Take your camera, point it out the window of your house / car / van / shop / at a view. This week’s challenge, sent in via the post earlier today in our Facebook group, is your challenge this week.
Make sure to tag your photograph #dPSWeeklyChallenge and #dPSViewFromTheWindow
Seem’s I spend a bit of time in cafes looking out the window at people going by…
Remember, take your photo for the challenge in the week of the challenge, and typically only one photo per challenge. These are guidelines, not rules, I’m not your dad, so if you can’t find your shot and have something on a hard drive, share it, and if you have two photos your really love for the theme, share them.
If you own a DSLR, a mirrorless camera, or even a high-end point-and-shoot model, you’ve probably spent time scrutinizing the camera mode dial.
Here, I’m talking about the circular dial on top of cameras with an array of strange letters: M, Tv (or S), Av (or A), P, and maybe even a U1 or U2 (or C1 or C2). There is also a friendly green option; it may say Auto, or it may simply be represented by a green rectangle.
The default option for most cameras is this green Auto option, which essentially gives the camera complete control over your settings. Auto mode doesn’t do a bad job, but it doesn’t do an especially good job, either. It can lead to poor exposures, unwanted aperture effects, and even blur – so if you want to capture consistently solid shots, I highly recommend familiarizing yourself with (and eventually using) the other modes on the mode dial.
Learning the ins and outs of your mode dial can be somewhat daunting, and those strange letters won’t inspire much confidence for beginners who already feel overwhelmed. But don’t worry! In this article, I walk you through the basic functions of the mode dial one by one, and I explain – using easy-to-understand language – how you can start experimenting with some of your camera’s more advanced settings.
Let’s dive right in.
Auto mode
I mentioned Auto mode above, and it might seem fairly self-explanatory, but I’d like to offer some detail about how it works.
Auto mode instructs your camera to choose the three main settings that govern exposure (aperture, shutter speed, and ISO). In general, your camera will then do whatever it can to make sure the pictures you take are properly exposed (in other words, not too dark nor too bright). It might widen or narrow the aperture, raise or lower the shutter speed, or boost or drop the ISO. If your camera has a flash, it may decide to fire it in order to brighten up a scene that is quite dark (e.g., when you’re shooting indoors or at night).
Sometimes Auto mode is all you need to get the pictures you want!
Auto allows you to take decent photos in a variety of situations. However, your camera cannot read your mind and determine your artistic intentions, which means that it may pick an unwanted aperture, shutter speed, or ISO value. Auto mode can also produce poor exposures when faced with certain subjects scenarios, and that’s where a semi-automatic mode can come in handy:
P: Program mode
If you’re ready to get off Auto mode and start to make some settings adjustments on your own, Program mode is a good place to start. It’s similar to the familiar, comfortable Auto mode, but with one big difference: You can change a few key settings on your own, including the ISO, the white balance, and whether the pop-up flash is active.
In Program mode, your camera will always try to maintain a properly-exposed picture; therefore, by manually adjusting the ISO, you can force your camera to modify the aperture and shutter speed. And if an image is looking too bright or too dark, you can always use your camera’s exposure compensation setting to tweak the exposure.
Program mode is a fun way to experiment with your camera, and it’ll help you understand how adjusting the aperture and shutter speed can affect your photos. Plus, because it only gives you access to a few settings, it shouldn’t be too overwhelming!
Program mode is a great way to delve into your camera settings.
Av (or A): Aperture Priority mode
If you want to gain full control over the aperture in your lens (and thus also the depth of field), Aperture Priority is the mode to use. With your camera set to its Av mode, you can independently adjust the aperture (generally by turning a dial on the rear of your camera), while your camera selects a corresponding shutter speed. You can also independently adjust the ISO.
Aperture Priority is very popular – in fact, it’s used regularly by both enthusiasts and professionals. If you have plenty of available light, it’s a fantastic mode to work with because you can choose whether you want a deep depth of field (i.e., everything in focus) or a shallow depth of field (i.e., just your subject in focus and foreground/background blur). But because your camera will set the shutter speed, you can generally expect to produce well-exposed shots.
Note: As with Program mode (and Shutter Priority mode, discussed below), if you’re in a situation where your images are turning out too dark or too light, you can deliberately boost or reduce the exposure using your camera’s exposure compensation setting.
The biggest problem with Aperture Priority is that, when you’re shooting in low light, your camera might select a too-slow shutter speed that produces a blurry result. Therefore, in lower-light scenarios, you have to keep an eye on your shutter speed to ensure it doesn’t drop too low (and if it does get too low, you’ll need to increase the ISO or widen your aperture to force it back up again).
Personally, I like to shoot with Aperture Priority and Auto ISO. That way, my camera will only drop the shutter speed so far – you can usually set the parameters for your minimum shutter speed in the camera menu – and will instead raise the ISO as needed.
I knew I wanted a shallow depth of field for this shot, so I used Aperture Priority mode to select a wide aperture and let my camera figure out the rest.
