photography, then it’s time to put some of that knowledge to work. The only caveat with portrait photography as a beginner, is that you need a subject - oftentimes another human being. But who do you ask? You may think to yourself. Many portrait photographers get started by asking their friends or family members if they could take a photo of them. Since we have a closer relationship with friends or family rather than a random stranger, then the percentage of a friend or family member agreeing to a photo would be higher! Once you’ve decided on some friends or family members you’d be interested in photographing, ask them and let them know that you are interested in portrait photography and that you need a subject to practice with. Offer to meet them at their desired location whether it’s their home, a park, etc. Also let them know that you’d be happy to give them the photos afterwards if they choose to have them. Once you meet up with the friend or family member, go into the session with a certain outcome you want to achieve. Maybe it’s to just get through the session without having a nervous breakdown (kidding) or maybe it’s a certain technique or exposure that you learned about. Whatever it may be, enter the session with this goal in mind and also let your subject know so they can be on the same page! As we’ll touch on later, communication plays a major role in determining whether you are an adept portrait photographer or not.

Analyze Your Own Photos

Congrats! You’ve had your first portrait photography session. That wasn’t too bad was it? But where do you go from here? If you’ve been following our steps then you’ve already had your first portrait photography session with a friend or family member and now you have the photos in your camera and you may/may not have already sent them over to your subject. The next step is to analyze your own portrait photos for their strengths and weaknesses. Things you’ll want to pay attention to in your portraits include the facial expression of the subject, your exposure, your composition, and the clarity of the photo (whether it was blurry or sharp). While it can be tempting to harshly criticize and compare your portrait to portrait photographers who have been in the game for several years - don’t do it! Remember, you are on a journey and it’s a marathon not a sprint. Write down in detail what you like about your photos and what you don’t like without being overly critical. For example, you could write that you noticed the subject’s eyes are not in focus and that next time you want their eyes to be “sharper.” Or another example could be that you write that the image is too dark on one side of their face and you wished it were brighter. Once you write everything down, then it’s time to research how to actually solve these problems. We recommend reaching out to the creators we have on this page as they have most likely experienced the same challenges you are facing when it comes to portrait photography. To do this easily, on each one of the creator’s Creator Profile, we have a Contact Details section where you can find their website to reach out to them.

Stay Consistent

The next step is to stay consistent. Consistency is key in anything you want to improve on. When it comes to portrait photography or any niche of photography for that matter, then you will want to be photographing as much as you can. By photographing as much as possible, you’ll become more familiar with your camera and you will start to see things differently. You will start paying attention to light more, how people’s facial expressions change, and how people’s faces change in different angles and lighting scenarios. But once again, portrait photography requires a subject - so who do you use as a subject now? If you run out of friends or family members to take photos of, then there are many great communities where models are looking for what’s called a TFP (trade for print) photoshoot.

This essentially involves a mutually beneficial relationship where the model gets images for their portfolio and the portrait photographer gets images for their portfolio as well. No money is involved in TFP shoots and the time you both exchange is the currency. You can find local models in your area by checking out the photography Facebook groups in your area or by finding local models in your area by using Instagram. Since you are a beginning portrait photographer then stick to communicating with beginner models as well as the more experienced ones may not respond. But once you improve as a portrait photographer and start building a nice portfolio, then don’t be afraid to start reaching out to more experienced models in your area.

Learn Portrait Editing Techniques

The next step when it comes to portrait photography is to learn some of the basic portrait editing techniques. Outside of basic post-production edits such as exposure corrections, cropping, and color correction, you’ll want to learn basic skin retouching techniques. These retouching techniques often involve removing stray hairs or blemishes that could affect the image. You can find some of the best educational creators when it comes to retouching in our Photography Editing subcategory, so be sure to check that out!

