Digital Photographer - UK (2020-01)

Draw focus onto your subject’s eyes

Use wide apertures

for portraits

Short telephoto lenses in the 85-135mm

range are said to be the best choice

for traditional portraiture because they

compress perspective a little, which flatters

facial features. An additional benefit is that

they also give shallow depth of field (DOF)

at wide apertures, such as f4 or f2.8, so you

can throw the background out of focus.

If you want to do that but also record

all of your subject’s face in sharp focus,

stick to an aperture of f5.6 and focus on

your subject’s eyes. If you use a wider

aperture, depth of field will be reduced to

the point where you may find that parts of

your subject’s face aren’t sharply focussed

• such as the tip of their nose, chin and
  forehead. This effect can work well though,
  as it focusses attention on your subject’s
  eyes – especially if you shoot with your lens
  at maximum aperture.
  Try shooting portraits with a telezoom
  at f2.8 or f4, or a 50mm prime lens at f1.8.
  If you do this, make sure your subject is
  square on to the camera so that when you
  focus on one eye the other one is also sharp,
  otherwise it will look odd. Alternatively,
  shoot from an angle so one eye is closer to
  the camera than the other, and focus on the
  nearest eye.

This set of images shows how the feel of a portrait changes as you stop the lens down to increase depth of field. They were all taken with a

24-70mm zoom at 70mm on a full-frame DsLR, and the lens was focussed on the subject’s eyes.

Apertures and portraiture Examine how different f-stops affect your subject

Sharp & soft The eyes are sharply

focussed but everything else

gradually blurs away. This adds

a gentle softness to the portrait

and draws attention to the eyes.

Getting sharper The eyes here

are sharply focussed along with

much of the subject’s face and

forehead, but the ears, neck and

shoulders are still out of focus.

Less blur here you can see that

the whole of the subject’s face

is sharply focussed, while the

ears, neck and shoulders are

less blurred.

Too sharp? The whole of the

subject’s head is sharply

focussed, and it looks much

crisper – but it lacks character

compared to the f2.8 shot.

Left

Focus attention

A person’s eyes are ‘windows

on their soul’, so when shooting

portraits you need to ensure

they’re pin-sharp

1

f2.8 f5.6 f8 f11

Techniques

Drawfocusontoyoursubject’seyes

Use wide apertures

for portraits

Shorttelephotolensesinthe85-135mm

rangearesaidtobethebestchoice

fortraditionalportraiturebecausethey

compressperspectivealittle,whichflatters

facialfeatures.Anadditionalbenefitisthat

theyalsogiveshallowdepthoffield(DOF)

atwideapertures,suchasf4orf2.8,soyou

canthrowthebackgroundoutoffocus.

Ifyouwanttodothatbutalsorecord

allofyoursubject’sfaceinsharpfocus,

sticktoanapertureoff5.6andfocuson

yoursubject’seyes.Ifyouuseawider

aperture,depthoffieldwillbereducedto

thepointwhereyoumayfindthatpartsof

yoursubject’sfacearen’tsharplyfocussed

• suchasthetipoftheirnose,chinand
  forehead.Thiseffectcanworkwellthough,
  asitfocussesattentiononyoursubject’s
  eyes–especiallyifyoushootwithyourlens
  atmaximumaperture.
  Tryshootingportraitswithatelezoom
  atf2.8orf4,ora50mmprimelensatf1.8.
  Ifyoudothis,makesureyoursubjectis
  squareontothecamerasothatwhenyou
  focusononeeyetheotheroneisalsosharp,
  otherwiseitwilllookodd.Alternatively,
  shootfromananglesooneeyeiscloserto
  thecamerathantheother,andfocusonthe
  nearesteye.

Thissetofimagesshowshowthefeelofaportraitchangesasyoustopthelensdowntoincreasedepthoffield.Theywere all taken with a

24-70mmzoomat70mmonafull-frameDsLR,andthelenswasfocussedonthesubject’seyes.

Aperturesandportraiture Examinehowdifferentf-stopsaffectyoursubject

Sharp&softTheeyesaresharply

focussedbuteverythingelse

graduallyblursaway.Thisadds

agentlesoftnesstotheportrait

anddrawsattentiontotheeyes.

GettingsharperTheeyeshere

aresharplyfocussedalongwith

muchofthesubject’sfaceand

forehead,buttheears,neckand

shouldersarestilloutoffocus.

Lessblurhereyoucanseethat

thewholeofthesubject’sface

issharplyfocussed,whilethe

ears,neckandshouldersare

lessblurred.

Toosharp? The whole of the

subject’s head is sharply

focussed, and it looks much

crisper– but it lacks character

compared to the f2.8 shot.

Left

Focus attention

A person’s eyes are ‘windows

on their soul’, so when shooting

portraits you need to ensure

they’re pin-sharp

1

f2.8 f5.6 f8 f11

Techniques