Tv (or S): Shutter Priority mode
Shutter Priority mode is essentially the opposite of Aperture Priority mode. With your camera set to Tv, you can independently select the shutter speed and ISO, while your camera will choose a corresponding aperture. (You also have the option to use Auto ISO.)
Shutter Priority is particularly useful if you’re shooting fast action (e.g., a sporting event); you can set your shutter speed to freeze the motion of the subjects and know that your camera will select the aperture needed to get the shot. Most cameras can shoot at 1/4000s or 1/8000s on the high end, which is plenty for freezing motion. You can also drop the shutter as low as 30 seconds, which can be good for nighttime photography and capturing light trails.
I used Shutter Priority to capture this 30-second shot of the Seattle skyline from the Columbia Center observation deck.
M: Manual mode
Manual mode is the most complex of all the camera modes because it gives you full control over each and every setting. While your camera will offer exposure suggestions via a bar in the viewfinder, you’ll need to carefully select your aperture, shutter speed, and ISO.
Shooting in Manual mode can be a little scary at first, but the trick here is to understand how the exposure triangle works. That way, you can arrive at the correct exposure by monitoring the exposure bar in the viewfinder and making careful changes to your camera settings.
Manual mode is challenging, but it’s also intensely rewarding because you can use it to control your camera to get precisely the picture you want. Any situation can be good for Manual, provided you are well acquainted with your camera and how it operates. However, I’d recommend practicing Manual in slower-paced scenarios so you don’t feel overwhelmed from the get-go.
Learning to shoot in Manual mode may seem daunting, but it’s also incredibly liberating!
U1 (or C1): Storing custom user settings
Not every camera allows you to save custom user settings, but if yours has this option, you might want to take advantage of it. These custom settings allow you to specify certain parameters, including exposure settings, white balance settings, image file settings, and more. That way, when you need to switch to different settings in the field, you won’t have to painstakingly dial in each new value; instead, you can simply turn your camera’s mode dial to its U1 or C1 mode.
I find these custom modes especially useful for storing settings that are good for indoor photography, such as a wider aperture and higher ISO, as well as settings that are good for outdoor photography, such as a low ISO and a fast shutter speed. That way, if I’m shooting in a scenario that includes both indoor and outdoor scenes, I can quickly switch between the custom modes without skipping a beat.
You can also use these custom modes to save settings for panning, bracketing for HDR shots, low-light photography, portraits, landscapes, etc. Use them for the types of things you do most often or for those scenarios where you need to access new settings quickly.
My U1 mode saves settings for outdoor portraits, so no matter what I’m doing, if I see a portrait opportunity, I can instantly switch my settings to get the shot I want.
Scene modes
Not all cameras offer Scene modes. They’re generally only found on prosumer-type models, and they’re indicated by little icons:
Scene modes are essentially modified Auto settings. Each one is suited for a different type of photography – portrait, landscape, action, night, etc. – but you won’t have an opportunity to change any settings directly. If you’re perfectly happy shooting in Auto mode but get frustrated when your images turn out blurry, noisy, or out of focus, you might want to try using one of these instead.
If you like going outdoors and taking shots of landscapes, set the mode dial to the mountain icon, which will force your camera to use the smaller apertures and lower ISO values that are suited for this type of photography. If you want to photograph your kids playing football or running around at the park, use the icon with a person running, which will cause your camera to increase the shutter speed to freeze the action.
Each one of these icons is carefully designed by your camera’s manufacturer to deliver good results in various types of situations, and they often deliver better images than just shooting in Auto mode.
The Scene modes can help you get the specific type of picture you want. The Portrait Scene mode forced the camera to choose a wider aperture, resulting in a blurry background behind the subjects.
Other camera modes
While the modes featured above are the most common, there are plenty of other modes you might find on any given camera, and each manufacturer includes a slightly different set of options. Therefore, it’s difficult to list all of the available functions your camera may offer.
Here are just a few more modes that you might find on your mode dial along with some brief explanations:
A-Dep: A fully automatic mode that lets you pick two points (in the foreground and background) that you want to render in focus. Your camera will then select the aperture needed to keep everything between those two points sharp. The abbreviation “A-Dep” stands for Automatic Depth of Field, and while it’s fun to play with, it doesn’t always work out so well in practice.
Box With a Lightning Symbol Crossed Out: Another automatic mode that also disables the flash. It’s good if you want to shoot in low-light situations without using the flash, though your pictures may come out grainy or blurry.
Flower (Macro): A Scene-like mode that’s useful for shooting subjects at close range, such as flowers and insects. It doesn’t affect the properties of your lens but merely tells your camera to focus on things that are closer instead of farther away.
SCN/SCENE: Similar to the icons you may find on a mode dial, this lets you choose from several built-in scene examples to help your camera figure out the appropriate shooting parameters to use.
The camera mode dial: final words
Hopefully, you now feel ready to take control of your camera’s mode dial. If you haven’t already, I highly recommend reading up on the exposure triangle, which will go a long way toward improving your understanding of how each mode works.
By the way, if you check your camera and find that it includes a mode that’s not on this list, it may well be worth your time to open your user manual and investigate. You may find some very useful modes that’ll help you capture better photos!
