Portrait photography

What makes a portrait

A portrait is a photograph whose main purpose is to show a particular person: how they look, but also something of who they are. A face alone is not enough; expression, posture, hands, clothes and surroundings all carry meaning.

Portraits range from tight headshots to environmental portraits, where the person's home, workplace or landscape is part of the story. Candid portraits catch people unposed, while studio portraits control every detail.

Whatever the style, the test is the same: does the viewer feel they have met someone?

A short history

Portraits were among the first commercial uses of photography. In the 1840s daguerreotype studios opened in many cities, and sitters had to hold still for long exposures, often with hidden head braces.

In the 1860s Julia Margaret Cameron broke with stiff studio conventions, using close framing and soft focus to show character rather than status. Later photographers such as August Sander catalogued whole societies through portraits, while Yousuf Karsh and Richard Avedon shaped how famous faces were seen in the 20th century.

Today the phone camera has made the portrait, and the self-portrait, the most common photograph in the world.

Gear and focal lengths

Any camera can make a good portrait, but focal length changes how a face looks. Up close with a wide lens, noses and foreheads look larger because the nearest features are much closer to the camera than the ears.

A short telephoto, about 85–135 mm on full frame (roughly 50–85 mm on APS-C), lets you stand around 5–10 ft away for a head-and-shoulders shot, which gives natural proportions. A 35 mm or 50 mm lens suits environmental portraits that include the setting.

Fast prime lenses (f/1.4–f/2) help blur busy backgrounds. A simple reflector or a sheet of white card is often the most useful accessory after the lens.

Starting settings

Mode: aperture priority is the easiest start. Try f/2.8 for a single person, and f/5.6–f/8 for a group so that every face falls within the depth of field (approximate).

Shutter speed: keep it at least 1/125 s for a still sitter and 1/250 s or faster for children or movement. ISO: as low as the light allows, raising it rather than accepting blur.

Focus: use single-point autofocus or eye-detection autofocus on the nearest eye. At very wide apertures the depth of field may be under an inch, so a small shift can leave the eyes soft.

Use spot or center-weighted metering, or exposure compensation, when a bright background would otherwise make the face too dark.

Light and composition

Large, soft light sources flatter skin: a window on a cloudy day, open shade beside a building, or the low sun of the golden hour. Hard midday sun from above casts dark shadows under the eyes.

Turn the person until light comes from about 45° to one side; the shadow side gives the face shape. A reflector on the shadow side softens the contrast.

Place the eyes roughly on the upper third line and leave space in the direction the person is looking. Crop between joints, at mid-thigh or mid-arm, rather than exactly at the knees or wrists.

Keep the background simple, and talk to your subject: relaxed people make better pictures than perfect settings do.

Common mistakes

Missing focus on the eyes, especially at f/1.8 or wider.

Shooting too close with a wide lens, which distorts the face in an unflattering way.

A pole, tree or bright object appearing to grow out of the person's head; move a step to the side to fix it.

Directing in silence. People stiffen when they do not know what you want, so give clear, kind instructions and show the results.

Consent, ethics and the law

Ask before you photograph someone up close, and respect a no. Take special care with children, vulnerable people and cultural or religious settings where photography may be unwelcome.

Laws differ by country. In many places you may photograph people in public, but using the picture for advertising or commercial work usually needs a signed model release. Some countries give people stronger rights over their own image, so check local rules before publishing.

Share images respectfully: avoid captions or edits that mock or misrepresent the person.

Exercise: one person, three lights

Ask a friend to sit for 20 minutes. Make the same head-and-shoulders portrait in three places: facing a window, beside a window with light from the side, and outdoors in open shade.

Keep the lens and settings the same, around f/2.8 and 1/250 s, and focus on the nearest eye each time.

Compare the three results on a large screen. Note which light shows the face's shape best and which one your friend likes most; the answers are often different.