settings for portraiture

There are just three parameters to adjust. You get more blur:

The longer your focal length. Zoom to 55mm

The wider your aperture (open). In your case at 55mm that would be 5.6 (max. possible).

The farther back your background is from your subject.

Alfred said:

There are just three parameters to adjust. You get more blur:

The longer your focal length. Zoom to 55mm

The wider your aperture (open). In your case at 55mm that would be 5.6 (max. possible).

The farther back your background is from your subject.

Click to expand...

I'll also add "getting closer to the subject" as well as "be sure to focus on the subject".

The original poster may not get as much background blur as they want, unfortunately. Standing too close to the subject may also have the side-effect of comically distorting facial features, but this distortion can be mitigated via posing.

To get blurred backgrounds, you want a short distance from camera to subject, a long distance from subject to background, and a wide aperture.

• Set M mode.
• Set Auto ISO.
• Position the subject as far as you can from the background. Make small talk while you are doing this.
• Stand about 2m (6') from the subject. Normally, I 'd suggest 3m (10'), but your lens is too slow (its widest f-stop is too narrow) to get any useful blur at that distance.
• Zoom to get the framing you want. If you cannot get a framing as tight as you want zoomed all the way in to 55mm, don't stand any closer. You'll just have to crop. Get a longer (and faster) lens like the 85mm f/1.8G.
• Set the aperture to as wide as it will go (smallest available f-number). This will be f/5.6 if you are at 55mm, but may be a smaller number if you haven't zoomed in all the way.
• Set shutter to the fastest shutter speed that lets the camera use ISO 100. If this shutter speed is slower than 1/80, increase it to 1/80.
• Focus on the the subject's closest eye.
• Talk to the subject to get the look you want.
• Take the picture.

All good advice from Alfred, Mark and FingerPainter.

You might also want to see if you can find a cheap second-hand 50mm f/1.8. That will give you another > 3 stops of blur between f/5.6 and f/1.8.

--
Dutch
forestmoonstudio.co.uk
Photography is about light, not light-proof boxes.

Dutch Newchurch said:

All good advice from Alfred, Mark and FingerPainter.

You might also want to see if you can find a cheap second-hand 50mm f/1.8. That will give you another > 3 stops of blur between f/5.6 and f/1.8.

Click to expand...

A good idea but the OP must be careful to get an AF-S lens; the 50mm f/1.8 D, which would be a commonly found second-hand lens, won't autofocus on a D40.

Leonard Migliore said:

Dutch Newchurch said:

All good advice from Alfred, Mark and FingerPainter.

You might also want to see if you can find a cheap second-hand 50mm f/1.8. That will give you another > 3 stops of blur between f/5.6 and f/1.8.

Click to expand...

A good idea but the OP must be careful to get an AF-S lens; the 50mm f/1.8 D, which would be a commonly found second-hand lens, won't autofocus on a D40.

--
Leonard Migliore

Click to expand...

Thank you.

Nikon have kept the same lens mount for decades, but it now comes in so many flavours that keeping track of what actually works with what takes a special kind of dedication.

--
Dutch
forestmoonstudio.co.uk
Photography is about light, not light-proof boxes.

with you lens use that 55mm end and keep the fstop number low.

You dont need a blurred backround , it is just an artistic effect.

There are more, and IMHO better, ways to control the background:

Make it dark: have your subject stand in the light with an open door to a dark room (garage) as background.

Make it bright: indoors against a light coloured or preferably white curtain hit by the sun from outside. Use flash or a reflector to light the subject.

Make it neutral: an evenly coloured wall - it can be dabbled with shadows or weathered, but it must not dominate the picture. Many portrait photographers, myself included, use a neutral background .

Make it meaningful: a craftsman in his shop, an artist in his studio, fashion on the street (AKA environmental portraiture).

Blurring the background does not always work and you should always pay attention to the background, even if it's blurred. A brick wall will somehow retain its pattern despite serious attempts to blur it.

Good luck and good light.

Mark Scott Abeln said:

Alfred said:

There are just three parameters to adjust. You get more blur:

The longer your focal length. Zoom to 55mm

The wider your aperture (open). In your case at 55mm that would be 5.6 (max. possible).