Now over to you:
Do you have a favorite camera mode? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Inexperienced photographers tend to think that the camera matters far more than the lens – however, as veteran shooters know, the lens is a hugely important part of photography. After all, a lens influences image sharpness, autofocusing speed, field of view, background blur, low-light shoot flexibility, and so much more.
But once you own a good lens, how can you get the most out of it? How can you learn its features, its focal lengths, and its unique way of rendering the world so that you can use it to create gorgeous photos?
I’ve handled a lot of glass over the years, and as a result, I know how to get to know a new lens (or improve your understanding of the lenses you already own). In this article, I share my top tips for working your way through this process, including a few handy tests and exercises as well as more general tips for approaching new glass.
Are you ready to master your lenses? Then let’s dive right in!
1. Use one lens exclusively for a month
In the book Outliers, author Malcolm Gladwell put forward the now-famous idea that true mastery of a skill takes 10,000 hours of practice. I’d say that the idea of putting in 10,000 hours applies to photography as a whole rather than photography using a single lens, but by using the same lens for an extended period of time, you’ll certainly get to know that lens really, really well.
If you own multiple lenses and need to use them regularly (e.g., for upcoming paid sessions), you don’t have to be super vigilant about this. Just try to take a single lens out on a shoot, and if you can maintain the streak for a few days in a row, that’s fantastic.
I often take a single lens to my portrait shoots. The only lens I had on me for this session was an 85mm short telephoto.
If you like how it feels to just use a single lens, try taking it further by extending the exercise out for a week, a month, or even longer. It’s up to you, but the more time you spend with that one lens, the better you’ll get at visualizing its field of view before you raise the camera to your eye. You’ll be able to create compositions before you look through the viewfinder, and your keeper rate will grow dramatically.
This exercise is best done with a prime lens, but it works for zooms, too. If you do work with a zoom, you may want to start by picking a single focal length and sticking to it. Of course, you’ll eventually need to test out other focal lengths if you want to really get to know a lens’s capabilities, but beginning in one place can be a good idea.
One recommendation: Before you head out with your lens, spend a bit of time thumbing through the manual. Make sure you’re familiar with all of its features, including any switches or rings on the barrels. Then be sure to practice using these different elements when out shooting!
2. Test your lens at every aperture
Part of mastering a lens is getting to know how it performs. And the fact is that every lens’s performance varies across its aperture range, so I highly recommend you spend some time with the glass you’re looking to master and really assess it at all apertures.
Print off a test chart or make your own, then mount your camera on a tripod and take a series of photos as you go from the lens’s widest to its narrowest aperture. All lenses are softer at their widest and narrowest aperture settings, so don’t be surprised if that’s the result you get – but the details matter, too. How sharp is your lens at its widest aperture? How do you feel about the level of detail? How about at its narrowest aperture? What are your thoughts?
Here, it can help to take notes for each aperture (after all, it’s a lot to remember!). And once you’re finished with your tests, spend some time thinking about what the results mean for you photographically.
For instance, if you often use small apertures when you take photos, then you’ll need to figure out when blur due to diffraction starts to become a serious problem. And if you prefer to use wider apertures, consider whether shooting wide open will net you some reasonably sharp images, or whether you’ll need to stop down slightly.
If you like that shallow depth-of-field look yet your lens struggles at wide apertures, remember that the key is to find a balance between bokeh and image quality. For example, I find that when I make portraits with a short telephoto lens, I get the best results at f/2.8. The f/2.8 aperture ensures that most of my model’s face is in focus, yet the bokeh still has a beautiful quality:
Of course, you might prefer a different aperture, and that’s okay! The point is to spend some time testing and thinking about the results.
Note: If you’re working with a zoom lens instead of a prime lens, carefully read this next section:
3. Test a zoom lens at different focal lengths
Prime lenses are relatively easy to test: You print off a test chart, you set up your camera, and you take images throughout the aperture range.
The situation becomes a little more complicated with zoom lenses, however. This is because you have an extra variable: focal length. Not only does sharpness vary according to the aperture, but focal length also has an effect. Very few zoom lenses offer outstanding optical quality across their entire focal length range. Therefore, if you really want to understand your lens, you’ll need to test it at a variety of focal lengths.
Personally, I like to think of zoom lenses as several prime lenses in one package. For example, when I owned a 17-40mm zoom, I tended to set it to 24 or 35mm for most of my shots. At other times I would use 17mm – if I wanted a real ultra wide-angle effect – or 40mm. So to me, it was four lenses in one – a 17mm, 24mm, 35mm, and 40mm lens.
These photos show the difference between the 17mm and 40mm focal lengths:
But remember: Breaking your lens up into a few specific focal lengths is essential. Do the corresponding tests, and as you become more familiar, you can expand your sense of each subject.
4. Zoom with your feet
Regardless of whether your favorite lens is a prime or a zoom, it’s helpful to practice zooming with your feet rather than using the zoom ring (also, if you have a prime lens, you have no choice in the matter!). Zooming with your feet is an expression used to describe the process of moving physically closer to or farther away from your subject to change its size in the frame rather than using the zoom ring on a zoom lens.
