Pictorial Portrait Photography
A course by Lídia Vives
, Photographer
Learn how to capture the essence of Renaissance masters in your photos
- Spanish with subtitles in English
- 97% positive reviews (195)
- 3483 students

Learn how to capture the essence of Renaissance masters in your photos
- 97% positive reviews (195)
- 3483 students
- 16 lessons (2h 23m)
- 11 additional resources (3 files)
- Online and at your own pace
- Available on the app
- Audio: Spanish
- Spanish, English, Portuguese, German, French, Italian, Polish, Dutch
- Level: Beginner
- Unlimited access forever
With a camera and a computer you can not only create scenes, but also whole new worlds, which is Lídia Vives' area of expertise. The Spanish photographer draws inspiration from the great Italian masters of the Renaissance to create realistic and surrealist works in equal parts, as she has demonstrated in the different exhibitions she has held in Mexico, Spain, and France.
In this online course, Lídia teaches you photographic retouching techniques and art direction tips to create your own portraits in a pictorial Renaissance style.

What will you learn in this online course?
Course table of contents
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U1U1. Introduction
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U2U2. Composition and color
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U3U3. Portrait theory and photo shoot
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U4U4. Photo development and retouching
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FPFP Final project
Start by meeting Lídia, who tells you a little more about her work and how she has developed her style over the years. See her influences, mainly in two worlds: painting and portrait photography.
Discover all the elements you need to know when creating an image: learn about composition and balance to structure and place all the elements well.
Next, see everything you need to know to work the center of interest in your photographs to guide the viewer's eye to where you want it to go. Learn the types of formats that exist, when to use them, the correct way to reframe, and how to work with color by considering its psychological meaning and characteristics.
Discover the main characteristics of the Italian Renaissance portrait. Move on to the photo session and see what light you should use and how to use it. In addition, prepare the set and your model.
Lídia explains to you what is the best way to deal with someone when you carry out a photo shoot, then you can start taking photos.
Before finishing the course, learn how to post-produce an image, starting in Camera Raw and ending in Adobe Photoshop. Discover how to give your photography the pictorial effect through a neat and professional retouching with Lidia's expert advice.
What is this course's project?
Create a photo portrait with Renaissance-style features.

Projects by course students
Who is this online course for?
Photographers, artists, and anyone interested in the art of portraiture.
Requirements and materials
You need an SLR with any of these lenses: 18-35mm, 50mm, or 75mm, as well as the ability to use your camera's manual mode.
You also need a computer with Adobe Photoshop and digital development software. Lídia uses Camera Raw, although you can also use Adobe Photoshop Lightroom.
Regarding lighting, you can work with natural light or with a softbox and you also need a white reflector, which can be made of foam board or expanded polystyrene.

Reviews

A course by Lídia Vives
Lídia Vives is a photographer specialized in artistic photography and known for her pictorial style self-portraits that always hide secrets. Influenced by Henri-Cartier Bresson, at the age of 16 she discovered photography as an artistic expression and decided to swap the brush for the camera.
Lídia's work has been exhibited in galleries in Spain and Australia, as well as on her social media profile, which works as a kind of visual diary in which she expresses everything she never says out loud.
Her main clients are brands and publishers for which she does fashion and advertising photography and, above all, art collectors.
Content
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U1
Introduction
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Presentation
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My influences
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What will we do in the course?
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U2
Composition and color
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Composition + balance. What it is and what examples there are.
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The center of interest + format and reframe.
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The colors and their characteristics.
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U3
Portrait theory and photo shoot
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The Renaissance portrait.
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Lighting, set preparation and treatment of models
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Renaissance photo session
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U4
Photo development and retouching
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Revealed in Camera Raw
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Revealed in Camera Raw II
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General retouching
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General retouching II
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Skin retouching and Dodge and burn
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Color
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Final retouching
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FP
Final project
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Pictorial photographic portrait
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What to expect from a Domestika course
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Learn at your own pace
Enjoy learning from home without a set schedule and with an easy-to-follow method. You set your own pace.
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Learn from the best professionals
Learn valuable methods and techniques explained by top experts in the creative sector.
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Meet expert teachers
Each expert teaches what they do best, with clear guidelines, true passion, and professional insight in every lesson.
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Certificates
PlusIf you're a Plus member, get a custom certificate signed by your teacher for every course. Share it on your portfolio, social media, or wherever you like.
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Get front-row seats
Videos of the highest quality, so you don't miss a single detail. With unlimited access, you can watch them as many times as you need to perfect your technique.
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Share knowledge and ideas
Ask questions, request feedback, or offer solutions. Share your learning experience with other students in the community who are as passionate about creativity as you are.
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Connect with a global creative community
The community is home to millions of people from around the world who are curious and passionate about exploring and expressing their creativity.
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Watch professionally produced courses
Domestika curates its teacher roster and produces every course in-house to ensure a high-quality online learning experience.
FAQs
Domestika's courses are online classes that provide you with the tools and skills you need to complete a specific project. Every step of the project combines video lessons with complementary instructional material, so you can learn by doing. Domestika's courses also allow you to share your own projects with the teacher and with other students, creating a dynamic course community.
All courses are 100% online, so once they're published, courses start and finish whenever you want. You set the pace of the class. You can go back to review what interests you most and skip what you already know, ask questions, answer questions, share your projects, and more.
The courses are divided into different units. Each one includes lessons, informational text, tasks, and practice exercises to help you carry out your project step by step, with additional complementary resources and downloads. You'll also have access to an exclusive forum where you can interact with the teacher and with other students, as well as share your work and your course project, creating a community around the course.
You can redeem the course you received by accessing the redeeming page and entering your gift code.
escuderoperezc
Me gusto mucho el curso.
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anaportalt
Me ha encantado el curso, además de aprender un montón, el trabajo de la profe es súperinspirador!
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magictales
Toller Kurs mit viel Inspiration
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jdsacasasru
Excelente curso realmente se aprende mucho y se refuerzan muchos otros conocimientos por lo menos con otros estudios que he realizado
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vdelabocal
Recomiendo muchísimo este curso, Lídia sabe de lo que habla, transmite mucha seguridad de entendimiento en cada lección. Se aprende mucho en 2h y media, muy completo. Tengo la libreta llena de apuntes que reviso muchas veces.
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