Category Archives: Picture of the day

Fear not – use high ISO when needed

Posted on February 5, 2012 by Michael Willems

Here’s a snap of my friend and student Ray, taken Saturday night: As you can see, he is backlit – and I used whatever light was available. This means that to avoid the usual “silhouette”, I needed to expose very … Continue reading →

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High key fun

Posted on February 5, 2012 by Michael Willems

When I shoot glamour portraits, I like to use black and white, and I like to make them high-key, as in this example below from a few days ago. Why high key b/w? First, because I very much like the … Continue reading →

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Posted on February 3, 2012 by Michael Willems

Look at this image I shot just the other day – yes, it is another post in my recent model portrait series, this time to show you a simple creative technique you can use in camera: Namely.. the blur at … Continue reading →

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More edgy

Posted on February 1, 2012 by Michael Willems

In addition to this blog, I occasionally post more edgy, artistic work, much of it containing nudes, on my Tumblr blog: if you are interested, have a look at the work, at http://mvwphoto.tumblr.com/ And let me know what you think!  

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Poses

Posted on January 31, 2012 by Michael Willems

I often, as you know, write about what I have been photographing recently, and that has been a number of sessions with a regular and excellent model, Kim – so I shall do one more post on this today. When … Continue reading →

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Look in my eyes

Posted on January 29, 2012 by Michael Willems

..or, do not! What I mean is this: for a character portrait, you do not necessarily need eye contact. In fact, often, there is more of a story – more intrigue, more for viewers to work out for themselves, i.e. … Continue reading →

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Quick fixes are sometimes good

Posted on January 28, 2012 by Michael Willems

As I mentioned the other day, converting a portrait to black and white can be good if it is not optional in the first place. It is an “easy fix”. Not that my friend, model Kim, pictured below in a … Continue reading →

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Colour

Posted on January 27, 2012 by Michael Willems

As you have seen in recent posts, I often do portraits in black and white. It’s just better that way in portraits: distractions (like colourful clothing) are removed. But sometimes you have to recognize that colour is called for. Like … Continue reading →

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Angle

Posted on January 21, 2012 by Michael Willems

A word about a very important aspect of people photography: angle. When I make a portrait, one of my main tasks is to find the right angle. People have flattering angles, and less flattering angles. Angles that make them larger … Continue reading →

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Forbidden word

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Michael Willems

A forbidden word when doing portraits, especially of men: “SMILE!”. I say that for two reasons. First, you do not necessarily need a smile in every portrait. Art portraits, glamour: fashion, personality: there are many categories that do not need … Continue reading →

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