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How To Take Great Outdoor Portraits – I guess beginners make mistakes? By using Auto AF Area mode, where the camera selects the focus point for you,
Eyes are the window to the soul and should be the focal point of any good portrait. Additionally, the eyes are the most detailed element on the page and should be depicted as such.
How To Take Great Outdoor Portraits
(When shooting with a wide aperture and focusing on the eyes, the shallow depth of field effect also softens the skin.)
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As discussed in the previous section, you must focus with a single AF point or the camera’s Eye AF function. If you’re working with a single AF point, place it over the eye, lock focus, and recompose if necessary. If you’re using Eye AF on your camera, make sure it’s finding your subject’s eye, then shoot it!
A wide aperture creates a shallow depth of field effect that blurs the background and makes the subject stand out.
So if you can shoot at f/2.8 or even f/1.8, you should. Of course, not all lenses can use such a wide aperture; some cannot go beyond f/5.6. I recommend investing in a wide-aperture lens whenever possible (and there are many excellent budget options, such as the 50mm f/1.8).
Of course, this gives an interesting effect, but the distortion that occurs at focal lengths longer than 50mm is generally disliked and should be avoided in all cases.
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(An exception is in environmental portraits, where you can keep the subject small in the frame and use a wider focal length to provide context.)
Personally, I prefer to shoot at 70mm and above. The longer the lens, the greater the compression effect, which in turn creates better background blur (ie, bokeh). Most of my portraits are done between 120mm and 200mm.
If you’re new to portrait photography, consider buying an 85mm lens. There are decently priced 85mm f/1.8 lenses on the market that are relatively compact and provide good background blur.
These words have been heard from my mouth a thousand times, and will surely come out a million more. The RAW file format is an unaltered collection of sensor data during exposure. This is your digital negative. And it gives you great flexibility in post-processing, not to mention improved image quality.
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When you shoot in JPEG format, most of what you’ve captured is lost. You lose a lot of basic information, including color tones and tonal range.
So stick to RAW files. Yes, they are larger and require handling. But unless you’re a photojournalist on a very tight deadline, they’re worth the extra effort.
(If you like the sharing feature of JPEG and can’t see shooting without it, consider using the camera’s RAW+JPEG mode.
To avoid confusion, I’ll explain this backwards. When you open Adobe Camera Raw or any other RAW image editing application, there is always a way to select a custom white balance. Usually, it’s a pipette of some kind that you can use to press down on whatever you’re thinking
Instant Techniques To Liven Up Your Outdoor Portraits
Now imagine a world with 4 locations and a total of 800 images taken for a photo shoot and the camera set to auto white balance all day. White balance can have 800 different values, making it a post-production nightmare.
But if the object in each location captures the gray card on the first shot, you will save time. When you open your images in your favorite post-production application, all you have to do is click the eyedropper on the gray card, select all your photos from there, and sync your edit. Precious watches are saved.
(It may be wise to capture a gray card every 30 minutes or more to compensate for changing sunlight.)
Direct sunlight is harsh, squinting the subject and creating harsh directional shadows and unpredictable white balance conditions.
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In this way, you can lose harsh shadows and photograph the subject in a soft, pleasant light. With proper exposure and white balance, you can make such shots look amazing.
But sometimes you get stuck. The client demands a specific time and place for a photo shoot, or the sun comes out from behind beautiful clouds and you’re forced to work with what you’ve got.
First, pay close attention to the direction of the light. Placing the sun directly behind your subject is not a good idea unless you want to create a silhouette. Instead, try placing the sun on your back, then look at your subject off-camera (away from the sun) to avoid squinting. Another great trick is to wait for the cloud to move in before the sun; this usually creates a very bright but contrasty look.
Also, if possible, use a reflector of some kind to reduce shadows on your subject. Invest in a portable, floating reflector, or use an existing reflector if necessary, which I’ll discuss in more detail in the next section.
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Although outdoor photos may seem reflectorless, there are many natural and man-made reflectors that can be used to enhance your photos.
Do you get the idea? And if you go to a place where there may not be a natural reflector, then make sure
One. As I mentioned above, you can buy a floating reflector, but you can make it out of foam core or white cardboard.
The “Sunny 16” rule is a classic guide for film shooting days that allows you to determine the correct exposure on sunny days without an exposure meter.
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Of course, every camera these days comes with an exposure meter, but it’s not always accurate, and it can be good to have a fallback technique in uncertain situations.
On a sunny day, when the aperture value is set to ƒ/16, the shutter speed is the inverse of the current ISO speed. If your camera is set to ISO 100 and the aperture value is ƒ/16, the shutter speed will be 1/100s. And if the camera is set to ISO 200 and the aperture value is f/16, the shutter speed will be 1/200 s.
You know that cheap old sheet stuck in the corner of your closet to use as a paint rag next time? Add it to your kit and take it with you every time you head out for an outdoor portrait shoot.
What to do with it? The sheet is an amazing, inexpensive diffuser – a seven-foot soft box for the sun.
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So pay attention to the position of the sun, and then use a sheet to block the light. If a side light diffuser is needed, pinch the edge of the sheet around the branch. Secure the lower corners with stones.
Power lines, signs, long lone grass, lone patches of debris, and sometimes even trees can be significant distractions in outdoor portrait photography.
Therefore, before taking a single photo, carefully look at the area surrounding the subject. Do you see things that bother you? Is there anything that might remove the photo? If so, clear it or move the object to a location where background distractions are not visible.
12 tips to take your outdoor portraits to the next level. Whether you’re shooting outdoors, full-body shots, or even group shots, these tips should serve you well, so keep them in mind and apply them to your next shoot.
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Guest Contributor This post was written by a guest contributor to dPS. See their details in the post above.
Get involved: See the Write for DPS page for details on how to share your photography tips with the DPS community. The relatively controlled and static nature of the studio is the ideal location for portrait photography. After a while you get a feel for the studio; it’s the space, the light, and how your equipment interacts with it. However, there is an undeniable sense of dynamism to outdoor portrait photography.
Outdoor portrait photography can be spontaneous, producing results that exceed even your expectations as a photographer. When you’re outside, you have a blank canvas and every natural element brings with it a whole new color to your palette.
Although you may not have complete control over the colors at hand, a good photographer learns to work with what he’s got and be quick on his feet. While studio portrait sessions are about observation, outdoor portrait photography is about capturing lightning in a bottle.
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Photographers can’t agree on what’s “best” about anything related to their craft. As with any tool, there is a time and a place for everything. As with any craft, there is freedom to break with tradition and create your own path.
However, the basic rule of thumb for outdoor portrait photography is often this: shoot with a lens longer than 50mm, shoot wide open (to make the most of natural light and background blur), and never use an automatic setting.
In addition to the camera settings, there are several other outdoor portrait photos
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