Portrait photography is a unique and beautiful way to capture the personalities and emotions of your subjects. Whether you’re a professional photographer or just starting out, there are certain settings that can help you take stunning portraits every time.

In order to help you capture amazing portraits we have collected eight of the best tips / settings for portrait photography.

Lets go!

Use a lens with a wide aperture.

A lens with a wide aperture, such as f/1.8 or f/2.8, allows more light to enter the camera and creates a shallow depth of field. This means that the background of your image will be blurry, making your subject stand out and giving your portrait a professional look.

PRO TIP If you don't own a fast aperture lens but you only have a 55-200mm or 18-55mm kit lens try this: zoom in all the way, set your camera to aperture priority and set yout aperture to the lowest value it can reach. Then simply physically go as close as you can to your subject and take some photos. The combination of closeup distance, open aperture and zoomed in lens should create a blurry enough background! ×

Use a low ISO value

ISO refers to the sensitivity of your camera’s sensor to light. The lower the ISO, the less sensitive it is, which means you’ll need more light to properly expose your image. This is important in portrait photography because high ISO levels can result in grainy, noisy images.

A good range for outdoor portraits with natural light is from 100 to 400 ISO. IF the weather is cloudy you can also go up to 800 ISO in order to ensure that your photos will not be blurry due to motion blur.

Check your shutter speed

Shutter speed is the amount of time that the camera’s shutter is open to let light in. For portrait photography, a moderate shutter speed of around 1/125th of a second is generally the lowest speed you can use for sharp results.  The ideal shutter speeds though are at least 1/500 or 1/1000. These shutter speeds  will allow you to capture sharp images without causing motion blur.

Focus on the eyes

The eyes are the most important part of a portrait, so make sure to focus on them. You can do this by using your camera’s autofocus mode, or by manually focusing on the eyes using the focus points on your camera. Also remember to focus on the eye that is closer to the camera if your model is looking slightly sideways.

PRO TIP Many modern Mirrorless cameras have what is called EYE / FACE Autofocus. When you enable this functionality, the camera tries to always keep in focus either the eyes of the face of the subject, and generally does not get distracted by other elements within the frame. Check your manual to see if your camera supports this or simply google " your-camera's-model eye / face autofocus" for details. ×

Use a tripod.

Now this might sound controversial but a tripod can help you take sharp, steady portrait shots, especially if you’re using a long lens or shooting in low light. It will also allow you to take your time and carefully compose your shots, which is important in portrait photography. This is why you may have noticed that in many studio portrait sessions photographers use tripods, especially with longer and heavier lenses.

Try different angles

Experiment with different angles to add interest to your portraits. Shoot from above, below, or at a diagonal to give your images a unique perspective. Use a wide lens and try to shoot men from below to make them look epic and larger than life. Also try to shoot portraits of women from a slightly lower position from their eyes, something that will allow you to make them look more impressive.

Start by using natural light

Natural light is often the best light for portrait photography. It is softer and more flattering than artificial light, and can help you create beautiful, atmospheric images. If you’re shooting indoors, try to use as much natural light as possible, and if you’re shooting outside, consider the time of day and the direction of the light to get the best results.

Now don’t get us wrong: we love shooting with flash as well but that requires some technical knowledge and great understating of how light modifiers work so it’s better to start shooting with natural light and work your way up from there.

Slightly underexpose your photos

Try to use the Exposure Compensation +/- EV button on your camera and underexpose your portrait photos for -0.7 stops. This will give you some amazing benefits during editing. You will be able to use photo editing software in order to have a better control of the exposure, contrast, and color of your images to bring out the best in your portraits. Don;t forget though that you need to be shooting in RAW format for the best possible results.

The post 8 beginner photography tips for Amazing Portraits appeared first on Ilumius - Free Photoshop Lightroom Affinity Photo Tutorials.

In today’s episode / free Affinity Photo Tutorial I will demonstrate how to use the power of Affinity Photo to create drone photos with amazing colors that pop!!

Hello everyone!

Since summer is here it’s always a good idea to fly my drone and get some interesting photos of my hometown and distant places as well (now that we are finally in a place where we can travel again).

But sometimes the conditions are not ideal, and this means that your drone photos might look kind of dull.

But fear not because in today’s FREE Affinity Photo tutorial I am going to show you a series of editing steps that will elevate (pun intended) your drone photos to the next level in terms of color, light, detail, and wow overall factor.

As always, this workflow is 100% nondestructive and you will be able to customize it to fit your very own style of shooting and editing.

Skills you will learn:

• How to bring details back from overexposed and underexposed areas
• How to add lighting effects
• How to make your colors pop
• How to properly color grade your drone photos
• How to use various adjustment layers and make them work together in harmony
• How to relight your photo for more impact
• And many more

Enjoy!