For zoom lens owners, this comes back to the earlier idea of a zoom lens essentially containing three or four prime lenses in one. If you have an 18-55mm kit lens, for instance, then your lens behaves very differently at different focal lengths. At 18mm, it’s a wide-angle lens that’s ideal for subjects like landscapes. At 55mm it’s a short telephoto lens that you can use for portraits.
In terms of perspective, both focal lengths are very different. You will only learn about perspective and the way it changes as you move closer to or further from your subject if you stick to using your zoom lens at a single focal length. If you use the zoom ring to change the subject size, you won’t learn about perspective.
For example, with an 18-55mm lens set to 18mm, you need to get fairly close to the subject to obtain the dramatic perspective associated with wide-angle lenses:
But if you’re further away from the subject, the perspective is much less dramatic:
5. Shoot different subjects
We tend to think of lenses as associated with specific subjects. For example, wide-angle lenses are ideal for landscapes and short telephoto lenses are perfect for portraiture.
But what if you mix it up a little? What happens if you use a short telephoto lens for landscape photography or a wide-angle lens for portraiture? The idea is to take yourself out of your comfort zone and find creative ways to use your favorite lenses, which will expand your understanding of the glass.
If you use a wide-angle lens for portraiture, you’ll soon find that if you get too close to your model, you’ll end up with some very unflattering effects. But what if you step back and include more of your environment? Suddenly, you’re taking a very different approach! Experiments like these can add new skills, new understandings, and new ways of working to your repertoire.
6. Push your compositions to the limit
My final tip for mastering a lens? Really push yourself. Take each technique to the extreme and see what you can do with it. Only by really pushing your equipment can you really understand it!
If you have a wide-angle lens, what happens if you get as close to your subject as you can? What happens if you use the lens’s widest aperture setting?
And if you have a telephoto lens, how can you maximize the compressed perspective that the longer focal length offers? What subjects can you shoot to make the most of the layered effect?
That’s the process of experimentation. Not all of your experiments will work – but when they do, you’ll be adding new skills to your repertoire!
Tips for mastering your lenses: final words
Hopefully, these tips have given you some ideas for working with and getting to know your favorite lenses. Instead of fantasizing about the next lens you are going to buy, spend some time getting to know the glass you already own!
You may find that pushing the lenses you already own to their limits can be deeply rewarding.
Now over to you:
How do you plan to master your lenses? Do you have any additional tips that we missed? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Editing portraits is hard. As any experienced portraitist knows, high-level retouching requires an array of unwieldy brushes, masks, and other tools, not to mention long minutes (or even hours) spent in front of a desktop monitor, carefully smoothing and shaping the subject to look just right. And then, once you’ve finally finished editing one portrait from a session, you’ll need to do it all over again to the next photo, and the next, and the next…
It’s enough to give anyone – beginner or professional – a headache. But what if I told you there was a better way? An approach that can cut down your time spent editing while actually improving your results?
I’m talking about PortraitPro 23, the latest version of Anthropics’ highly respected PortraitPro series. Thanks to the program’s AI technology and clever development team, you can use PortraitPro 23 to achieve professional-quality results while spending only a few seconds on each file. You don’t have to be a retouching expert to work the software, either; PortraitPro’s comprehensive, slider-based toolset is remarkably accessible, and after hitting that “Buy” button, even folks with limited editing experience will have their first batch of photos processed and exported within minutes.
While the software might sound too good to be true, I promise: It’s real. Over the last few weeks, I’ve been putting PortraitPro 23 to the test, and I truly believe that it’s the fastest, most efficient, and most effective portrait editing program on the market in 2023. In this review, I cover everything you need to know before buying, including key features and use cases, pricing, and whether the program is worth purchasing if you already own PortraitPro 22. (Spoiler alert: It is.)
So if you’re ready to find out how Anthropics PortraitPro 23 can enhance your editing workflow, then let’s get started!
What’s new in PortraitPro 23?
PortraitPro 23 debuted late last fall, and while I was a huge fan of the previous version (you can read my review of PortraitPro 22 here), PortraitPro 23 raises the bar yet again.
Not only is PortraitPro 23 faster than its predecessor, but it also boasts several very tangible upgrades, including:
The Stray Hair Remover tool, which lets you brush away distracting hairs in seconds.
The Backlight Lighting Brush, which allows you to increase portrait drama and three-dimensionality by painting in a realistic backlight effect.
An Art Effects tool so you can quickly achieve a breathtaking range of artistic looks (including Pencil Sketch, Rainbow Paint, Scratches, and Cyanotype).
Support for Apple M1 and M2 chips so Mac users can take full advantage of the software.
If you already own (and love) PortraitPro 22, these new features are likely worth the upgrade, especially if you’re serious about producing high-level edits. The Stray Hair Remover tool and Backlight Lighting Brush are powerful features for refining your images, and the Art Effects tool is a must-have option for creative editors. Finally, Mac users will undoubtedly want to grab the latest version of PortraitPro; here, Anthropics promises a performance upgrade for M1- and M2-chip devices of up to 60%.
