Portrait

Easy

One person, sharp eyes, soft background. The most common reason people buy a real camera.

Lenses that suit this: 50mm–85mm is the sweet spot. Longer lenses flatter faces and blur backgrounds more.

The guide

50mm works for head-and-shoulders and half body. 85mm is even more flattering, but you need a few extra steps of distance.

Start at your widest opening (often f/1.8) for a soft background. If the eyes are not both sharp, close down a little to f/2.8.

1/200s or faster for a standing person. People sway more than you think.

Keep it as low as the light allows. Outdoors in daylight, ISO 100–400 is usually enough.

Single-point autofocus on the eye closest to you, or eye-detect autofocus if your camera has it.

Move your subject away from the background — distance blurs the background far more than any setting. Then step closer to your subject.

Put the eyes roughly a third from the top of the frame and leave a little space in the direction they are looking.