Quick Tips May 2025 Blog

By Gary Bernstein

The Beauty of Backgrounds.

A MAN AND WOMAN PORTRAIT VARIATION.

I made this photograph for the fashion pages of Esquire Magazine as part of an 8-page layout. It was shot against a Denny burlap* background—which is recorded here slightly out of focus via a large lens aperture on a short telephoto lens with a 35mm camera.

The original image has a lot more room around it showing the model’s outfit and styling for the magazine. Yes, I always style my images personally—and you should style the images of the people you photograph as well (tell them to bring a lot of clothes to the studio). If you don’t understand and know fashion…then either learn it (!) or hire a good stylist…and that goes for makeup and hair as well (no, I don’t do makeup and hair—I just know what it should look like and the people who can make it happen). Remember, the best fashion is what looks good on the subject (or on you, for that matter ;)).

Please note that the stream of consciousness information that I give to you in these blogs and columns are truly thoughts that lead to you making money. Mind you, it’s not about the money when I’m shooting, rather during the shoot it’s only about making strong images—but over the many years of doing this I know the elements that make your client gravitate to an image (regardless of whether it is a commercial client or a portrait client)—the bottom line of which is that more clients and more “photo love” inevitably leads to more money ;).

So, in no particular order…

Notice that the main light placed to camera right illuminates the side of his face and allows the shadow side of his face to be framed against her bright profile—emphasizing her profile in the process. Take a look on YouTube at Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper singing Shallow together at the Oscars and you will see the same effect toward the end of the number—lighted beautifully. Notice that in this shot the eyes are placed high in the frame with dramatic cropping. Want to enhance many of your images? Try to keep the eyes in the upper third of the photograph. Put the images side by side meaning cropped and uncropped and the difference will amaze you just as it will create enhanced visual appeal for your clients.

Is there a difference between a commercial image and a portrait image? Not in my book (by the way…if you want hundreds of real world money-making creative ideas, buy my books—yes, it’s an advertising plug ;)). I use this same compositional technique (the positioning of the man and the woman) for many portrait sessions—and switch from full face to profile back and forth between the married couple or the brother and sister, etc. They go nuts for those images and usually buy more than one.

*Note that I used the same background in last month’s tip for this photograph of Mrs. Bernstein. Someone had to marry her ;)…

A CHILD’S PORTRAIT.

Denny has many backgrounds that parallel the look created here by Gary, among them are our old master hand-painted backdrops.

Click HERE to check out our Old Master backdrop collection.

Above is a portrait that I made of our youngest daughter who fortunately looks like her mother ;). The lighting diagram is from one of my books (Pro Technique of People Photography) and shows precisely how the image was made. Low main lighting can bring a special glow to a child’s face. It emphasizes subtle features that might otherwise go unnoticed. Plus, the shorter, less-developed features of a child allow lower lighting placement.

The low main light was reflected from a silvered umbrella. Below the camera and to the subject’s right I placed a silvered reflector. This bounced additional light into her face and added a secondary catchlight to each eye. You can’t have too many catchlights in the eyes!

For this photo I used two background lights in umbrellas, one on each side of the background at 45-degree angles to the background to avoid flare. A fourth light, a spot on a boom, above the subject’s head was used to highlight her hair 3 exposure steps beyond the main light reading.

Notice my subject was positioned lower in the frame than usual (and in fact in the formal portrait we had printed for the house, there is significantly more room above her head and surrounding composition). The extra space gives “scale” to the image i.e. that the child is small. The shot was made with a short telephoto lens on a 35mm camera.

A MOTHER-DAUGHTER PORTRAIT.

This beauty is a very famous lady (hint, she and her late husband own arguably the largest car collection on the planet along with a bunch of hotels). I made the image in my Culver City, CA studio on a Hasselblad camera loaded with black and white film (you remember film, right???). Among others, the lady ordered a 30 x 40 canvas print of this image.

I posed the mom in what is traditionally (in classic portraiture) known as a masculine pose (her head leans to the lower shoulder)—giving her even greater strength as she cuddles and protects her pretty child. The background is the same Denny background I used for another famous lady…legendary Sophia Loren, in an image I also made in my Culver City, CA studio during my first session with the Italian diva (diva means goddess in Italian, and it is certainly not an overstatement as only Sophia makes Ferraris and Lambos feel like ugly-ducklings ;)).

The mother daughter image was made with 2 lights in 30-inch umbrellas—a main light to camera left with a 24-inch silvered reflector popping in additional light from below; and a second umbrella lighting this spectacular Denny background (which must be part of your studio staples)!

I’ll leave you with a shot of Sophia Loren and me in Geneva, Switzerland from many (many!) years ago. I went over to talk to the beauty prior to taking some shots, and when I turned back around she grabbed me from behind and an assistant luckily grabbed this fun shot. Trust me—if you need to be grabbed from behind, you want Sophia Loren to be the grabber ;).