This document provides 5 tips for portrait photography: 1) Focus on the eyes by manually selecting the autofocus point and locking focus before recomposing. 2) Use a standard or telephoto lens rather than a wide-angle lens to avoid facial distortions. 3) Create "high-key" portraits with overexposed photos to enhance feminine and children's portraits. 4) Shoot in burst mode to capture fleeting expressions or ensure all eyes are open in group shots. 5) Use aperture priority mode to control depth of field with a shallow depth of field from a large aperture on a fast prime lens for soft, blurred backgrounds.

1. 5 PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY
TIPS AND TECHNIQUES
Greg Roselli

2. 1. FOCUS ON THE EYES

3. !
- Eye contact not always desirable in
portraits, but sharp eyes: always.
!
- Select AF point manually to lock focus
on model’s eyes.
!
- The half-press shutter release to keep
setting locked.
!
- Recompose picture before taking final
shot.

4. 2. USE STANDARD OR
TELEPHOTO LENS

5. !
- Wide-angle lenses are great for
environmental portraits
!
- These lens will, however, distort facial
features making portraits look
unflattering.
!
- Standard lens or short telephoto lens
are better for portraits.
!
- The classic portrait focal lengths for a
full-frame camera are 50mm, 85mm
prime lenses and a 70-200mm zoom for
natural-looking portraits.
!

6. 3. HIGH-KEY PORTRAITS

7. !
- Over-exposed photos create ‘high-key’
effects create a delicate look that
enhance feminine and children
portraits.
!
- It works best when it is brightened in
Photoshop later, instead of from the
camera during the shot.
!
- RAW files provide maximum editing
head-room, allowing exploration of more
tonal ranges as opposed to JPEG
counterparts.
!

8. 4. SHOOTING IN
BURST MODE

9. !
- Set camera to fastest drive setting for all
kinds for portraits.
!
- No need to machine gun the shutter release,
but short burst allow capture of fleeting
expressions.
!
- Increases chances of catching all eyes open in
group portraits.
!
- Or at the very least, having options few
seconds apart allows face swap in Photoshop
to make all eyes open and all faces smiling.

10. 5. USE ‘APERTURE
PRIORITY’ MODE

11. !
- This feature allows direct control over the
aperture, and thereby, over the Depth of Field
(DOF).
!
- Fast prime lenses (50mm f/1.4 or 85mm f/1.2)
allow choosing large apertures for shallow DOF.
!
- This is how the out of focus, creamy-smooth
backgrounds are created.
!
- Therefore, it is important to maintain accuracy
in focusing on the eyes to get a sharp portrait
with soft background instead of a soft portrait.

12. For More Tips Visit:
!
http://www.digitalcameraworld.com/
2014/02/07/77-photography-techniques-
tips-and-tricks-for-taking-pictures-of-
anything/