Portrait photography is about capturing the essence of someone by using lighting, backgrounds and posing. It’s a challenge to go beyond taking a basic photo of someone and instead document who that person really is. But mastering that art can be incredibly rewarding.

 

We spoke with Canon Canada Ambassador Nicole Ashley, an international portrait and wedding photographer based in Edmonton, for some tips and techniques about the craft.

 

“I enjoy showing people a different viewpoint of themselves,” she says. “So often when people look in the mirror, we have this very basic face-on view where we see ourselves only at eye level. It’s really fun to shoot different angles of people or show them in really beautiful light or in a way that they’ve never seen before.”

 

Read on for an overview of the lenses and lighting, posing and post-processing that goes into great portrait photography. With a little patience and a little practice, your portraits will be portfolio ready.

Both mirrorless and DSLR cameras provide a solid base for portrait photography. What makes the biggest difference in your photos is the lens you use.

 

Choosing the Right Canon Lens for Portraits

“I personally love the RF50mm F1.2L USM,” says Nicole. “I shoot almost all of my portraits really wide open – F1.2, F1.4 – and the 50mm focal length is my go-to.” A 50mm lens works equally well for full-on head-to-toe portraits as it does for capturing subjects from just the waist up.

 

You may also want to try an 85mm lens, a focal length that provides an ideal depth and perspective of the subject relative to the background, helping capture high-quality imagery with beautiful bokeh. Some professionals may also use a 135mm lens, mostly for versatility for on-location shoots.

 

Portrait photographers usually opt for prime lenses, which have a fixed focal length – for example, 50mm, 85mm or 135mm – over a zoom lens. “I’d rather move in and out and move my feet to get closer to my subject to work around what I need than zoom my camera,” says Nicole. Prime lenses generally have wider apertures and produce sharper images.

 

 

Essential Camera Settings for Perfect Portraits

There’s no one-size-fits-all set of settings for portrait photography. Instead, focus on three things that you can modify depending on your shooting situation: aperture, ISO and shutter speed.

 

“I shoot in manual, so everything is adjusted,” says Nicole. “I try to keep the ISO pretty low and work with good light to being with. I never want to push my ISO too high because you’ll get a lot of noise in the image. I would start at ISO 100 and go from there. For shutter speed, I usually start at 1/250. I try to never go below that – even your heartbeat can create some camera shake.” Start with a low aperture – F 1.2 or F1.4 – to reduce noise and extra light in your shots.

Lighting is a key element of portrait photography. It can highlight and complement your subject, and create different moods and effects in your final image.

 

 

Natural Light Portraits

With natural light, it’s easier to create images with a more documentary-like style. “Natural light is typically soft, so you can see exactly what you’re working with,” says Nicole. “A big thing is trying to get your subject to turn into the light or have the light facing on them so you’re not creating really harsh shadows – unless that’s the intent.”

 

A lot of portrait photographers love shooting at golden hour: the period just before sunset and just after sunrise when the sun’s position in the sky creates a warm, natural light. But anything where the sun hasn’t quite fully risen or quite fully set offers an amazing light source, says Nicole. High noon is always the trickiest time of day. To counteract light that brightly harsh, seek a shaded area – or create your own – or embrace the sun but turn your subject’s face away from it.

 

 

Studio Lighting Setups

Studio lighting affords you the flexibility of shooting wherever and whenever you like, allowing you to accommodate your subject’s schedule. You have complete control over your lighting, and can manipulate it for different storytelling purposes. In their studio, a professional portrait photographer will have multiple types of lighting, including continuous lighting, speedlites and flash strobes, as well as accessories such as softboxes, reflectors and umbrellas.

Composition refers to the arrangement of the visual elements of a photo. Posing and backgrounds are two key components that help tie everything in the frame together to create a single image.

 

 

Basics of Posing Individuals

Nicole encourages portrait photographers to be very directive. “It helps alleviate a lot of security and stress for the person if you’re giving direction, if you keep talking and keep their mind busy,” she says.

