This tutorial is for people interested in portrait photography but not quite sure where to start. In this tutorial, I will state the basic beginner’s guidelines for shooting exciting portrait photos. This is for beginners looking for a way to get started in portrait photography.
Use a wide-aperture lens
The first thing you can do as a portrait photographer is choose a lens with a wide aperture. By wide aperture, I mean f/2.8 or more comprehensive. A wide aperture will allow you to blur the background of your subject and create a soft, mushy look. You can also use a lens that has an aperture of f/4. But don’t forget to leave some space behind the subject so you can naturally blur the images.
Use the rule of thirds
The rule of thirds is often the most widely used and lectured in photography. A lot of photographers use the rule without knowing the intricacies of the rule. The rule of thirds divides the frame into nine equal rectangles. There are four points of intersection on the frame. Your idea should be to place this subject coinciding with one of those four intersecting points. This will naturally improve the quality of the composition.
Use a soft light
Whether you use natural or artificial light in your portrait photography, try to ensure that the lighting quality is soft. A soft light will ensure the subject is well late without harsh shadows on the face. This will produce a flattering portrait.
Try and bring a reflector into the equation
Even though the lighting quality is soft and uniform and there are no shadows on the face, you can still bring a reflector into the equation to ensure that any shadows are filled in. Reflector is a very inexpensive tool in photography. You can quickly get them in your local photography supplies store. There are multiple varieties available. Try and get the silver reflector, which bounces the light in all directions.
Use a shutter speed that is slightly faster than one over the focal length
This will ensure that even if your lens is not optically stabilized, you can still get a sharp image and not induce image blur in your photos. We have used the one-over focal length technique; you may be aware of this. But for some of you who may not be aware of this, take the focal length of your lens and use the shutter speed that is faster than one by the lens’s focal length to get to what the ideal shutter speed should be.
