3 Portrait MISTAKES That Helped Me IMPROVE #2

[@WilzDezignPhotography]

Always great tips. Shooting high noon, you will always consider the background now and placement of the subject. The Golden hour or night shots makes it easier to hide the background when dropping the exposure and only lighting the subject. That Westcott shoot waa good example where there is so much sun, there is no way to drop the background exposure and need to consider placement with subject and how the lit background plays into the final image. Keep it up!

[@EliInfante]

I appreciate it, bro! I'm just waiting for winter time for more high noon shoot in Texas :)

[@snapshot8d570]

Jake is brutally honest, but offers great advice. He's helped me as well. Good tips here.

[@EliInfante]

I love when people give me honest feedback, especially photographers I respect.

[@MiguelQuilesJr]

Great tips and well explained! I ran into many of the same issues myself. 👏👏

[@EliInfante]

Appreciate it Miguel! Keep up the great work man 😎

[@blacksharkpro3yt351]

I went back to photography bec of the inspiration from you Eli. There is no boundary , learning and absorving from others, the lights, composition etc etc. There is no satisfaction, once you look back at old photos, you want to top it and make a better one. Now happy clients are coming back thanks to you.

[@EliInfante]

Thank you so much! I really appreciate it

[@xquisite22]

I personally love shooting during the day… the challenge of keeping the sun out of the subjects eye, playing with Shadows… angles to get the clouds in the pic without being washed out.

[@EliInfante]

I'm loving it more too!

[@jcam783]

Practice makes us better,never perfect , because there is always something we can improve on . Me encanto este video Eli . Gracias por compartirlo.

[@EliInfante]

Absolutely great point!

[@rsakamoto808]

A BIG MAHALO'S Eli! I was on the same mindset of soft light & only shooting at golden hour! I'm going to try to to experiment on shooting during hard light hours of the day, I not going to lie but it's a bit scarry but I'm going to give it a shot! BTW your work is amazing! Aloha, my friend!

[@EliInfante]

Ryan, it will be and trust me, you will want to fall back into your comfort zone. I always do it, but the benefits will be worth it. Let me know how it goes. 😁

[@jimlarson4899]

Thanks, Eli. It really gives me something to think about. We can't get too comfortable. Keep up the great work!

[@EliInfante]

You are so welcome! Have a great day Jim 😁

[@tomschram1804]

Real great advise, thank you for sharing.

[@EliInfante]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@joes2828]

Bruh I love midday summer shoots. Yes the heat is unbearable but damn, love me that light. I will say one thing I learned this year is that every softbox has a purpose. Beauty dish, octa, parabolic and so that’s something I’ve been experimenting with. Lately I’ve been experimenting with a 48 inch parabolic, which has been giving me great results. Collaborating with the right person is also important for growth. No matter how much you know, I feel that you can still learn and tweak technique by observing someone else who shares the same hunger and passion you do, but therein lies the problem. A lot of photogs lack hunger and passion and do this solely for the money and not for the love of it which is obvious by the quality of their work. At the end of the day, I’m open about my deficiencies and understand I still have a lot to learn. I’m always honest about that. But I also have an insatiable hunger to learn, to WANT to get better and better. Excuses be damned. Thankfully having a full-time job affords me the luxury to take my time to improve.

[@EliInfante]

I agree with everything, man! You've also inspired me to shoot midday. It's hot sometimes, but it's well worth it. Thanks for the novel. ❤️

[@jasminegonzalez4627]

Thank you, Eli! This has helped me so much! Tapping into that growth mindset can elevate your work in ways you never thought possible!

[@EliInfante]

Absolutely! New approaches to photography can open up the avenue for more creativity.

[@gvasquez330]

Joe Eledelman has always told me “ Don’t be afraid to suck” if you wan to find success as a photographer. Thanks for the reminder.

[@EliInfante]

I love Joe Edelman. He is always honest on his live show on KZbin.

[@yunusali7641]

cannot agree more on all three points bro... U opened mhy eyes to my mistakes and weaknesses that I realized I was running away from. Will try with harsh lights and move away from Bokeh for some time. :) thanks again ..

