Beauty Photography

Clamshell Lighting Done Right: What Most Photographers Get Wrong About the Fill
Video Tutorials

Clamshell Lighting Done Right: What Most Photographers Get Wrong About the Fill

Beauty work is where lighting technique either earns its keep or exposes you. I shoot beauty regularly for brand clients, and the question I get most from photographers watching me set up is some version of: “Why do you have that second light so far out?” That’s the clamshell question, and most people who ask it have been doing the setup slightly wrong. In this Daniel Norton Photographer tutorial on clamshell lighting, Norton walks through the technique with a directness I appreciate.

What a 34-Year Pro's Garage Studio Taught Me About Running a Real Portrait Business
Video Tutorials

What a 34-Year Pro's Garage Studio Taught Me About Running a Real Portrait Business

There’s a version of “studio goals” that lives on Instagram and costs about $40,000 to build. Concrete floors with custom epoxy. Seamless white walls. A prop room that looks like a Brooklyn loft. I’ve been in those studios. Some of them produce incredible work. A lot of them are monuments to overhead. So when I came across this studio tour from The Portrait System featuring Paul Gero, I kept watching because what he’s built is the opposite of that, and it’s clearly working.