You know that feeling when you take a photo and technically it's fine? It's sharp, the subject is in focus, the exposure is right, but it's still missing something: the mood, the magic, the thing that makes people stop scrolling. I used to struggle with that too, until I started focusing less on the technical side and more on creating atmosphere.
In this guide I break down how to take dreamy photos with six simple techniques I use on every shoot, from telephoto lenses and sunrise light to motion, mist filters, composition and colour. They work for portraits, but just as well for travel and everyday photos, and I've paired each one with some of my favourite photos from past shoots.
1. Use a telephoto lens for a dreamy, cinematic look
One of the first things I do to create a dreamy, cinematic feel is reach for a telephoto lens, anything from 85mm up to 600mm. I started with the portrait lenses I already owned, my 85mm and 135mm, and loved them for travel so much that I added a 70-200mm and a 200-600mm to my kit.
A telephoto sunrise in Austria and a city portrait with the 200-600mm. See more in my Austria sunrise and 200-600mm portrait posts.
The big reason is compression: a long lens makes the background look much closer to your subject than your eyes would ever see it, which gives photos a slightly otherworldly feel. There's a second reason telephoto lenses make photos feel mysterious, and in the video I show the unedited frames side by side so you can see the difference for yourself.
Soft, creamy bokeh at 400mm, from my 400mm portrait shoot.
For more on choosing a focal length, read my post on wide angle vs telephoto lenses for landscape photography, or see how I used the 70-200mm on the road in my Iceland Ring Road photography guide.
2. Shoot at sunrise, golden hour or blue hour
Good light is one of the most important parts of photography, and it matters even more for cinematic photos. That usually means waking up early and getting to your location before sunrise, not at the time your weather app tells you. In the video I explain exactly when to arrive and why the best colour often happens before the sun even appears.
Setting up the 200-600mm before sunrise.
Sunrise mist in Austria, from my Austria sunrise photography post.
Golden hour and blue hour are great options too, and each creates a different mood. Before you set your alarm, do a little research on your location. The direction of the light changes everything, and I compare backlight and direct light at Lake Bled in the video.
Scouting the light at sunrise in Lake Bled, Slovenia.
3. Add movement to your photos
Movement makes a photo feel alive. You can create it with a slow shutter speed, or by having your subject move through the frame: walking, spinning or letting the wind catch their hair. Watch the fast vs slow shutter speed comparisons to see which look suits your style.
A sense of movement, even in a still photo. From my 20 creative portrait photography ideas.
4. Don't worry about perfect sharpness
A dreamy photo is about atmosphere rather than technical perfection, and I find the imperfections are what make photography interesting. One of my favourite ways to soften a photo is a mist filter, which softens the light and makes highlights glow. I use a magnetic Helix kit (not sponsored), so it's quick to take on and off during a shoot.
Shot with a mist filter. See more in my Pro Mist filter portrait photography post.
The effect can't be undone, so see my mist vs no mist comparison before you buy one. If you'd rather not commit to a filter, there's also a simple editing trick I show in the video that gives a similar soft look.
5. Think about your subject and composition
I love including people in my landscapes, because a person in the frame acts as an anchor: a visual starting point that gives the photo depth and leads the eye through the rest of the scene. It doesn't have to be a person, either. Dreamy compositions also tend to be clean and minimal, and the video walks through a few examples of how I simplify a scene.
A portrait as the anchor in a mountain landscape.
6. Choose your colour palette
Colour theory is everything in photography. Once you've got the technical side down, the colour palette you shoot and edit with sets the whole tone of your photos, and one of the easiest ways to control it in portraits is your outfit.
Warm dresses against green foliage.
Sometimes you want your outfit to blend into the scene, and sometimes you want it to be the one pop of colour. In the video I show both approaches at White Sands National Park and in Tokyo.
Yellow and purple, a complementary colour palette.
Editing is the last piece of the colour puzzle. Soft, muted tones go a long way towards a dreamy mood. Here's one of the photos from Saguaro National Park before and after.
Unedited
Edited with Dulce
Unedited (left) and edited with my Dulce preset (right).
Watch the full video
These are the six things I think about every time I want a photo to feel dreamy. The video goes much deeper on each one, with the camera settings, side-by-side comparisons and the editing tweak I use, so watch it on YouTube and let me know which tip is your favourite in the comments.
How to take dreamy photos: FAQ
How do you make photos look dreamy?
Focus on atmosphere: shoot in soft light, use a telephoto lens, add movement, soften the image, keep your composition simple and choose a soft colour palette. I go through each one in my video.
What lens is best for dreamy photos?
Telephoto lenses from 85mm up are great for dreamy photos, because they compress the background and isolate your subject. I use an 85mm, a 135mm, a 70-200mm and a 200-600mm.
What is a mist filter?
A mist filter is a lens filter that softens light and textures and makes highlights glow, giving photos a dreamy, cinematic look.
What is an anchor in photography?
An anchor is a visual element, usually in the foreground, that gives a photo depth and context and acts as the starting point for the eye. It can be a person, a rock, a flower or a building.
All the final photos in the video were edited with my own Lightroom presets, including Dulce, Disposable Film, Havana, Wildfern and Amalfi. Browse all my packs in the Lightroom Presets for Portraits collection, and if you're stuck between a few, you can buy any 3 presets and save 10%.
0 comments