Creating successful portrait photos takes the confluence of a wide range of skills and as such, it can be quite challenging. If you are looking to improve your portrait photos, check out this great video tutorial that offers a range of tips in just five minutes.
Coming to you from Manny Ortiz, this helpful video tutorial will show you a range of quick tips for improving your portrait photography. One tip that I think is particularly useful is the importance of not being quick to dismiss locations. Locations that seem boring to the eye can actually be quite compelling for portrait work, especially if they have interesting patterns, textures, or interplay between colors. In particular, remember that the entire space does not need to be interesting; all it takes is just a little patch that can surround your subject and fill the frame (this is often much smaller than you might think). As such, almost any location can be used to make compelling portraits as long as you have a careful eye and a bit of imagination and you compose your frames in a thoughtful way. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Ortiz.