Practical Photography - UK (2020-04)

PRACTICALPHOTOGRAPHY.COM 51

MEET

BELLAKOTAK

BellaKotakis a world

tr avellingfineart and

fa shionphotographer

withexceptionalcreative

flair. As an art loverfrom

a yo ungage,shealways

knewthatshewas

destinedfora career

in the creativeindustry.

bellakotak.com

25 Portrait Tips

#25Editing

EXPERIMENT

WI THSTYLE

CaptureOneand

Photoshoparewhere

th e magichappensforme.

Inthepost-productionstage

I fo cuson a varietyof things,

in cluding setting the scene,

cleaning the background and

subject, working on the skin,

colourtoningandsharpening.

There’sa varietyof educational

contentavailablebothonline

and in personthatcanassist

youwithwhicheversoftware

you use.It’sjusta caseof

ex perimenting– trialanderror.

If colourtoningis something

you wouldliketo learnmore

aboutthenyoumightbe

in terestedin checkingoutmy

onlinestorewhereI sharemy

st orytellingcolouractionsas

well as collectionsfromother

learningartistsin thisfield.

fineartactions.com

FAMILIARISEYOURSELF

#23 Settings

Whatever gear you have, it’s important to

know it fully. Go through the different settings

familiarising yourself with your equipment and

testing to see what you can capture. Whenever I have

a new piece of equipment, I check YouTube videos

to give me a better insight into its features, as when

I’m in shoot mode the last thing I want to do is be

distracted while fumbling with equipment. To achieve

a soft bokeh look, I reach for my 50mm f/1.4 or 85mm

lens and keep my aperture somewhere between f/2.2

and f/2.6. ISO and shutter speed are my variables.

I believethatlightingaddsanother

la yerof storytellingto an image.

It ’s justas importantas otherelements

• the model, the styling, hair, make-up.
  Good lighting helps amplify the emotion
  you want to convey. Early on in my
  journey I didn’t have lights, so I started
  with natural light in its many forms –
  hard, soft, diffused, golden hour, sunrise,
  bright... It became a journey of learning
  how to navigate these various qualities
  of light in order to capture the images
  I envisioned and wanted to bring to life.
  If you don’t have equipment then don’t
  hold yourself back from going outside
  and using whatever you have available.
  You’ll only know your lighting preference
  when you go out and create in it.

#24 Lighting

BRING MODELS TO LIFE

TIP

CONSIDER

RENTING KIT

Want to experiment with
new kit before buying? Rent
from lensesforhire.co.uk
first for a fraction of
the cost.