And if you don’t yet own any version of PortraitPro, you’re in for a treat – no matter your level of experience. As I implied above, this is a program that cuts across boundaries. It’s streamlined enough for beginners, yet it offers the speed and power required by professionals. In other words, it’s an editor that’ll appeal to portrait photographers of all stripes, as I explore over the course of this review.
Layout and ease of use
PortraitPro 23 is one of the most intuitive editing programs I’ve ever used. Even if you’ve never worked with an editing program before, you’ll be able to find your way around without issue – and if you do happen to struggle, Anthropics provides a series of interactive tutorials to help you access everything you might need.
Once you’ve downloaded your copy of the program – which you can find on the Anthropics website, either in full or (free) trial form – simply follow the installation instructions, then launch the program. You’ll see the standard home screen, which contains a full library of interactive tutorials:
I’d recommend completing the First Steps tutorial, which will show you around the program interface, though if you’re eager to dive in, you can always select the Open Single Image button in the upper right-hand corner:
(Depending on the edition you buy, you may also see a second button, Open Image Batch, which launches the batch editing dialog; I discuss this in depth below.)
Pick an image to edit, hit the Open button, then wait a few seconds while the program processes your file. The bulk of the screen will be occupied by a Before and an After version of your image, though you can set the program to show only the After version by pressing the View After Only button:
Along the top of the screen, you’ll see the main menu, as well as a minimalistic toolbar featuring four handy tools: the Touch-up tool, the Restore tool, the Stray Hair Remover tool, and the Stray Hair Restore tool.
On the right-hand side, you’ll find the Zoom controls, which let you customize how your image appears in the main editing pane.
And slightly lower down, you should see four panels: Controls, Presets, Snapshots, and History. The most important of these is the Controls panel, which is where you’ll do the bulk of your editing work. It’s in this panel that you can access PortraitPro 23’s amazing array of tools, including the Shape tools, the Skin Smoothing tools, the Makeup tools, and so much more.
Nearly all of the program’s editing options come in slider form, which makes it extremely easy to adjust – and re-adjust – your images. If you want to smooth the skin around a subject’s eyes, you push the Around Eyes slider in one direction, and if you want to decrease the smoothing effect, you push it in the other. And if you’re not sure whether an edit is right for an image, don’t worry; you can always save your edits, then come back to the file later on and make additional tweaks and refinements.
Note that most of these tools actually offer submenus for further customization. While you can often generate great results by sticking with the more essential “main” sliders, if you want to make additional tweaks, you can always access these fine-grained tools by clicking on the arrow icons:
If you’re looking to speed up your editing further, you’re going to love the Presets menu. It boasts literally hundreds of presets (basically filters or recipes), all designed to improve your shots in different ways – and each requiring only a single click. You can also create presets of your own, so if you tend to apply a consistent set of edits to each image, this can be a huge timesaver.
Then there are the Snapshots and History panels, which let you save and view your images in various editing states. While you may not spend too much time in these panels, they’re great for more experimental editing. You can save a series of edits as a Snapshot, then make a host of additional adjustments. If you don’t like the results, just select the relevant Snapshot, and – voila! – your image will return to its original edited form.
At the end of the day, PortraitPro 23 offers a simple, highly accessible layout that’ll suit just about anyone, and the tools are wonderfully intuitive. If you’ve tried other editing software in the past but have always quit in frustration, then I’d encourage you to give PortraitPro 23 a shot – and if you’re a more serious photographer with years of retouching experience under your belt, then working with PortraitPro 23 will feel like a breath of fresh air.
Editing capabilities
As I emphasized above, I believe PortraitPro is the best portrait editor available in 2023, and this is in part due to its impressive integration of AI technology and editing tools.
PortraitPro is unique among software in that it adds custom edits to your files from the get-go; during image initialization, the program’s AI technology analyzes your selected photo, identifies key facial features, then applies an array of specific processes designed to improve the shot.
You might expect these edits to be superficial, but in my experience, the initial tweaks are genuinely outstanding: powerful without being overdone, subtle without under-editing the shot. It adds a bit of everything – face reshaping, skin smoothing, teeth whitening, lip saturation, and more – plus, because the program identifies the subject’s features in advance and applies edits accordingly, all changes are hyper-realistic. (Note: These initial adjustments are modified depending on the person’s gender and age, which is automatically detected by the program but can also be selected manually.)
For some photographers, PortraitPro’s initial edits will be enough to produce a shareable, displayable image – and if you need greater control and customizability, the program offers plenty of options. Delve into the Controls panel, and you’ll find dozens of tools, all designed to create refined, natural-looking adjustments.
First, there are the Shape tools, which allow you to modify your subject’s various facial features on a supremely detailed level. With the Face Shape slider, you can adjust the proportions of your subject’s forehead and jaw; with the Eyes, Eye Widening, and Eye Expanding sliders, you can tweak the width and height of your subject’s eyes; and with the Mouth Shape and Nose sliders, you can adjust the shape of your subject’s mouth and nose, respectively. It’s every retoucher’s dream, and while you do have to be careful about going overboard with face sculpting, the tools are certainly powerful.