[@EliInfante]

Glad I could help! Its nice to mix it up 😁

[@TheJasonbreeden79]

Thanks vato. Great tips.

[@EliInfante]

You're welcome, boss! Thanks for tuning in vato

[@JakeHicksPhotography]

Great video as always buddy 😃very pleased to hear you’re loving the hard light and optical snoot 💪🏻

[@EliInfante]

I appreciate it Jake! Thank you for pushing my creativity!

[@gilbertvaladez2646]

Do you have your own fb group? I've been following your success for a few years and it's amazing how far you have come along. Really enjoy these videos. Thank you

[@EliInfante]

Thank you so much! I don't have a facebook

[@ClarkSandersPhotography]

I shoot with my primes a lot and always shot are very shallow DOF and recently started shouting at f/11 or f/16 outside and actually enjoy it! Ha! I’ve also had the rf 24-105 f4 for a while now and it’s becoming a favorite- especially in my studio! Great content once again!

[@EliInfante]

Great to hear, Clark! It's nice to mix it up from time to time. The 24-105mm will soon become your go-to lens, I'm sure.

[@ClarkSandersPhotography]

@@EliInfante have a headshot session tomorrow and a senior session Tuesday and plan to use it both times! ;-)

[@williamcarter6374]

All of these are great tips. I'm definitely guilty of only using soft light, but will start practicing with hard light and see what happens!

[@EliInfante]

You got this!

[@lauriewahlig2819]

Fabulous video!!!!!!!

[@EliInfante]

Thank you tuning Laurie! Have a wonderful day 😁

[@jeffsimbro7742]

Thank you for this video! I absolutely love your work and you have been an inspiration. It's so good to hear you speak honestly about your fears of trying uncomfortable things and it gives me the motivation to try as well. Thank you again, and thank you for turning me on to two other amazing photographers!

[@EliInfante]

You are so welcome, Jeff! Thank you for taking the time to comment and for supporting the channel. Yes, Jake and Danny are amazing photographers. 😁

[@jeffsimbro7742]

@@EliInfante of course! I love your channel! And I'm also in love with my R5 and the 24-105mm f4 for the studio. I'm still addicted to bokeh work my 85mm 1.4...I'll try to work on that lol

[@EliInfante]

@@jeffsimbro7742 Nothing wrong with bokeh! I'm going to do a bokeh studio shoot soon. 😁🙌🏼

[@TheRigldbrg]

As always Eli, great video and a terrific inspiration to be retrospective in my own work. I've come to adopt an attitude that you learn more by failure than you do in success. So your advice of getting out of your comfort zone is a great reminder for me to take a risk, do something different, and incorporate what I've learned if it turns out to be less than what I was hoping for. Thanks for sharing all of your expertise and hope to meet you at one of your workshops one day.

[@EliInfante]

Well said! I appreciate the feedback Ira. Lets see where our new work takes us. 😁

[@paulamorin6332]

I use the Nikon 24-120 lens for portraits. I use f/8 mostly. I can zoom in and catch an expression in a close up focusing on the eyes and then go right into a full body shot if the subject moves in an interesting way.

[@EliInfante]

Love it Paula!

[@MartinV.]

Great Video!!

[@roygarza8319]

Excellent video bro! This last year I've been working on challenging myself with lighting. Thats one of the reasons I joined Dreamer's. But let me tell you shooting hard light in the studio with that optical spot was the most challenging for me. Hey but that's how we grow. Got to get out if our comfort zone. Lol Thanks for that day and for this excellent video! #todoelpedo

[@EliInfante]

The optical spot challenges me the most. I'm still trying to figure out how to use it to its fullest potential. Thanks for tuning in Roy!

[@RoyalRabbitProductions]

Awesome man!

[@EliInfante]

Thank you, Issac! ❤️

[@RoyalRabbitProductions]

You’re welcome! It’s an incredible feeling when you start getting the looks you’re after, and when tips and tricks are available to you, or even a list of tools and what they do, there’s only one way to go…towards taking better photos.

