Portrait Settings

CFRacer22

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Going to take some pictures of a friend tomorrow with really pretty eyes. The shots are gonna be focused on the eyes, many up them probably close-up, even "eye only" pictures. I'm wondering what settings i should start with(I will play around some with them but just want to have a starting point) Should I try to do it outside if its descently sunny? Or just have sufficient light inside, cause I'm guessing I'm not gonna want to use a flash...? Anyway, any help would be much appreciated
 
It's hard to say what settings you should have your camera at since we dont know the lighting situation. Use your meter, that's your pal! Your best bet for outdoor photography is an overcast day but you can play with aperature if it's really sunny. To highlight the eyes my opinion would to not use the flash but hey if you have time use it! Play around and see what works best. We're not messing with film so it's not a matter of "wasting" it. Good luck, show us what you came up with.
 
If he/she has pretty eyes, find a background of the same color. So you'd want to have a blue background if you shot me becuase i have blue eyes.
 
I'd use a focal length of over 55mm on your Rebel. Wide angles can give your subject balloon-head. Don't shoot in direct sun or where you can see direct sun in the frame. Try a wide aperture to blur the background, though you won't be able to get too wide with those lenses.
 
Yea, I planned on taking a lot and just playing with it, what I figured I might do is take one or two with the portrait programmed mode, and see what it used as a starting point for adjusting stuff

Thanks for the tips, and actually we are delaying it a few days so I still have time if anybody has anything else to say...
 
I think the best portraits are made wherever the subject does what he or she likes to do, and with the subject doing whatever that is.
 
I think the best portraits are made wherever the subject does what he or she likes to do, and with the subject doing whatever that is.

I agree. I call them semi-candid. They know you are there with a camera, but if they are doing something they like, they can forget about you for moments. Those are the ones I like to keep my eye open for.
 
I like candid portraits. I'll put up with a little background distraction to get an honest, unposed smile. Heck, for family stuff, I'll even put up with a bit of blurriness if the expression is right.

But you won't have that. It sounds like you're having a portrait session.

Memorize a couple of good jokes, and rip one off (joke, you sicko) before the shot.
 
If you use a somewhat shorter focal length (somewhere around 100mm or shorter) you could use your flash outside even on a sunny day to add some catchlights to the eyes. I find this tends to make the eyes look much more alive.
 

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