Photography and Videography Tips

Portrait Photography Tips-Outdoor 

Taking control of your camera’s aperture is crucial for shooting portraiture in which your subject stands out. With outdoor portrait photography, it’s even more important you set the best f stop for your subject and scene. So how do you know what that is?

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1. Aperture Settings: When shooting portraits, it’s best to set a wide aperture (around f/2.8-f/5.6) to capture a shallow depth of field, so the background behind your subject is nicely blurred, making them stand out better. Shoot in Aperture Priority mode to control depth of field; in this mode your SLR will helpfully set the shutter speed for a correct exposure.
2. Shutter Speed Setting: As a general rule, make sure your shutter speed is higher than your effective focal length. For example, at 200mm use a 1/250 sec shutter speed or faster. This also means you can get away with slower shutter speeds when using a wide-angle lens – such as 1/20 sec with an 18mm focal length.
3. ISO Setting: Changing the ISO setting on your camera changes the sensitivity to light of the image sensor inside of it. The lower number that you select the less sensitive the sensor is to light (and conversely the higher the number the more sensitive it becomes). 100 is best but 200 will do. DO NOT set it at 400 or above, as this creates "noise" and grain-unacceptable in fine portraits.
4. Shoot ONLY in the 30-45 minute window AFTER the suns sets or BEFORE it rises. This is by far the single most important factor in creating a fine portrait without expensive studio lighting. The quality of light during this time is unequaled. NEVER shoot portraits in full sun. Another best option can be the magical sky that occurs right after a rainstorm when the sky is clean and glowing - cloudy but brightening.
5. Lens choice: Your choice of lens has a big impact on your portrait photos. A wide-angle (around 18mm) lens captures a wider angle of view, so more of your subject’s surroundings will be in shot. A telephoto (over 70mm) lens captures a narrower angle of view, and less of your subject’s surroundings will appear in frame. Focal length also affects depth of field (DoF). A wide-angle lens will capture more depth of field compared to a telephoto lens. This is why telephoto lenses are favoured over wide-angle lenses for portraits, as they further knock backgrounds out of focus to make people more prominent in the scene.

ISO Aperture Shutter Speed Cheat Sheet

Selfie Fever

Time To Talk About Technique 

These days people are bit obsessed for taking Selfie or self portraits. What is the tough part in selfie is to come up with new ideas.

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Tip #1: The problem that usually comes up while taking a selfie is of focus. So, you not place someone or some object on the place where you want your selfie to focus. Height doesn't matter so much as distance, but try to match it to yourself as best as you can for accuracy.

Tip #2: Try standing by the corner of the wall or the building. This will give you two benefits in one go. First, you will get the best focus for yourself. And second, you will get a decent amount of depth of field.

Tip #3: Use props to express your personality. This will give you added advantage to be at ease and express naturally.

Tip #4: Self timer is the best option for selfie. Place your camera on table or on any shelf and express your heart out in your clicks.

Tip #5: If you are extending your arms to grab a face shot then the best idea is to always look up towards the sky for the best angle.

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Tip #6: Set your camera to take multiple shots. When running into a timed shot, don't just take one — set your camera to take a few! This way, you can pull faces and act crazy in real motion, and pick your favorite selfie. You also don't have to keep running back to take one shot at a time.

Tip #7: Find a reflective object. Of course we all know mirrors reflect, but what about the oven door, the glass on the fireplace, an ornament, or lid of a pot.

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Tip #8: Why to take a selfie always with a smile..Try other some emotions like anger, fear, romance, tears etc.

Tip #9: Use some lighting techniques to make a great selfie for yourself. Try to use laptop or cell phone light for your selfie. You can use a neutral dark background and illuminate with these source of light to create great professional self portrait.

Tip #10: Try to capture you emotions with back-light or in silhouette. All you need to do is to stand against bright light and use your prop or body language to express yourself.

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