How to Shoot Outdoor Portraits

Jim Zuckerman is one of the top pros at BetterPhoto's digital photography school, and he offers some excellent tips for photographing portraits outdoors. Check it out...

(c) Jim Zuckerman

"Successfully photographing people outdoors is not hard at all," says Jim Z. "In fact, it's easy if you use the following guidelines."

1. Use soft and diffused lighting such as from an overcast sky or shade.

2. Make sure the background is in shade, too. Don't photograph someone in the shade and have a background with direct sun or even sunny highlights. That will ruin the picture.

3. Use a telephoto lens, at least 150mm or so.

4. Make sure the background is either out of focus or complementary in some way.

5. Don't ask for a fake smile.

"There are other types of outdoor portraits that can work," points out Jim Z, "but these five guidelines will always give you great results."


Notes:

- See more information about Jim Zuckerman and his online photography courses at his BetterPhoto instructor's bio page.

- In addition, Jim Z contributed wonderful images to my next two BetterPhoto Guide books (both co-authored with Kerry Drager): The BetterPhoto Guide to Creative Digital Photography (just published) and The BetterPhoto Guide to Photographing Light (due out in April 2012).

Comments

[Samantha]

Do you always have to use a telephoto lens? What about a fixed portrait type lens, like the 50mm?

[Jim Miotke]

Hi Samantha,
Thanks for the note. While the 50mm is nice, it does depend how far back the background is - in terms of getting it super blurred. A wide aperture isn't enough. (Of course, sometimes you might want to incorporate a complementary background into the composition - in which case, a normal 50mm or even a wide-angle can be used.) Otherwise, as Jim Z suggests, a telephoto will almost always blur the background out to a very pleasing degree. Thanks for commenting!

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Thanks for the note. While the 50mm is nice, it does depend how far back the background is - in terms of getting it super blurred. A wide aperture isn't enough.

[Brian]

Not only is a telephoto useful for blurring the background, it also improves the perspective producing a more pleasing portrait. Taken to the extreme,a wide angle lensewill make the nore look disproportionately large. a 50 mm less so but most portraits look even better with a 75mm or greater lens. Another advantage is the longer foccal length lense allows you to get up close and personal without crowding the subject and making her/him feel uncomfortable.

That said, a portrait taken with a 50 mm lens is better than no portrait at all.