Environmental portraits

I'm interested in possibly pursuing doing environmental portraits (e.g. for local businesses, corporate, artisans) and I was wondering if anyone has suggestions about some photographers whose work I should look at.

thanks !

Environmental portraits is no easy feat.

The lighting is beyond photographer's control. Reflector and timing of the shoot is essential. Personally, this is more of hit and miss exercise. The wit of photographer is the key to success of portrait. After all, what is crucial is getting to know the subjects photographers are trying to snap at.

The above reads as spam--apologies if it isn't.

Just to make clear, because the comment above doesn't seem to be talking about the kind of photos I am talking about, I should describe what I mean by environmental portrait. By this I mean a portrait that uses the space itself, often very pertinent to the subject (e.g. an artist in the artspace in which they create), to bring out the character of the subject depicted.

Take a look at any retired newspaper photographer or current newspaper blogs. At least 1/3 of my editorial assignments are environmental. Some of the best environmental portraitists (in my opinion) include Joe McNally, Brian Smith, and just about anything Reuters posts.

That's great. Thanks a lot, Stan.

"Lighting is beyond the photographer's control..."

I disagree. Scope out the scene where the client wants the portrait and plan accordingly. Off-camera flash, snoots, reflectors and other modifiers allow for some portable lighting aids.

Lighting is never beyond control unless you only shoot using available light. Even then... there are a few tricks that can help.

Even Canon provides some help (although I don't like how he balances the illuminated subject with ambient exposure of the backgrounds): http://www.learn.usa.c​anon.com …its_with_speedl​ites.shtml

I've seen some good advice around the internet regarding environmental portrait lighting. Just use Google.

Staszek wrote in post #15779235
Take a look at any retired newspaper photographer or current newspaper blogs. At least 1/3 of my editorial assignments are environmental. Some of the best environmental portraitists (in my opinion) include Joe McNally, Brian Smith, and just about anything Reuters posts.

I agree that you want to look at commercial photographers who do such work, including celebrity photographers like Greco and Liebovitz. Look at what they do with artificial lighting on location.

You could take a look at Joe Mcnally. He does a lot of environmental shots and has a bunch of videos/books out there that show him going through the shots. Might not be the best out there, but he is very good and very helpful in learning how to do on location shooting, especially if you have a ton of lighting equipment at your disposal.

If you haven't heard of Arnold Newman, you should.

I've just looked at some Mcnally--thanks for the suggestion guys.

And thanks, Mr. Schafer--I'm not acquainted with Arnold Newman--yet.

Here you go:

https://www.google.com …AQ&biw=1280&bih​=827&dpr=1