In my opinion, a 50mm lens is not ideal for close portraits. Although, like all things in photography, it is a technique you should use deliberately, and there are always counterexamples as well. You may find that it drastically improves the aesthetic appeal of your images, as it focuses the attention of viewers onto the primary subject. The result, once again, is to capture a shallow depth of field and make the background less distracting. This tip might seem simple, but if you are not doing it already, take a shot at it. (Specifically, it uses a wider aperture and a faster shutter speed, giving you less probability of blurry photos and a higher likelihood of a soft, dreamy background with beautiful bokeh.)Īdvanced photographers should do the same thing by turning to aperture priority or manual mode and setting their lens’s widest aperture, or something close. If you are just getting into photography and don’t know where to start, you might consider setting your camera to portrait mode on the mode dial, which will do this for you. The simple answer is that you should use a wide aperture. How do you capture a thin depth of field, also known as a shallow focus effect? To get the best possible portrait photos outdoors, you often will want a very shallow depth of field with a blurred background (as opposed to studio portrait photography, where that is less of a concern). This is not to say you should turn off image stabilization, but that this feature alone is not enough to guarantee sharp portrait photos.Ĭanon EOS 6D, 135.0mm, f/2.0s, 1/125s, ISO 100 Stabilization can help a lot with reducing shake from your hands, but it does nothing to prevent blur in your subject. Faster shutter speeds help in counteracting their endless movement.ĭon’t rely on the technical features of a camera such as optical image stabilization to counteract this. This is one of the challenges at my photography company, NPM, where we mainly photograph children. You will need a fast shutter speed when photographing a child, for example, because they are constantly moving at a higher rate than adults. Especially if the eyes are not sharp in your portrait photo, use a faster shutter speed (assuming that you’ve already adjusted the focus properly). Don’t hesitate to try different techniques. Most likely, you will need to raise the shutter speed to counteract some of your subject’s movement. Using a 50mm prime is not a good reason to have a shutter speed of 1/60 of a second. But only a small number of these guides understand you’re photographing a living person who is likely to be moving. There are an almost infinite number of guides out there on the minimum safe handheld shutter speed. Below, I will cover some of those settings to improve the portraits you take. The deeper problem might lie with your camera settings, which may not be optimal for portrait photography. You need to play with your focusing, and perhaps read the manual to understand how to use your camera. Start there, but use the zoom function to check the eyes. You can’t check sharpness by the default image on the LCD screen. Lock the focus, and recompose slightly if needed to get a pleasing composition before shooting.Īfter taking some shots, check the sharpness of the eyes. You want to use a single point and focus on the nearest eye. “Guessing camera” modes aren’t my favourite because they do not necessarily lock focus on the eyes. To start, I like to use single point autofocus. Here are some tips to make sure that your subject’s eyes are sharp. This means that the eyes on a photograph have to be sharp, no matter how many people are in it. We have five (or so) senses, but the one we use most is our sight.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |