Secrets…

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1. Use as low a sensitivity setting [ISO] as possible. Modern, high-end dSLRs have amazing sensitivity, so often image IQ isn’t reduced when you use moderate ISO sensitivities; still, any picture will look better if you don’t push the sensitivity too high. If you do, use a good Noise Reduction application.

2. Use as short an exposure time as possible. This freezes any movement in you or the subject. However, sometimes you will choose to use a long exposure time to make parts of the scene be blurred. This tip doesn’t work when using a flash for illumination, because on a dSLR, above some threshold exposure time [such as 1/250 second…it’s different for various cameras], the shutter is not fully open when the flash illuminates the subject.

3. Use quality glass. A medium FL prime lens is best for portraits [50-60mm on crop-sensor bodies and 85-120mm on FF sensor bodies]. Short telephoto zoom lenses are OK, but their DoF is not as shallow [which is useful in blurring the background] and their bokeh is not as nice [which makes OoF elements look creamy and smooth].

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4. Give careful attention to focus point. When photographing 2 [or more] people, it’s really easy to focus on the background when you point the camera at the space between them! You should point at one of the subjects when you start the 4-step exposure process [see next secret].

5. Take many pictures and choose the sharpest. Don’t use burst mode…do the standard point, half-squeeze, compose, snap process for each image. Practice this process until it’s second-nature!

6. Try continuous AF mode if you are having issues with focus. It will allow the camera to follow the initial subject and maintain focus there.

Why is Jean Francois the subject? Because he’s the “actor”; he’s talking and making hand gestures. That and his eyes are open.

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7. Fill the frame with the face if you are taking people pictures. Faces are more important and more attractive than whole bodies. If a car happens to also be in the picture… fine…but the human is the subject, not the car. If part of the car falls out of the frame, that’s OK. If the car is slightly blurry, that’s OK. If a human is not in the scene, then you can focus [both literally and figuratively] on the car. If you get too much, crop!

I see two possibilities:

Which of these two do youprefer?

How would you crop this picture ?

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8. Use an external, off-axis flash. Using a flash on the camera [especially the little pop-up flash] makes the lighting very flat and is prone to creating “red-eye”. Use a cable to connect the external flash, because the optical scheme [that both Canon and Nikon use] introduces a delay between the initial flash and the final flash. People with fast eye reflexes will shut their eyes before the final capture. The cable reduces the incidence of shut-eye. [If you are not taking portraits of people, or if it’s a scene with cars and people, then the wireless schemes are good, as they allow 3 channels of flash to be independently controlled.] Hold the external flash in your left hand. Using a prime lens is easier when using this setup because you don’t have to struggle to operate the zoom ring!

9. Hold camera still…use good posture…use a tripod/monopod when possible…use a shoulder brace in extreme conditions. When panning with a subject in motion, start panning before you take picture(s) and continue after you stop taking picture(s)… this makes the early/late images better.

10. Apply careful noise reduction. Modern NR software algorithms are quite good, but you should not over apply them. Bad NR algorithms [like the ones in most cameras] make the subject look as if it was made of plastic. Very heavy NR is a great way to smooth out skin:

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11. Apply careful sharpening. Most image editing software has a feature called “Un-sharp Mask” which does the best sharpening. Look at images at 100% size as you increase the USM strength…stop when halos start to appear. Sharpening should be done last. An example of sharpening:

12. Use Clarity and Vibrance [these are Photoshop Lightroom terms, but other image editors have something similar]. They are generically called “local mid-tone contrast” and “saturation of under-saturated areas”.

My standard values are Clarity = 25 and Vibrance = 18, for you LR users…start there and vary for the best compromise. I could write a big book on Clarity, Vibrance, and Saturation, as they have some interesting uses. For example, take a portrait of a woman [with a few lines, wrinkles, and pores] and process it with Clarity = -50, Vibrance = 30, and Saturation = 5. Voila!

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Another example is setting CVS to 100, 50, 50 to get an “HDR-look”. Understand that some people detest this “look”…it’s best to use it sparingly? And understand that it isn’t an actual tone-mapped HDR image:

I noticed that the July 2012 Panorama cover photograph has a mild HDR-look…I guess if Leonard can get away with it, the rest of us can too?

