I bought another figurine today to help teach my student’s photography. Today we took the cowboy figurine outside, looking for suitable locations for shooting portraits.

We found a bend with a tree in the background for the first one.

By moving the figurine, we looked for good light on the face and an excellent background to match.

This is much harder to do than you might think.

We started all the photos in full manual mode. We were learning to pick the proper ISO, Shutter-Speed, and Aperture and doing a custom white balance before each new location we chose.

The first hurdle was nothing more than remembering you are taking a photo. It would help if you looked around the edges of the frame. Can it be cropped out of the picture? Can I get closer?

Just walking closer to the subject, getting as close as you could, and still being focused was an excellent place to start with our figurine.

Taking a photo in the studio on a white background is simple compared to walking outside and looking for good light and a good background.

Go to the store and buy a figurine. It is a great way to explore the light looking for a good location for a portrait.