Next, you’ll find the Skin Smoothing tools, which are perfect for – as you’d expect – smoothing your subject’s skin. What’s less expected, however, is the amount of control you get. PortraitPro 23 doesn’t just offer a slider or two; instead, the program features no fewer than 13 different sliders for skin smoothing, including options to remove pores, remove grease, remove shine, deal with thin wrinkles, remove fine shadows, and so much more. (And that’s only looking at the main sliders; you can access even more sliders by selecting various drop-down menus.)
Will you need 13+ sliders for skin smoothing? Maybe, maybe not. But you can always skip over the ones you find less helpful, and the huge number of options demonstrates Anthropics’ commitment to retouching comprehensiveness.
While I won’t go into all the remaining editing tools – that could take a whole book! – I’d like to touch on some highlights, such as:
The Lighting & Coloring tools, which let you genuinely relight your subject by dragging your cursor around an interactive model. You also get plenty of sliders for customizing the way the light falls on your subject (which is essentially dodging and burning but made far easier with the help of sliders and artificial intelligence), as well as several brushes for literally brushing on light. (It’s in this Lighting Brush section that you’ll find the new – and impressive – Backlight Lighting Brush feature.)
The Makeup tools, which allow you to apply makeup to your subject’s face, including lipstick, mascara, bronzer, and eyeliner. (No, I’m not kidding, and yes, it really does work!)
The Hair tools, which let you adjust the color and tones of your subject’s hair. Also worth mentioning here is the new Stray Hair Remover tool. It’s not found in the Hair tools tab – you can access it in the main toolbar at the top of the screen – but it’s a great way to clean up the area around your subject’s head, especially if you were shooting in windy conditions or they were simply having a bad hair day.
The Eye tools, which are perfect for whitening eyes, enhancing irises, and even adding realistic catchlights by choosing from an array of catchlight shapes and sizes.
All the options in the Tools panel, including the Crop Tool for adjusting your compositions, the Clone Tool for removing problematic areas of your photos, and the new Art Effects tool for adding all sorts of creative effects to your shots. I’m a serious fan of the latter option – adding watercolor, illustration, and oil painting effects is a ton of fun, and the products look great, too.
Regardless of the tools you use, the results are consistently excellent – and if you do notice issues with the way the edits are applied to your files, you can always manually adjust the Skin and Hair Masks in the relevant tool panels or the facial feature map in the Before view.
(By the way, while PortraitPro 23 is a portrait-focused program, it doesn’t neglect standard editing features; you can adjust image exposure, contrast, saturation, sharpening, and more in the Picture tools tab.)
Finally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t discuss two features that will dramatically speed up your editing: Presets and the Image Batch dialog.
As I discussed in the previous section, PortraitPro offers dozens of built-in presets, which you can use to transform your photos with a single click:
These are great if you’re aiming to achieve a specific look, they’re great if you’re a beginner and you’re not yet totally comfortable adjusting the sliders, and they’re also a lot of fun if you just have a few minutes to experiment. You can apply Global presets that rely on the entire suite of PortraitPro features, or you can select tool-specific presets that correspond to the tools in the Controls panel:
As for the Image Batch dialog, it’s an option you can access only if you’ve purchased the most expensive edition of the software – PortraitPro Studio Max 23 – but for the professional wedding or portrait shooter who needs to power through dozens or hundreds of photos at once, it’s an absolute game changer.
You see, the Image Batch dialog allows you to select a group of images (e.g., a set of 25 select portraits from an engagement session), hit the OK button, then watch as each and every image receives PortraitPro’s standard AI editing treatment. You can apply presets to the photos (with an option to use certain presets depending on the subject’s gender and age, if you like), and you can also click from image to image and make additional adjustments using the standard editing tools.
If you’re a professional portrait or an event shooter, this feature alone will save you dozens of hours in front of the computer each month. And if you’re a more casual photographer, it’s still worth a try, especially if you have a consistent workflow you use for each shot.
Speed and Performance
PortraitPro 23 is easy to use and incredibly effective – but can it perform well, despite its power?
Astonishingly, yes.
I used the program on an older desktop PC, yet editing operations were lightning-fast. I noticed almost zero lag, and I was able to observe editing effects instantly, even when I was painting with brushes.
The only time you’ll need to wait is when first loading up an image (or a batch of images); it does take the AI technology a few seconds to analyze the file(s), map out facial features, and apply initial edits – but once that’s done, everything is seamless.
Of course, performance will depend on your device, so it’s certainly worth checking out the system requirements before purchasing:
A 2 GHz processor
A 1280×800 display
8 GB RAM (with 16 GB or more RAM recommended)
Windows 10 or Windows 11; macOS 10.13 or later
But as long as you have a decent PC that meets the requirements above, I wouldn’t anticipate any issues.
Price
Anthropics offers three editions of PortraitPro 23, and you can buy each of them for a one-off price.
