Fairly new, unsure what to do with my kit lens

[ernestoc33]

I'm still fairly new to photography. I've been getting a lot of practice with night photography lately by playing with ISO settings and the F stops.
I'm currently shooting with a Sony A330 using the stock 18-55mm lens. I just got married so money for new lenses is and accessories is out of the question at the moment. Does anyone have any techniques I can use to take great portraits using what I already have?
any other tips and tricks for what I have available would be wonderful too.
thanks in advance

 

[Tomasko]

18-55 isn't good for a portraiture at all, mainly due to its inability to blur the background. I am sorry, but there's no way I can think off, that would help you to shoot great portraits with such lens...
I'd suggest you earn some money and for about $100-$150 you can have 50mm 1.8 lens, which would help you greatly in portraiture...

 

[jaomul]

Shoot at the longest end possible 55 mm and in Av mode. Set Av to largest possible which is smallest number. Use as low an ISO setting you can, but high enough to avoid blurred photos. You will prob have to stand back a bit, which may prove difficult indoors but these settings are probably the better settings you can use for portraits with that lens. Obviously you may have to reduce the zoom if you can't fit in your subject, but longer is better and keep the aperture large as you can.

 

[PhotoWrangler]

Does anyone have any techniques I can use to take great portraits using what I already have?

Understanding Exposure - Bryan Peterson

 

[vtf]

Welcome to the forum.
Place your subject in front of simple back grounds such as hedges, bushes, walls. Have the subject stand out away from the background about 6' or so if possible and shoot at 55mm and f4-f5 or lowest you can. This should blur the background some. Keep iso as low as possible and you should be able to shoot handheld at 1/60-1/100th.
Use this calculator to help. Online Depth of Field Calculator
You can get some really good shots with the kit lens but does take practice.
Good shooting. :thumbup: