You will be taking portrait photos soon. You have already thought of the idea for the photoshoot. Only the technical part is not yet fully mastered. In this article, I will talk about manual camera settings for portrait photography. That way, you know exactly which settings you can best use.

1. Opening
2. Focus
3. I SO
4. Shutter speed

1. Opening

Portrait photography is, of course, about the person portrayed. You want all the attention to go to the model. This works if only the subject is sharp and the rest of the photo is blurry. An effect that you achieve with a large opening. With this, create a small depth of field. Which means that the sharp part of the photo is smaller than the blurred part. A large aperture equals a small aperture number. Choose an aperture of f / 5.6 or smaller.

2. Focus

The eyes speak the most and you want to emphasize that. You do this by concentrating on the eyes. Search your camera for the function with which you choose the focal point. Look at the subject through the viewfinder or screen. Use the navigation buttons or the touch screen to select the focus point that is on the eyes. Press the shutter button halfway to focus. You can also focus manually through the lens ring.

3.ISO

Due to the large aperture, it is probably not necessary to use a high ISO value. Because of this, it captures enough light to illuminate the photo. If this is not the case, you can mess up the ISO. For example at 200 or 400 ISO. Note: the higher the ISO, the greater the possibility of noise. Some cameras have better noise reduction than others. Experiment with this especially during photography.

4. Shutter speed

To convert the image that the camera sees into a photo, your camera needs light. This light should reach the sensor. With the shutter speed, you determine how long the camera lens aperture is open to capture this light. Therefore, the shutter speed is also called the exposure time. The faster the shutter speed, the more light falls on the sensor. A faster shutter speed shortens the exposure time.

With portrait photography, try to brighten the photo better by setting the camera manually. This is because the flash is not normally used. No one improves with the flash, not even your model. Only use flash units and studio lighting if you regularly work with this. In addition to a large aperture and higher ISO value, it also captures more light with a longer shutter speed. For example, try a shutter speed of 1/100. Longer than that, the possibility of motion blur increases.