Portrait Photography Tips
The topic that i'm going to discuss is how to become a better portrait photographer.
When it comes to portrait photography the camera does not matter much what matters more the lenses, now for portrait photography prime lenses are recommended. If you want to get that shallow depth of field that blurry bokeh background you nedd a lens that has a wide aperture.
The images you see below shot with the 50 mm, 85mm and a 7200mm , So four lensese if using a kit lens it's not that you can't shoot good portraits but for stepping up your portarit game you need to invest in a prime lens. We generally would recommend to get a 50mm lens and then if you want a tighter lens you can go for 85mm or if you want to shoot wider portraits you can go for a 35mm. The lens is matted a lot because different focal lengths have a different look. If you are using same composition but as i go from 70 to 200mm the background depth and the model looks a bit different so amke sure about the kind of result you want and accordingly choose the lenses, that was all about camera gear but doesn't matter.
if you have a bit camera gear you should also know how to use it and that brngs me to the next point that is the camera settings in this video all the shots you see.
aperture to a wider aperture when i'm shooting with the 7200 it's generally 2.8 with the 50mm it's generally 1.8 .
its also depends on the depth of field i want if i want to include my background i will go with a small aperture and then later according to light metere you can decideyour shutter speed remember this is only when you have good natural light if you are shooting in low light you might have to increase the ISO as well.
If you're uncomfortable with handling the shutter speed you can also try shooting in aperture priority mode.
When it comes to portrat photography camera settings are not the most imporatant part. and that is focusing now be it any kind of photography focusing is really important you wnat the subject to be in focus and it portrait photography it's extremely crucial because you're dealing with shallow depth of field most of the times now when the subject is in the same plane as the lenses then its no issue, if you focus on any of the eye both the eyes will be in focus the problem starts when the subject is not in plane and if that's the case always focus on the closest eye and make sure the focus is tack sharp because when you are dealing with that shallow depth of field even if you missed focus just by a bit will be very visible in the images and images won't look good so make sure with proper aperture and proper focus you're getting tact sharp portarit images now this was all about the technical part.
Photogarphy is a combination of technicality and aesthetic part and that is composition now if you don't know the composition technique.
ALl the composition guidelines like reading lines rule of thirds can be used in portrait photography as well the subject is the main focus of the image, an do you want the attention of the viewer to go to the subject directly you have to make sure you're avoiding the distractions and one method to avoid the disctractions in the background is by using a wider aperture and focusing on the subject but other than that if you're using good composition you will be able to see that actually the images look much much better so there's not much to talk about the composition but if you see the images below, you will understand how composition is used to get pleasing images one very important tip to make your portrait images look amazing is adding a foreground element now when you intentionally keep the foreground element out of focus you will be able to get very cool-looking flare and the images will look really really good you don't have to use Photoshop to add flare you can actually get everything perfect in camera so try to use some foreground element to get better looking images.
when you're dealing with natural light you don't have much flexibility in modifying the light that is where reflector is going to be very useful reflective object which basically reflects light so the light falls on the reflector and the light is reflected this is used when you want to get rid of shadows and when you want the light to look more even now reflective comes basically in silver and golden parts the reflector I am using I will link that down in the description below now generally silver side of the reflector is used but you can also use the golden side of the reflector it actually works very nicely when you have that brownish skin tone and you want to add some warmth and color to the skin tones so reflective won't only be used to eliminate the shadows but at the same time to give that even light and make the colors pop so if you're in portrait photography try to get the reflector it's not very expensive but it will be a very very useful tool the last but not the least is the location the background and the lighting now talking about the light you obviously want good light and the best time of the day to shoot is just before sunset when you have that soft glow from the Sun you will notice that the images look much better if you have good light and that is not only in the case of portrait photography but any genre of photography.
the location and the background now when it comes to landscape photography the location matters a lot but when it comesto portrait photography does not matter as much now even if you're shooting in a not-so-good location you can actually use the background to your advantage and create better looking images right now. I'm not shooting in a very beautiful location but as you can see the background is completely blurred and still I am able to produce very good looking content in the same way you can actually use different backgrounds if you're getting white blown-out backgrounds you can actually move a bit and search for some tree to get that bouquet you can move into shade or you can move into light and you have to actually very carefully analyze the
background and you will be good to go so location doesn't matter as much of course if you are shooting in a good location it's a good point but still if you're not shooting you can still create better images so that was it from this video guys now talking about the competition now as I said in the beginning shutout is collaborating with me for a portrait photography contest so there you can submit your portrait images and win cash prizes there are two ways to enter one is free entry and one is a premium entry for premium entry you have to pay two dollars but if you
register through my link that is in the description below you will actually get an additional two dollar bonus to actually submit a different premium entry or participate in any other photography contest. there are tons of photography contests you can visit their site for more information. the base price of the contest starts at $50 but as more participants participate for the premium entry the cash price will increase submit your best portrait images and all the best for the competition.