Create a Website

The final step when it comes to becoming a portrait photographer is to create a portfolio, preferably on your own website. There are many ways to create your own website and knowing where to start is another challenge. Luckily in our Photography Business subcategory, many of the educational creators in that subcategory discuss how to go about creating your own Photography website and portfolio. Once you follow all these steps, then you’re ready to start finding some paying clients, so go out there and remember the skills you learned from your own personal experience as well as from the creators we’ve listed on this page. Speaking of skills, what are all the skills a portrait photographer should have?

Skills Every Portrait Photographer Needs

Portrait photographers need to have a wide variety of skills in order to create the best portraits for their clients. The most important skill that portrait photographers need is an eye for composition, lighting and subject placement. Knowing how different people look in a certain light or how creating interesting backgrounds can help you capture stunning images. Another important skill is understanding how to use your camera. Knowing the basics of shutter speed, aperture, white balance, and ISO will help you get better results when it comes to portrait photography. The third skill that all portrait photographers need is an understanding of photo editing software. Whether you’re using Adobe Photoshop or Lightroom, knowing how to make basic adjustments to colour, sharpness, and saturation can help you make your photos look even better. Finally, the last important skill that portrait photographers must have is communication. Understanding how to communicate with your models in order to draw out their best expressions while also managing any difficult or demanding clients will go a long way towards helping you create beautiful portraits.  

Is Portrait Photography Difficult?

Portrait photography can be difficult, especially when it comes to getting the perfect expressions from your models. But it’s no more difficult than any other skill you’re trying to learn and with practice and experience, you’ll start understanding how to work with different types of people, as well as what makes a great portrait photo.  If you’re serious about pursuing portrait photography then don’t be afraid to invest in some quality gear, get out there and practice as often as you can. You’ll start realizing the difference between a good portrait photo and a great one with time.

Do Portrait Photographers Make Money?

Yes, portrait photographers can make money! There are many different ways to monetize your skills as a portrait photographer. You can start off by doing some free shoots in exchange for portfolio images, then don’t be afraid to start reaching out to more experienced models in your area.  Once you have built up a nice portfolio, you can start charging for your services. Portrait photography prices vary based on the type of shoot, location, editing, and any other considerations you may have. You can also look into selling print products, such as albums or framed prints. This is a great way to make a little extra income from your work! Check out the Photography Business subcategory and see all the photographers who have made a successful business out of their own photography. Once you've built up some experiences and had your own portrait photography journey, then you can educate others by becoming your own educational creator and getting listed on our directory. From there you can create a website with your own blog as well as create other social media channels and monetize your knowledge.

Best People to Learn Portrait Photography From

There are many talented Portrait photographers in the world. Many of them exist on this page, providing the highest quality educational Portrait photography content, for free. In order to browse the Portrait photography creators on this page optimally, we've put together a roadmap:

Read Their About Section

Take a quick look at the creators' About Sections when you first enter the Portrait Photography Subcategory page. Although it's short, usually only 2-4 sentences, this will give you an overview of the content they teach and who they are as photographers.

Check Their Reviews

Once you read their about section, click on a creator and visit their Creator Profile, then check out the reviews the Portrait photography creators have received. These reviews are on their educational offerings, and not them as an individual. By having these reviews, you can quickly and easily see what other users are saying about their offerings and whether they are good resources to learn from.

Check Where They've Been Featured

You might want to investigate the websites and articles in the "Featured In" section once you read their reviews. This way, you can see if they're credible creators.

Check Their Offerings

Once you've seen and read the article they've been featured in, then explore their offerings. On their Creator Profile, you will find links to all of their popular social media channels. This makes it easy to see all of their platforms on one page. Instead of trying to find every place they produce content, it's easily presented to you on one page for you to go back to and visit.

Save Their Profile

Once you've found a creator you like learning from, be sure to sign up and create an account and save their profile. We will be adding extra features that will allow creators to add exclusive content to their Creator Profile page so by following them you will keep up to date on these developments!

Contribute to the Community

If you learn from a Portrait photography creator, be sure to leave them a review and give feedback on their offerings so other learners can read about your experience learning from their offerings!