[@leandrotavaresrocha]

Hi Eli! Can I make you a question? How do think about depth of field in outdoor portrait photography? I am a big fan of 24-105mm and as I mainly shoot on studio, depth of field was never a big concern. However when we talk about outdoor portrait photography the most common approach seems to be to try to blow out everything that is possible. I rarely see portrait photographers that work with small apertures like F4 or F5.6 in outdoor. I really love how you work with colors. I really would like to see more videos about your color grading process :D

[@EliInfante]

Great question! As I've been shooting in the studio more I'm loving f/5.6 and f/8 more. I think the shallow depth of field portraits outdoors will eventually get boring and people will expand beyond that within the next few years.

[@ДмитрийСтепанов-р9г]

Hello dear friend :) I emphasize a lot of important details for myself in your works. Each of your videos is unique. I need your advice: which tripod to choose for outdoor shooting to set a soft box ( photo flash ) over the model ?

[@EliInfante]

Photo Flex Lite Reach Plus

[@edgardophotography6385]

Su trabajo es excelente. Espero hagas un tutorial también en ESPAÑOL.

[@EliInfante]

Gracias Edgardo! ❤

[@sudhanthirarajan8081]

Sir, I am using benq sw 270c monitior and i have a doubt not only it is very problem sir. I don't know how much brightness and contrast level should be set sir, how much level you have set in your monitor. Please clarify sir.

[@miamitten1123]

Ooh 😯 *Incubus* ..... _”I wish you here”_

[@EliInfante]

Yes! I love them 🎶

[@charlieferrari007]

This video made me go out and throw out the rule of photography book and try new thing hard light here I come

[@EliInfante]

Best of luck Charlie! Let me know how it goes 😁

[@oladejokazeem7237]

Eli infante how can we get to download your colour lookups pls I'm inlove with them, I have tried searching on your website couldn't find them. Please I will appreciate if I can get a reply from you

[@EliInfante]

I did little to no color grading on these. I do have tutorials on my channel if you're curios on my process.

[@jasongreenwood3260]

Sigh...yeah, mid-day shoots scare me and I avoid them when I can. Sometimes it can't be helped. I would personally like to get out of my editing comfort zone though. I would like to find a workflow that's efficient for (somewhat) higher end edits.

[@EliInfante]

Have you tried retouch4me? I've been using for my client work.

[@jasongreenwood3260]

@@EliInfante I haven't, but I will check it out. Thank you for the suggestion :)

[@EliInfante]

Its saving me so much time. Especially for simple things that add up like blemish removal and dodge and burn. 😁

[@dalontekeemer6665]

Hey Eli, I love the helpful video content you create for us. I searched the internet to get a translation for #todoelpedo and I'm sure what it comes up with isn't what you actually mean. So Im asking the main source you... what does your saying #todoelpedo mean?

[@EliInfante]

The whole shabang!

[@dalontekeemer6665]

@@EliInfante Oh goodness the internet was way off! :) Thank you so much for clearing this up for me!

[@richtime100]

Hey Eli where in Texas are you ?I’m in the Dallas Fort Worth area. I have a preposition for you it has to do with Ps…

[@EliInfante]

South Texas

[@fabianaronaguilar9489]

You need to come to Utah

[@EliInfante]

Utah is on my bucket list. I just signed a contract to speak in Arizona this summer. 📸

[@fabianaronaguilar9489]

We going to have to bring you in hahahaapara ver todo el pedo!

[@walo2k5]

My weakness is pretty much everything ... gotta work on "Todo el pedo" 🤣

[@EliInfante]

LMAO! You got this bro!

[@faktografik5661]

Hard light is for people working with professional good looking models. Period :) Even my grandma will shoot nice picture of 21 year old model ;)

[@EliInfante]

Yes sir! Thank you

[@IsaiCandanoza]

Que onda Eli. Soy de Brownsville carnal. Lets do a collab! Would love to work with you

[@EliInfante]

Heck yeah bro! Send me a message on Instagram and we can plan something.

[@rickcampbell6987]

Okay Eli, I give up: what does "pedo" mean?

[@EliInfante]

The whole shabang

[@dayeah765caoni3]

Any time is good time if you can afford to bring your own light. How I wish having a robot lighting assistant

[@EliInfante]

True!

[@angellondian7628]

Great advice. Its almost like you unlimited yourself

[@EliInfante]

Exactly! I never like to be in my comfort zone.