DO YOU WANT A FREE AFFINITY PHOTO COURSE THAT WILL BLOW YOUR MIND?

If you like this tutorial you will LOVE our full FREE course on how to create cinematic black and white portraits with Affinity Photo. Grab the FULL course for free by clicking here.

Stratos Agiani

The post Free Affinity Photo Tutorial: Amazing drone photography colors with affinity photo appeared first on Ilumius - Free Photoshop Lightroom Affinity Photo Tutorials.

In today’s episode / free Affinity Photo Tutorial I will show how save the travel photos you took in non-ideal conditions!

Hello everyone!

Summer is FINALLY here in Greece and there are hundreds of photo ideas running through my brain right now.

I am also looking forward to do some travel photography but as you may already know sometimes we have to shoot in non-ideal conditions.

Haze, fog, bad light, empty skies are some of the problems that can ruin our travel photos.

But fear no more because today I have an AMAZING free Affinity photo tutorial for you that will BLOW YOUR MIND and help you create amazing travel photos and salvage many of the photos you thought were beyond saving!

This workflow is 100% nondestructive and you will be able to customize it to fit your very own style of shooting and editing.

Skills you will learn:

• How to INSTANTLY improve the colors in your photos
• How to add lighting effects
• How to make your colors pop
• How to use various adjustment layers and make them work together in harmony
• How to relight your photo for more impact
• And many more

Enjoy!

DO YOU WANT A FREE AFFINITY PHOTO COURSE THAT WILL BLOW YOUR MIND?

If you like this tutorial you will LOVE our full FREE course on how to create cinematic black and white portraits with Affinity Photo. Grab the FULL course for free by clicking here.

Stratos Agiani

The post Free Affinity Tutorial: Affinity Photo tricks to save your travel photos appeared first on Ilumius - Free Photoshop Lightroom Affinity Photo Tutorials.

In today’s episode / free Affinity Photo Tutorial I will show how to use the Develop persona and Affinity Photo in order to make the colors in your photos POP!

Hello everyone!

Spring is FINALLY here in Greece and there are hundreds of photo subjects for us to discover and capture!

One of my favorite subjects to shoot during this season is flower / tree details. The problem though sometimes is that the colors simply are not at their best. Sometimes the light is not ideal, sometimes the camera’s light meter messes things up, or we as photographers use the wrong settings.

But fear no more because today I have an AMAZING free Affinity photo tutorial for you that will BLOW YOUR MIND and also help you create amazing colors and save underexposed shots, fast.

As always, I will start in the Develop persona to make some adjustments and after that I will dive into Affinity photo where I will complete the edit using adjustment layers and a few practical tricks that will take the photo to the next level.

This workflow is 100% nondestructive and you will be able to customize it to fit your very own style of shooting and editing.

Skills you will learn:

• How to prepare a photo in the Develop persona
• How to INSTANTLY improve the colors in your photos
• How to bring more details to the surface from the highlights of your photo
• How to use the HUE SATURATION LUMINANCE adjustment to make your colors pop
• How to use various adjustment layers and make them work together in harmony
• How to relight your photo for more impact
• And many more

DO YOU WANT A FREE AFFINITY PHOTO COURSE THAT WILL BLOW YOUR MIND?

If you like this tutorial you will LOVE our full FREE course on how to create cinematic black and white portraits with Affinity Photo. Grab the FULL course for free by clicking here.

Enjoy!

Stratos Agiani

The post Raw Edit 017: Tricks to make colors pop with Affinity Photo appeared first on Ilumius - Free Photoshop Lightroom Affinity Photo Tutorials.

In today’s episode / free Affinity Photo Tutorial I will show you from start to finish how I edited a long exposure of an iconic place from my hometown and how I managed to further transform it into an amazing epic photo!

Hello everyone!

We all have interesting places at our hometowns that we probably have shot a million times to death. I know because I have done so myself.

To the point that I truly believed that there is no way I can shoot one of the most iconic castles of my hometown in an interesting way.

Until one day I went down for a photo walk, during one of those rare occasions that I had a free hour ( Yes miracles do happen ). During that hour the clouds gave an amazing show and I managed to take a few interesting shots.

OF course shooting is only half of the story. Editing is the other half. So in this free Affinity Photo Tutorial I am going to show you not only how I took this photo ( settings, gear etc ) but also how I edited the RAW file in order to get some amazing results.

As always, I will start in the Develop persona to make some adjustments and after that I will dive into Affinity photo where I will complete the edit using adjustment layers and a few practical tricks that will take the photo to the next level.

