Most adults spend a lot of time earning money to support their lifestyle. Some people love what they do, but other people think their 9-to-5 routine is torture. If you have a friend who fits in the former category and needs a picture of herself for business cards or passports, grab your Nikon D780 camera and use the settings in this section.
Tell your subject how you want her to pose.
How to set the Nikon D780 camera
When you create a portrait for someone, you want to make him the center of attention, so you photograph the scene in aperture-priority auto (A) mode and use a large aperture (a small f/stop number) to create a shallow depth of field that draws the viewer’s attention to your subject. The suggested ISO of 100 is perfect for shooting in a bright room or outside. If you photograph the person in overcast conditions, use an ISO of 400. The medium telephoto focal length suggested renders a pleasing portrait without distorting your subject’s features. Use image stabilization if available because the slightest operator movement results in a photo that’s less than tack sharp.Camera settings: Portraits
These are the settings I recommend for shooting portraits:- Metering mode: Matrix
- Release mode: Single frame
- Shooting mode: Aperture-priority auto (A) mode
- Aperture: f/4.0 or larger (which means smaller f-stop numbers, like f/2.8 or f/1.2)
- ISO: 100 to 400
- Focus mode: AF-S (single autofocus)
- Autofocus point: Single-point AF
- Focal length: 80mm to 100mm
- Image stabilization: On
How to create a portrait on the D780
You photograph the typical formal portrait against a solid-colored background, although some professional photographers use a painted muslin background. You can get good results if you photograph your subject against a solid-colored wall. Just make sure your subject is a few feet in front of the wall; otherwise, any texture in the wall will be captured with the image and will distract the viewer’s attention.Turn off any unnecessary lights. Overhead lights are fine. If you’re photographing a subject in his office, and you turn on the light on your subject’s desk, you run the risk of throwing the camera white balance off and adding hotspots to your subject’s face.
Position your subject a few feet in front of your backdrop, and tell her how you want her to pose. Posing is beyond the scope of this book. But a good generic pose involves having your subject turn her head to one side and tilt her chin up. Tell your subject how you want her to pose.When you compose the picture, use natural elements to draw the viewer into the picture. The subject’s right shoulder draws the viewer into the image. Her left eye is on a rule-of-thirds power point.
If you’re photographing a model or an aspiring actress, use some props to draw the viewer into the image.
When focusing on your subject, place the autofocus point over the subject’s eye, or use the camera’s face and eye detection. This ensures that the eyes — the windows to your subject’s soul — are in sharp focus.
After you take the picture, review it on your tilting monitor. Make sure the image is properly exposed and your subject looks relaxed. In a typical portrait session, you have to take several pictures before the subject relaxes and you get some good images.Common problems with portraits
When you create a portrait and review the image on your tilting monitor and you don’t like what you see, the first thing to do is make sure your subject is relaxed. You may notice one of these other problems as well:- The image is dull and lifeless. The lighting you have available usually causes this problem. Portrait photographers illuminate their subjects with multiple light sources. Working with multiple light sources is a subject for an entire book. But you can add some life to your portraits by illuminating your subjects with a diffused flash. You can purchase snap-on diffusers for your flash at your favorite camera retailer. Stoffen makes diffusers that fit most popular flash units.
- The backdrop is dark gray. Even a white background looks gray if you don’t use illumination. Some Nikon flash units can function as a commander and trigger external flash units. Your flash unit may also have a swivel head, which enables you to bounce the flash off a white ceiling, which creates soft diffuse light. If your flash doesn’t have either option, you can use an image-editing application to create a careful selection around your subject and then replace or brighten the background.
