Portrait Shots

Portraits
These tips come mostly from Lisa Bettany’s blog here: http://mostlylisa.com/blog/portraits/. Check it
out, she’s a boss. And some other great tips from http://digital-photography-school.com/10-ways-totake-stunning-portraits.

When taking portraits the most important aspect is the eyes. Use ISO 100 to get the clearest picture
possible, set the aperture between F/2.0-5.0, and focus directly on the pupils. Learning to manually
focus your camera can be really beneficial here because the auto-focus can be fooled by eyelashes or
other features close to the eyes. The lower aperture will give you a shallow depth of field with the face
in focus and the background blurred. Also try playing with eye contact. Having your subject focus on
something off camera or having them focus on something else in the frame (another person or object)
can give your portraits an interesting look.

Lighting is also crucial. Light the face with soft, even light. Also try experimenting with lighting; it
can create some intriguing effects in your photos. Side-lighting can create mood, backlighting and
silhouetting can be powerful.

As far as composition, there aren’t any hard rules to follow. Filling the frame and using the rule of thirds is a good place to start, and having your subject tilt their head down while you shoot slightly above them will create a more interesting look and slim the face. Also try placing the subject dead center as it can sometimes create a powerful image, or a creative placement with the subject on the edge can be interesting. Play around with these and see which suits your style better.

And some other tips to consider for various situations: shoot candidly, introduce a prop to add another
point of interest (like a lollipop or bubble gum bubble), or obscure part of your subject with clothing,
objects, their hands, or simply by framing part of them out of the picture.

Vary how you frame the subject and the background you choose. A very plain minimalistic background works best for some people, where a more interesting, complementary background can also work best depending on the look you want.

Need to know:
ISO 100
F/2.0-5.0
Adjust shutter speed for correct exposure, roughly 1/200 sec

ISO 100, f5 @ 1/200 sec