Nino Batista’s work has been in magazines like FHM and Playboy all around the world. He’s taught for platforms like CreativeLive, been a featured speaker at huge photography conventions, written for the most notable photography outlets in the industry, and he’s about to show up on a PRO EDU tutorial near you.
Batista is a model photographer who creates stunning images celebrating female beauty. He's known for sensual photos that empower his models, and is widely considered the premier glamour photographer and retouching educator in his genre.
Hearing about just a few of the things Nino has done, it’s easy to think he’s just lived a blessed life. But the truth is that he started his photography career during the financial recession of 2008. And while he travels the world making beautiful photographs now, the freedom he enjoys was won after years of hard work.
How he got started
Batista started his career as a graphic designer, and moved to photography out of necessity. When the economy tanked, his graphic design firm started failing, and Batista knew he needed to diversify.
His father was a photographer, so it made sense to step into that field. With a family to care for, he had little room for failure. So, he started practicing on his wife in their home studio, but it would be two more years before he started to see success.
By 2012, he was shooting full time, and started getting approached by other photographers about giving workshops. It was then he decided he was going to stick with photography, do or die. And as a result of that drive, over the last 12 years he’s photographed models all over the globe, taught workshops, built skin retouching actions, and mentored hundreds of photographers.
Building his style
One of the standout features of Batista’s work is his skill with light and retouching skin. Whether he works with hard light or soft light, the subject is always flattered. Sometimes you can see his work with glorious, soft light that helps sculpt his subject's figures. Other times, he works in light other photographers shy away from, like midday sunlight with no fill.
Any photographer who has used hard light knows that it brings out every imperfection in the skin. And with so much skin to take care of, this could mean hours in post production.
But Batista’s models always look naturally flawless. How does he manage that without spending his entire life retouching? As a business owner, Batista knows that time is money. If he has to spend all his time retouching, he won’t have as much to spare for working with new clients.
So, he developed a retouching workflow that helps him even out skin tones and transitions naturally and quickly. The set of plug-ins he designed are the tools he actually uses with real clients for consistent results and great looking, natural skin. As an entrepreneur and mentor, it only made sense for him to make those plugins available to the public.
If Batista learned anything from his first foray into photography, it was that diversifying in a smart way almost always pays off. And focusing on his area of expertise, making the work he loves and helping other photographers reach their potential, was a way to approach his career that helps him maintain joy in his work.
Working with PRO EDU was the perfect chance for Batista to help more photographers streamline their workflow so they could get killer results in half the time.
Where he's at now
Despite facing the struggles of all beginning photographers, Batista has used hard work, devotion to his craft, and the willingness to try new things to gain the kind of reputation most photographers hope for; a stunning portfolio, great relationships with his clients, and a consistent style that gets him published across the globe. If you want to see more of Nino’s work, follow him on Instagram or check out his website, ninobatista.com