13. Crop tightly…and position the subject off center…the subject should look toward the “empty” side, regardless of whether it’s a person or a car. If a picture has an entire car in motion, then more space should be in front of the car than behind the car [it looks “wrong” if the car doesn’t have space in front!]. In general, locate the closest eye near one of the 1/3 points.

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14. Time the shutter actuation to coincide with something interesting happening. This is a skill that can’t be performed with your left-brain! You need to practice taking pictures of people until it becomes instinctive [which is just a way of saying your right-brain is doing it without asking permission from your left-brain]. The problem is that your left-brain is too slow to respond to people’s expressions and gestures; whereas your right-brain can anticipate what is going to happen [if you let it]. Note that the right-brain will make a few mistakes, but you can always delete those mistakes. And it will get better w/ practice.

15. Talk w/ the subject(s) to make them relax and be natural. All good portrait photographers, whether formal or casual do this.

16. Persist and take MANY pictures…most people seem to have short attention spans and soon they forget you are there! Talking can help distract them; find some subject that interests them and talk about it. Practice this at a party of mostly strangers; talk to each person and find out what interests them. Do it in less than 2-minutes per person! Then do the same thing with a camera pointed at them.

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17. Expose the background differently than the foreground [this is mostly for shots inside, where you use flash]. Here is how it’s done:

• Set an exposure in M-mode that is about 2 f-stops below “correct”. This assumes a relatively constant ambient illumination level in the room. If the illumination varies a lot, you will have to use P-mode and set a “correct” exposure and use an exposure compensation of -2.• Then when you use TTL flash, the camera will control the flash output to make the

subject properly exposed, but the light from the flash will have minimal affect on the background [assuming a big room]. If you set an exposure compensation of -2, you will have to set the flash compensation for +2.• Take a few test shots and check to see if the balance between foreground and

background is OK.

This technique makes the subject stand out nicely, but you can still tell what is going on in the background. Combine this w/ a wide aperture to blur the background a bit [see #21]?

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18. Avoid taking pictures w/ flash when the subject is near walls or near other objects that are in the shadow of the flash. This is difficult at times…some people are “wall-flowers” and naturally hang back instead of venturing into the open field. I think this is a genetic thing? Many animals do the same thing…like deer, who don’t feel safe out in the open and thus browse near trees and brush. I just skip taking these type pictures [of people, not deer], because they will be rejects. If you HAVE to capture the subjects, get them to move away from everything…often they resist, so be firm.

19. Focus on the human subject, even when a car is in the picture…it’s OK to have the car slightly OoF, but not OK to have the human subject slightly OoF. This is true even of pictures of MOVING cars…focus on the driver! When you can, focus on the nearest eye!

20. Don’t make EVERY picture level…spice things up by tilting the camera occasionally. I especially like to do this when a couple is of radically different height [like she’s 5’ 0” and he’s 6’ 3”] to make the difference less. If he was 5’ 0” and she was 6’ 3” I would tilt it the OTHER way to make the difference BIGGER … ;-) Some scenes naturally have a line of interest, where the viewer should scan; make this line a diagonal of your framing.

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21. Use a reasonably large aperture…f 2.4 seems good w/ a 50mm lens on a crop-sensor body…it makes the background blur w/o having the DoF so small that the subject is partly blurred….and good 50mm f/1.4 lenses are quite sharp at f2.4. When setting up M-mode, start by setting the aperture, then adjust the exposure time. If using flash, set the M-exposure about 2 f-stops low, to additionally make the background darker than the subject [see #17].

22. Use a square crop [1:1] with portraits; it works really well. Try it.

23. Be confident! If you are shy and lack confidence, you will fail as a portrait photographer. If you have thoughts about “invading the space” of your subjects… get over it! If you think it’s not “right” to take candid portraits…you are wrong! The first thing is to get your mind right. Unless you believe that what you are doing is good, correct, and legal, you will project a weak, tentative personality to your subjects and they will not cooperate. Be assertive, but make it fun. If you find a subject that really doesn’t want their image captured, back away nicely; their pictures were not going to be good anyway with that negative attitude!

24. Shoot RAW images as they have massive tolerance compared w/ JPEG images, so the exposure and color temperature can be changed later w/o affecting the image adversely. Yes, this means that you must edit 100% of your images, but you should do that anyway! Many newer cameras can simultaneously save both RAW and JPEG files.

