Photography Aperture Priority Mode (Av)

 Photographing people can be a very intimidating and daunting task, after-all there is implicitly a lot of pressure on the photographer when taking people photos as your subject is often awaiting to see the results and final images!  Being a great people photographer often starts with being a good people person.  Are you good with people? If so, then you are well on your way! If not I'm here to help you mates !Today in this post I am going to give you the guidance, tips, tricks and confidence that are guaranteed to improve your people photos!1. Aperture Priority Mode – Having your camera set to “aperture priority” mode will easily let you control depth of field, which is how much or how little you want to be in focus in your photo.  When photographing people, depth of field is among the first thing I am visualizing before pushing the shutter, deciding how much and what I want in or out of focus. To learn more about the 4 major camera modes, read this post we have written.                              
To keep the focus on subject a wide aperture (f1.8) was selected to blur background

2. Single Person Photos vs Group Photos – When photographing a single person, experiment with shooting “wide open” on your lens at the widest aperture (lowest f/stop number) to achieve a nice background blur and have your subject really “pop” off the image.  However, for multiple person group shots, do not shoot at such wide apertures as this can cause certain people to be out of focus.

To ensure everyone is in focus on group photos use larger apertures for more depth of field

3. Use a Longer Lens – Using telephoto lenses for single person and small group photos can help in two major ways.  First, longer lenses typically have a more thinning look for your subjects and second, one key determinant of depth of field is lens focal length and the more telephoto the lens is the easier and more background blur you will have in your shot.  As discussed above, this isolates your subject in your photo from the background, a pleasing look for people portraits.  Some ideal lenses would be a 70-200 2.8 or 85 1.4 or 1.8, if you only have a telephoto lens that came with your camera than use that lens at the longer end of its zoom range.

Using a long zoom like the Nikon 70-200 f2.8 was critical for this photo to be able to snap away from afar

Taken with the Nikon 85 1.8G lens @ f1.8

4. Use a Wide Angle to Incorporate Environment – Feel free to mix it up and use a wide angle lens when you want to incorporate natural or architectural elements into your photo.  Not only is this good to have versatility in your imagery but it also can really add to the overall look of the photo by having stunning landscapes incorporated into the composition.

A wide angle lens was used to incorporate the gorgeous landscape into this portrait

A vertical photo orientation lets us include the interesting blue wall in the photo

5. Talk! – Talking to your subject is huge!  It keeps it personal and fun and most of all more relaxed.  It is a natural feeling for people to close up when a camera is pointed at them so its crucial to break through that barrier and communicate with them while shooting.  As you are taking the photos be reassuring and verbally let them know how good the photos are looking, this will give them confidence and let them to just relax and be more comfortable in front of your lens.  If you are known to be a comedian, make sure to crack a joke here and there and get them laughing to elicit candid expressions from them.

6. Show the Goods – A great tip that I learned when I first started was when you get a really great photo, show it to them on the back of your camera!  This will not only give them a little treat by seeing an advanced look of the images but will get them excited and confident that you are getting some great images.

7. Don’t be Afraid to Give Direction –  Being a wedding and portrait photographer, it is important to realize that most of the people you will be photographing are NOT professional models and as such they don’t know which poses look natural and which do not.  Feel free to show your subject a pose that you have in your mind by doing the pose yourself so they can visually see what you have in mind.

A fun shot of us laughing at myself when giving direction and helping show the pose I had in mind

8. “Work the Pose” – Once you get your subject or subjects into a flattering and good looking pose, work the pose by shooting it from different angles and perspectives and even asking your subject to look different ways – the result will be a variety of slightly different looks and viewpoints that you can then pick your very favorites from.

By having subjects sitting it allows for multiple angles to photograph from

A completely different looking shot despite using same lens and couple in same pose by adjusting angle & composition

9. Be Mindful of Extreme Angles – Angles, when used effectively can work to your benefit, however, be careful of angles that aren’t flattering for your subject.  For example, a ultra low angle looking up towards your subject may look interesting and creative but low angles often are not flattering to your subject.

All the pictures credit goes to respective owners.