The farther back your background is from your subject.

Click to expand...

I'll also add "getting closer to the subject" as well as "be sure to focus on the subject".

The original poster may not get as much background blur as they want, unfortunately. Standing too close to the subject may also have the side-effect of comically distorting facial features, but this distortion can be mitigated via posing.

Click to expand...

There won't be any distortion if he shoots at the long end of the zoom -- say from 45mm up to 55mm.

A prime lens of around 50mm with a maximum aperture of f/1.4 or f/1.8 would be easier to use, being brighter.

That's excellent advice, and also many lenses have unpleasant out-of-focus blur.

I would like to Thank everyone for taking time out to enlighten me on the subject of portraiture. Clearly, it's going to take some time for me to master this art, but master it I will. I am now, and have been for some time (understatement of the year) looking at buying new gear, you know, a camera that will make me want to take it with me everywhere I go and use it (David Thorpe is my idol). I have settled on the Olympus PEN-F. I like the Rangefinder (retro) "Leica look" without the the latter's price tag - I will bore you all next year to tell you how I got on.

I wish you all peace and happiness for Christmas and the New Year.

horriblehorrillo

D Cox said:

Mark Scott Abeln said:

Alfred said:

There are just three parameters to adjust. You get more blur:

The longer your focal length. Zoom to 55mm

The wider your aperture (open). In your case at 55mm that would be 5.6 (max. possible).

The farther back your background is from your subject.

Click to expand...

I'll also add "getting closer to the subject" as well as "be sure to focus on the subject".

The original poster may not get as much background blur as they want, unfortunately. Standing too close to the subject may also have the side-effect of comically distorting facial features, but this distortion can be mitigated via posing.

Click to expand...

There won't be any distortion if he shoots at the long end of the zoom -- say from 45mm up to 55mm.

Click to expand...

?!?

There will be just as much perspective distortion if he shoots with a 50mm or 55mm from 1m away as if he shoots with an 18mm or 24mm from the same distance

The reason distortion is erroneously associated with focal length is that people try to get the same framing with different focal lengths, which leads them to use short focal lengths at short distances, and long focal lengths at long distances. If that's what they do, they'll get more negative distortion with the short focal lengths, but they are getting that distortion because of the distance they are shooting from, not the focal length they are using.

I use 24mm (16mm on OP's DX body) to take full length portraits from a distance of 3m, and I don't get any more distortion than I do when I use a 200mm (135mm on OP's DX) to take a head shot from the same distance.

D Cox said:

A prime lens of around 50mm with a maximum aperture of f/1.4 or f/1.8 would be easier to use, being brighter.

Click to expand...

Well, it would be easier if that focal length gives the framing you want at reasonable distances. A 50mm lens mounted on DX will frame an area of nearly 1.5m x 1m (4.5' x 3'). That's too small for full length, and too large for head & shoulders. A 35mm might be a more useful focal length on DX, as might an 85mm.

Congratulations. You will enjoy the Pen-F. It is very capable. I just had (among others) a large print made (60x80cm, 24x31") from the picture below - an out of camera black & white jpg. Detail and overall look are amazing.


Out of camera jpg in B&W



--
- Alfred

horriblehorrillo said:

I would like to Thank everyone for taking time out to enlighten me on the subject of portraiture. Clearly, it's going to take some time for me to master this art, but master it I will. I am now, and have been for some time (understatement of the year) looking at buying new gear, you know, a camera that will make me want to take it with me everywhere I go and use it (David Thorpe is my idol). I have settled on the Olympus PEN-F. I like the Rangefinder (retro) "Leica look" without the the latter's price tag - I will bore you all next year to tell you how I got on.

I wish you all peace and happiness for Christmas and the New Year.

horriblehorrillo

Click to expand...

That's a good choice.

I'd recommend the m.Zuiko 45mm f/1.8 on that. My favourite lens, and it's great for portraits. At about £200, it's great value for money too.

--
Dutch
forestmoonstudio.co.uk
Photography is about light, not light-proof boxes.