Shooting portraits only during golden hour with an 85mm lens sounds like solid advice until you realize it’s quietly limiting what you’re capable of creating. This video breaks down five of the most common portrait photography myths and explains what to do differently.

Coming to you from Julia Trotti, this practical video tackles assumptions that many portrait shooters carry without questioning. Trotti starts with the golden hour myth, and her take is worth hearing: yes, golden hour light is beautiful, but it also tends to produce muted, washed-out colors from soft backlighting. Some of her favorite images were shot an hour or two after harsh midday sun, where the contrast is higher and colors are more vibrant. Not everyone can schedule a shoot around golden hour, so knowing how to work in any light is a real skill. 

The second myth Trotti addresses is that you have to follow composition rules. Her position is that rules are worth learning, but once you’re consistently getting solid shots, it’s time to push against them. She gives a specific example from her own work: intentionally cropping out part of a subject’s foot to add tension to the frame and allow for a slightly tighter composition. It’s a small choice, but it’s the kind of deliberate decision that separates work that looks distinctive from work that looks competent. Myth three involves focal length, specifically the idea that 85mm and 135mm lenses are the only real options for portraits. Trotti’s personal favorite is a 35mm, which she shoots wide open at f/1.4. At that focal length and aperture, the subject still reads as prominent, but the location stays visible and readable in the frame rather than dissolving into blur.

The fourth myth is that you need a visually striking background. Trotti’s point here cuts against a lot of location-scouting culture: some of her best portraits were shot in spots she describes as ordinary or even ugly at first glance. A patch of overgrown weeds on the side of a road, a small cluster of leaves, a quiet corner of a park. What she prioritizes over the location itself is the light. Good light in an unremarkable spot will outperform bad light in a beautiful one. The fifth myth, that you need a studio for professional portraits, is one she says holds back a lot of people from pursuing portrait work seriously. A shaded concrete wall with a white building acting as a natural reflector across the street gave her exactly the minimal, clean look she was after. Studio setups do make sense for specific types of work, like headshots requiring controlled lighting, but they’re not a prerequisite for building a client base or producing professional-level work. Check out the video above for the full breakdown from Trotti.