 

Spend a few minutes getting to know your subject (if you don’t already), and mentally note any little mannerisms they naturally do. “Before I even pick up my camera and I'm talking to someone, I'll watch how they fix their hair, how they touch their clothes,” says Nicole. Ask your subject what side of their face they prefer. And keep them moving. “I'll never have people hold stagnant poses,” says Nicole. “I'll always ask them to look up, look down, fix their shirt, move their feet. It's in those little in-between things where you'll get more documentary, organic kind of photos.”

 

 

Using Backgrounds Effectively

A good background will enhance your portrait, not distract from it. “I try to keep a good distance with the foreground, that there's nothing right beside someone's face,” says Nicole. “I like things to look blurry, for it to look like colours and texture more so in the background than make exactly what is there the key storytelling aspect. I want people to look at the portrait and then the background after.”

 

A good background plays a supporting role, not the lead. “I never want a background to look flat or for someone's eyes to go to a background first,” says Nicole. “That has a lot to do with exposure and making sure all of your curves are correct. I want people to look at the main highlight, whether that’s someone’s hands or their eyes or their face. I’m purposeful where I want the viewers eyes to go first, and then I start breaking down everything else in an image.”

 

Shooting in nature brings the textures of trees and landscapes into play. If you’ve chosen an intentional location, you’ll likely want to incorporate the landmarks into the background. Shoot both tight and wide so you have lots of options to choose from back home.

The mood of an image helps convey your subject’s story and invoke feelings in the viewer. Try using a shallow depth of field to isolate your subject from the background. You can also draw extra attention to the eyes. Shooting wide open – that is, with a large aperture – with a strong focus on the eyes with a blurry fall-off helps draw people in. Even adding a prop – say a single flower – can add to the atmosphere (not to mention give the subject something to do with their hands!).

 

Black-and-white portraits have a unique way of drawing you in. Nicole always delivers both colour and black-and-white sets to her clients. “I think it's easier to get visually distracted with colour photos,” she says. “With black and white, it strips it away because your eyes are not looking at all the different colours. You're just looking at the main purpose of the image. I find portraits are really captivating in black and white because it forces you to focus on the eyes and the face or whatever it is the photographer is trying to get you to focus on.” Most Canon EOS cameras have Monochrome Picture Style, or you can edit the photos during post-processing.

 

 

Angles and Lighting

While it’s tempting to simply photograph a subject at eye level, anyone can look in the mirror and see themselves from that angle. It’s often more interesting to take a photo of someone from above or below so they see a different viewpoint. As a photographer, don’t be afraid to move your feet!

 

Lighting is also huge for storytelling. “I’m always trying to make lighting look dreamy and soft,” says Nicole. “When I put it behind, I find it’s not as harsh on the subject. It creates a dynamic element to the photo. For me, it’s always to create a sunset, moody kind of look.” Contrast that with fitness photography, where you want to focus on harder lines or shadows, so you would put your lighting straight above or just angled.

Post-processing refers to the changes you can make to your photos using editing software. To take full advantage of all that’s possible, shoot your photos in RAW. These files are unprocessed data. Since RAW images haven’t been altered, you can process the same file multiple ways. You can change white balance, adjust the exposure, and adjust the sharpness or contrast – among other setting changes – without losing image data.

 

 

Editing Tips for Enhancing Portraits

With post-processing, you can completely change the feeling of a photo. You can remove items (say, a stray hair), colour correct (for example, adjust the white balance to add warmth to a photo), colour grade (for example, tinting your image to give it a vintage look), even crop to change the ratio of the final photo. “Sometimes emotion trumps technicalities,” says Nicole. “I may take a photo where the emotion is beautiful, but the lighting wasn’t great. If my client turned into dark lighting, but I loved the way they smiled, I can adjust that in post-processing and save the image.”

 

 

Recommended Software for Portrait Editing

Once you’ve taken all your shots, you’re ready to customize the final aesthetics. Which software program is best for you will depend on the factors you prioritize, including features and functions, user interface and budget. “I think the most user-friendly one to start off with is either Lightroom or Evoto because everything is on sliders,” says Nicole. “I would recommend putting in an image and playing around with the sliders to see how far you want to push an image.” Canon’s own Digital Photo Professional Express allows for enhanced mobile editing of RAW image files. Used in combination with the Canon Camera Connect app, DPP Express enables you to send, view, edit and process CR3 RAW files on your iPad.