In this article you will discover helpful portrait tips you need to know to improve your photos. These tips apply to you whether you are shooting in natural light or with flash.
The first tip is to set your cameras shutter speed to double your focal length, for example if you are shooting with an 85mm prime lens then you would set your shutter speed to shutter speed 1/160 or higher at a minimum. If you have a lens with image stabilization or a mirror less camera with in body stabilization you can probably get away with a slightly lower shutter speed.
When it comes to getting an accurate exposure there are a few things you should keep in mind. If you have a highlight indicator warning feature on your camera make sure you turn that on. Also set you LCD screen brightness to manual and set it to four and keep it at that brightness setting so that you get used to what an accurate exposure looks like in camera.
You should also make sure your histogram is on and refer to it as well to help you gauge your exposure. As far as sharpness if your camera does not have eye tracking like the Sony A7 III then you may want to use just one focus point. If you are using just one focus point make sure you focus on the closest eye towards the camera.
In regards to focal length, generally shooting between 85mm and 200mm will give you more flattering results for portraits. Some people look better at 85 mm and some people appear more attractive closer to 200mm, experiment in this range to find the focal length that works the best for the situation.
Hopefully you found some of these tips helpful, if you have any questions you can ask them in the comment section below. If you have any tips of your own you would like to share below, I look forward to reading them.