The most basic edition is PortraitPro 23, which normally costs $119.90 but is currently available for $59.95. This option comes with all the features discussed above, with the exception of the Image Batch dialog. However, it lacks the ability to process RAW files.
Next is PortraitPro Studio 23, which normally costs $179.90 but is currently available for $89.95. This option includes everything offered in the standard PortraitPro 23 package, but it can process RAW files, plus it can be integrated with Photoshop as a Smart Filter; that way, you can combine the ease of PortraitPro with the power of Photoshop for stellar results.
Finally, you can normally grab the most comprehensive edition, PortraitPro Studio Max 23, for $359 – but the current sale puts it at $179.95. This edition includes everything in the more basic options but also offers the Image Batch dialog so you can process dozens (or hundreds) of photos at once.
The PortraitPro and PortraitPro Studio options are well-priced under normal conditions; given the current 50%-off sale, they’re absolute bargains. Note that, unless you only work with JPEGs – or you already use a RAW processor – you’ll really need to spring for PortraitPro Studio over the basic PortraitPro package.
As for PortraitPro Studio Max 23: Yes, the price is on the expensive side compared to other programs, but the discounted price is quite reasonable, especially given the power of the batch-editing feature.
Note that you can currently get another 15% off your purchase by entering the code AN75 at checkout – and if you’re upgrading from a previous version of PortraitPro, you get an additional 25% off.
Who should buy Anthropics PortraitPro 23?
PortraitPro 23 is one of those rare programs that every portrait shooter should try. It’s easy to use, it offers great performance, and the editing features are spectacular. It’s also currently on sale, and by entering the special AN75 discount code, you can grab any edition of the software for an unbeatable price.
That said, I’d argue that the program is best suited to a few specific groups:
Beginners and enthusiasts who are looking to delve into portrait retouching but are intimidated by the difficulty of competitor programs
Casual portrait shooters who want to make their files look great without spending hours in front of the computer
Serious wedding and portrait shooters who want to speed up their retouching workflow while also enhancing their results
If you’re in one of the first two groups, I’d recommend grabbing PortraitPro Studio 23 (though folks keen on batch editing should consider PortraitPro Studio Max 23 instead). If you’re a professional, however, the Image Batch feature is likely essential, so make sure you purchase the Studio Max 23 edition.
One final note: I think the program is great, but you don’t have to take my word for it. Anthropics offers a free trial of the program that you can use to test out the various features, and you can download it here.
So grab your copy of PortraitPro 23 and take it for a spin. Watch as it improves your images and cuts down on your time spent editing!
All new editions and upgrades are currently on SALE at 50% OFF or better – and remember to use the code AN75 at the checkout for an ADDITIONAL 15% OFF.
Are your wildlife photos feeling a little bit uninspired? Animal subjects are often fascinating to observe and photograph, but if you want to create compelling wildlife images, it’s important to go beyond technical mastery and produce images that convey both the character and personality of the subject.
You might be a bit skeptical here, but most animals do have personalities. I am doubtful this applies to certain creatures (e.g., ants), but mammals in particular have traits and habits. Some may be bold and investigate new things, whereas others may retreat and shy away from disturbances. I encourage you to view this as the animal’s personality and use your wildlife photography skills to capture it on camera!
It’s definitely not easy to get this right, though. A still photo freezes a single moment in time, which means you need to work hard if you want to translate an animal’s personality into a single shot. In this article, I share six tips to help you out – and I also offer plenty of examples so you can see what I mean.
Ready to start creating animal photos with character? Let’s dive right in, starting with my first tip:
1. Show unique behaviors
As a zoologist, I am fascinated by animal behavior. Some of these behaviors seem predictable – foraging and hunting, for instance – whereas others can shock and surprise us. (Did you know that fish swallow small stones to aid digestion?)
It’s often by capturing these interesting behaviors that you can convey the essence of a particular species. If you can photograph a bird, a bear, or a monkey behaving as they do in nature, the resulting images can give the viewer a real sense of that animal’s personality.
But how do you capture these behaviors on camera? When you’re staring through the viewfinder, it’s easy to get tunnel vision and focus purely on creating a technically perfect shot of your wildlife subject. If you take a step back and study the animal, however, you may start to notice behavior patterns that you can photograph.
It also pays to read up about your target species ahead of time. If you know you’ll be photographing a certain type of fox, for example, see if you can find research online that discusses any unusual behaviors. You might also look for videos that show the fox in its natural habitat; these can help you get a sense of its behavior before ever encountering it.
Then, when you’re in the field, try to remain as alert and observant as possible. Many animals have giveaway moves that warn you of an impending display – such as great skuas, a seabird found in the Northern Hemisphere, which I photographed while stretching:
In this particular case, the skua was preening its feathers continuously. Birds often do this before flapping their wings or displaying, so I waited patiently for 15 minutes while the bird preened, knowing that I would probably be rewarded with a display afterward (and as you can see, I was!).
Confrontations between two animals are also commonplace and certainly worth photographing. If you see animals approaching one another (even if they’re two different species), chances are that you’ll see some sort of interaction.