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25. Forget about setting the color temp [white balance] in the camera [if you listen to me and save RAW images]. Set it to Auto WB…but then take occasional shots of neutral white/grey objects to use as a color reference. When the lighting changes, take a new reference shot. Easy to do; easy to forget. If you save JPEG images, then you must set the WB correctly and often. Either way, slip a white index card or blank white business card [or use the back of your business card] in your shirt pocket and have someone hold it up when you need to get a new white reference.

26. EVERY image should be edited, at least in a few basic ways:

• Color Temp [white balance]• Crop/Straighten• Exposure/Highlights/Shadows• Local contrast/saturation enhancement [Clarity and Vibrance]• Noise reduction• Sharpening

This is easy and quick, once you know what to do and how to do it. Many photo editors can automate edits like this; it’s especially good to automate the last 3.

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27. Throw away [or hide] all but the best images. Be critical. It’s hard to do but necessary! Simply look at each image and assign a star rating [0-5 stars]. Base this on how well you caught the action and how well the focus and stability turned out…a blurry image should get ZERO stars [immediately throw a picture away if nothing is in focus]. It’s possible to fix many defects, but a blurry picture can’t be improved [much]. Some “artists” intentionally take blurry pictures, but if you are not an “artiste”, avoid doing this.

28. Put your name in the EXIF data so we will know who took the picture. Turn on the Copyright notice if you want to [recommended]. These can be done in the camera and they will automatically appear in all pictures.

29. Don’t use filters. An exception is a circular polarizing filter, which can improve some car photos. Get a good [expensive] one! It will [if adjusted properly] reduce reflections on window glass allowing the people inside to be seen better. But even a circular polarizing filter should not be left on your lens all the time! Only use a filter when it is absolutely necessary.

30. Always use a lens hood [shade]. Put it on the lens when you buy the lens; never take it off! Not only will it reduce glare, which reduces contrast and produces “flare” aberrations, but it also is good protection for the front lens elements.

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31. A UV/skylight filter offers little protection, regardless of what you might hear from people selling you stuff. It also can create IQ problems, such as flare and low contrast. If you simply can’t believe that I’m right, at least buy the best UV/skylight filter you can find, as it will minimize the IQ problems. It will also cost you a small fortune, which is punishment for not believing me. ;-)

32. Don’t worry about a little dust on lens surfaces. It can’t be seen in images and causes zero problems as long as you leave it alone. If you wipe it off your lens will soon be destroyed. When you scratch the anti-reflective coatings on lenses, they exhibit internal reflection problems. When you really must clean a lens [when there are finger smudges], learn how to do it properly! There are many good lens-cleaning references on line, but some are poor. Here is the truth:

• DO blow any loose dust off with a quality blower [Rocket Blower] first• DO NOT use compressed “air” from a can• DO use a soft lens brush next…then blow it off again with the blower• DO use a quality lens cleaning paper…use it only once…fold it, don’t crumple• DO NOT use a microfiber cloth or lens pen• DO not use your shirt• DO use a quality lens cleaning fluid…put one drop of fluid on the paper• DO NOT blow or breathe on lens to wet it• DO wipe in circular strokes

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33. Don’t worry about dust on your sensor [actually, the dust is on the IR/anti-alias filter, in front of the sensor]. If you think you have a sensor dust problem, take a properly exposed test shot of a cloudless sky with a very small aperture; if there is dust, you will see it in the image. Note that you can’t see sensor dust in your viewfinder! Note that you can’t see dust on the AA filter directly, even with a microscope. The only way is to image the shadows of the dust by using the sensor.

34. Learn how to clean your sensor. It’s easy and doesn’t damage it [if you do it correctly]. Or just open your lens aperture and you won’t see even big dust particles sitting on the AA filter! [You should have your aperture open anyway, because, a lens has greater resolving ability and shallower depth-of-field when the aperture is large. In general, you should never use an aperture setting higher [smaller opening] than f8 and most of the time it should be below f5.6.].

35. Watch out for flash reflections! People wearing glasses should be asked to look in a direction where there will be no reflection. Since they don’t know what direction is correct, you will have to examine the first shot and see if there are reflections of your flash and ask them to face another direction [or move the flash].

Windows and mirrors also are issues when using flash. You will have to position yourself where reflections don’t return to the camera.