Photography News Issue 51

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Photography News | Issue 51 | photographynews.co.uk

Technique

3. Focus in the right place

If ‘the eyes are the window to the soul’, it makes sense that you should focus there, right? So, for most portraits keeping the eyes of your subject sharp is what you need to do, but this becomes more difficult if you’re using very wide apertures where the depth-of-field gets very shallow; for instance, using an 85mm f/1.8 lens you could have just a fewmillimetres to play with. It’s also important to focus on the closest eye to you, particularlywhen the subject is turned; if the nearest eye is blurred, but the trailing eye is sharp, it can look odd. The best way to focus for portraits is in single AF mode (rather than continuous) and using single point AF area, where you can move a small focusing area to any part of the frame. As you compose, move the focus point as close to the subject’s eyes as possible, so that you can focus there without needing to

move the camera after you lock on. If you do need to lock focus and then reframe, try not to move toward or away from the subject as you do. Some cameras have face and eye recognition AF, and this can be useful as an alternative. Some even pick out the closest eye. Experiment with these modes and if you get better results than using single point AF, use them. If you’re using a very shallow depth-of-field and struggling to keep the eyes in focus, try setting a slightly smaller aperture (a higher f/number) to provide a little more depth-of-field. BREAK THE RULES You don’t always need to focus on the eyes, and can get some very creative results by not doing so. For instance, some environmental portraits use the tools of a subject’s trade as the focal point of a portrait.

Bad focus

Above Shoot in single point AF and select the AF area nearest to the subject’s closest eye for more successful focusing.

Good focus

4. Pick the right kind of lighting

For the most flattering looking portraits, you need there to be low contrast on the subject’s face. Low contrast means there will bemostly midtones in that area of the image, and no big shifts between highlight and shadow. This in turn hides many imperfections. The place to find low-contrast lighting is away from direct light. So if you’re shooting outside, try turning your subject away from the sun, or position them in a shaded area. Similarly, if they’re being lit by artificial light, find some way to diffuse or bounce it. Both methods also stop people from squinting. With the light source behind the subject you may find they look a bit too dark in the picture, as the

camera is compensating for the bright background. If that’s the case, either compose with their face larger in the frame, so that the camera can calculate more accurately, or add some exposure compensation; press the exposure compensation button and dial in a positive value. Using exposure compensation will make the background lighter as well as the subject, but the most important thing is the lighting on the latter. You can also use a reflector to bounce light onto them. It’s important to get some light in the subject’s eyes, too; catchlights. If there’s no light in the eyes, the portrait will seem lifeless. Using a flash or reflector is a good way

to provide some sparkle, but so long as there’s some light near to your shooting position you should get some reflections in their eyes. For instance, if you’re inside, try positioning them near an open door or window. You can get more creative with catchlights using accessories like ringlights or on-camera LEDs such as Rotolight’s NEO 2. BREAK THE RULES If youwant the subject to lookmore grizzly, or defined, then you can use direct sunlight or unmodified artificial light. This will increase contrast and show off more detail, such as lines and pores, so it’s good for more ‘characterful’ faces.

Direct light

Images If you want low contrast, avoid direct light. If you want high contrast, do the opposite.

Indirect light

5. Choose your focal length & framing

Your choice of focal length and framing can also make or break a portrait. Wider focal lengths will cause distortion in the subject, making their features look unusual, and they also make it harder to separate the subject from the background, because, even when shooting with a wide aperture, shallow depth-of-field is less obvious. Longer focal lengths are helpful, as they distort less and make it easier to isolate the subject with shallow focus. When it comes to framing, unless the scene the subject is in is particularly important, it helps to feature the subject as prominently as possible, filling the frame to increase impact. But it’s also important what you leave out: avoid cropping them at the joints, which looks odd.

You should also try to include some space in the frame for them to ‘look into’. This simply means leaving some space in the composition on the side they’re facing; if you put more space behind them it can look cramped. BREAK THE RULES There’s nothing to say you can’t shoot portraits with wide-angle lenses or frame the subject so that the space is behind them; the first will make the subject look grotesque or comical, and the second can add some tension to the picture, rather than it looking relaxed. Right Portraits can be improved by leaving some space on the side of the frame the subject is facing.

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