Take the white-tailed eagles in the next image, for example. I was pretty sure they’d both have a disagreement over the tasty fish lying on the ice. I made sure to nail the focus in advance, then I kept the shutter half-pressed and fired as soon as they lifted their wings.
2. Capture humorous moments
While animals don’t try to be funny, they often do things that make us chuckle – and if you can capture the moment, the resulting images are often full of personality.
Unfortunately, these photos often can’t be predicted in advance. Instead, you need to know your camera well and remain poised and ready at all times.
When I lead workshops, one of the main things I try to get my clients to realize is that as soon as you drop your camera down, you’re risking missing the shot. If your subject is in front of you, then you’ve already done the hard part (waiting for an appearance), so make sure you keep your eye on the viewfinder and remain at the ready, almost like a sniper training an eye on a target.
This next image, which features a scratching red squirrel, was only available for a moment. The squirrel lifted its leg, and I was able to fire my camera because I was already following its progress along the branch through the viewfinder.
Before capturing this next shot, I had been hoping to capture a stag peering through the trees. Then, when he stuck his tongue out, I couldn’t help but click away! I didn’t plan for it to happen, but it’s these little moments that bring a smile to the viewer and bring personality and character to your wildlife photos.
3. Fill the frame
Not all great wildlife photography features frame-filling compositions, but it’s a very effective way to bring the focus solely to the animal while also magnifying little details that add extra personality to the shot. If you look back at the photos displayed above, you’ll see that they all use the frame-filling technique, and it’s certainly an approach I encourage you to try.
Of course, as any wildlife photographer will know, filling the frame isn’t so easy. You need a long lens, and you also need to develop some stalking skills so you can get close without scaring the animals off. If you’re able to be patient and move toward your subjects slowly, it can make a huge difference!
It can also be helpful to create plenty of background bokeh (i.e., blur), which will isolate the subject and prevent the background from distracting the viewer. A long lens will increase the quality and intensity of the blur, but you’ll also need to use a wider aperture to really enhance the effect.
Pro tip: When doing tight compositions like this, be careful not to chop limbs off halfway. Either include the entire limb or crop it away entirely!
4. Show family ties
If there’s anything humans can relate to, it’s the bond that animal parents have with their offspring. Not all animals care for their young, but those that do can be seen caring and working endlessly to raise their children.
For example, look at how these two gannets reaffirm their bond each time the other returns to the nest after gathering fish:
If you can capture familial interactions like these, your photos will look interesting, unique, and heartwarming all at once. And if you can photograph parents feeding their young, even better:
It doesn’t have to be a feeding behavior, though! Playful shots that depict a wildlife family will also give your shots the aww factor. Obviously, you have to be in the right place at the right time, and these kinds of shots do require a lot of dedication and time to achieve, but they’re often worth the effort!
5. Try something different
As a photographer, how many times have you been told that you can improve your shots through experimentation? Yes, it’s oft-repeated advice, but it really, truly works, and I encourage you to get experimental and creative when approaching your wildlife photography.
You might try capturing wildlife with an all-black background, or you might use a remote control to capture close-ups using a wide-angle lens. You could use a slow shutter speed and a panning technique to convey motion, or you could shoot from an unusually low or high angle for a new perspective.
I myself am a fan of the high-key style of wildlife photography, where you isolate the subject against the background by blowing out the highlights in an image:
The mountain hare displayed above was grooming its fur, but when it bowed its head, it looked rather solemn. The white background makes the shot look painterly, and I personally think it’s a rather intimate portrait.
Be prepared to step outside your comfort zone. That’s how you’ll get the photos that set you apart from the endless bird-on-a-stick shots we see day after day. Things may go wrong at first, but that’s okay! Really challenge yourself to photograph creatively, and see what you can come up with.
6. Use light unconventionally
Light makes or breaks pretty much any form of photography, and wildlife photography is no exception. Most wildlife shooters like to use golden-hour front light (a common tip is to “point your shadow at the subject”), but while this can be effective, you can produce especially interesting shots by going against the grain.
Backlighting is particularly effective for conveying mystery and magic in an image. I used this to my advantage when photographing Peruvian spider monkeys, a primate that is unfortunately on the endangered list. The monkeys would have looked fine when front lit, but the backlight breaking through the rainforest canopy created a magical result:
You might also play with shade-sun combinations, where your subject is covered in shade but the background is lit by the sun. And test out some side lighting, too, which can give your images a wonderful sense of three-dimensionality.
One final tip: If you do use light in an unconventional way, be careful about your exposure. Backlight, for instance, can cause you to blow out the highlights around the animal, which is a big problem – so make sure you select your camera settings carefully. When it works, though, it really works!
Creating wildlife photos with character and personality: final words
Well, there you have it:
Six tips to capture plenty of character and personality in your wildlife shots. Hopefully, you now feel inspired to head out with your camera and create some unique images.
At the end of the day, I’d really just recommend that you keep clicking the shutter each time something of interest happens. Don’t wait and try to save space on your memory card. Otherwise, you might just miss something amazing!
Now over to you:
Do you have any tips for conveying character in wildlife photography that we missed? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