This workflow is 100% nondestructive and you will be able to customize it to fit your very own style of shooting and editing.

Skills you will learn:

• How to prepare a photo in the Develop persona
• How to bring more details to the surface from the highlights of your photo
• How to color grade your photos in order to give them a cinematic vibe and mood
• How to use various adjustment layers and make them work together in harmony
• How to relight your photo for more impact
• How to take long exposure photos
• And many more

Enjoy!

DO YOU WANT A FREE AFFINITY PHOTO COURSE THAT WILL BLOW YOUR MIND?

If you like this tutorial you will LOVE our full FREE course on how to create cinematic black and white portraits with Affinity Photo. Grab the FULL course for free by clicking here.

The post Raw Edit 016: Long exposure photography editing tricks appeared first on Ilumius - Free Photoshop Lightroom Affinity Photo Tutorials.

In today’s episode / free Affinity Photo Tutorial I will show you from start to finish how I edited a landscape photo in non-ideal conditions and how I managed to transform an average image to an amazing landscape photo!

Hello everyone!

Sometimes the weather Gods do not favor us when we go out to shoot landscapes. The sky is boring the light is not what we expected, and everything seem to go sideways.

Plus with the gas prices skyrocketing ( hello inflation ? ) we have another thing to me sad about when we drive to a location and we get average results.

But Today I am going to drive your sadness away, because I will show you how I edited an average photo and transformed it into a cinematic landscape by using only Affinity Photo!

As always, I will start in the Develop persona to make some adjustments and after that I will dive into Affinity photo where I will complete the edit using adjustment layers and a few practical tricks that will take the photo to the next level.

This workflow is 100% nondestructive and you will be able to customize it to fit your very own style of shooting and editing.

Skills you will learn:

• How to prepare a flat landscape photo in the Develop persona
• How to bring more details to the surface from the highlights of your photo
• How to color grade your landscapes in order to give them a cinematic vibe and mood
• How to use various adjustment layers and make them work together in harmony
• How to relight your photo for more impact
• And many more

Enjoy!

DO YOU WANT A FREE AFFINITY PHOTO COURSE THAT WILL BLOW YOUR MIND?

If you like this tutorial you will LOVE our full FREE course on how to create cinematic black and white portraits with Affinity Photo. Grab the FULL course for free by clicking here.

The post Raw Edit 015: Landscape photography editing tricks appeared first on Ilumius - Free Photoshop Lightroom Affinity Photo Tutorials.

In today’s episode / free Affinity Photo Tutorial I will show you from start to finish how I edited a natural light portrait in order to create a cinematic shot!

Hello everyone!

A new month has arrived and a brand-new free Affinity Photo tutorial as well!

Today I am going to show you how I edited a natural light portrait using only Affinity Photo to make it pop and stand out.

As always, I will start in the Develop persona to make some adjustments like saving the highlights, boosting colors and contrast etc. Then I will dive into Affinity photo where I will complete the edit using adjustment layers and a few practical tricks that will take the photo to the next level.

This workflow is 100% nondestructive and you will be able to customize it to fit your very own style of shooting and editing.

Skills you will learn:

• How to prepare a natural light portrait in the Develop persona
• How to save the highlights of your photo
• How to color grade your portraits in order to give them a cinematic vibe and mood
• How to use various adjustment layers and make them work together in harmony
• How to relight your photo for more impact
• And many more

Enjoy!

DO YOU WANT A FREE AFFINITY PHOTO COURSE THAT WILL BLOW YOUR MIND?

If you like this tutorial you will LOVE our full FREE course on how to create cinematic black and white portraits with Affinity Photo. Grab the FULL course for free by clicking here.

The post Raw Edit 014: How to edit natural light portraits appeared first on Ilumius - Free Photoshop Lightroom Affinity Photo Tutorials.

In today’s episode / free Affinity Photo Tutorial I will show you from start to finish how I saved an under exposed photo that I took during one of my trips in Europe!

Hello everyone!

Underexposed photos. We all hate them Especially when we cannot go pack to the same spot and take the same photo again. So, what do we do? Do we smash our cameras? Do we burst in tears? Do we sell everything and become professional ballet dancers?

Nope. There is a solution to the problem, and I am going to show it to you, in today’s free Affinity Photo Tutorial.

In this tutorial I will show you my step-by-step process of bringing an under exposed photo to life with amazing results.

As always, this workflow is 100% nondestructive and you will be able to customize it to fit your very own style of shooting and editing.

Skills you will learn:

• How to selectively brighten parts of your photo
• How to save blown out highlight areas
• How to use masks
• How to color grade your photos to give them a cinematic vibe and mood
• How to add a new light source and a WOW factor
• How to save your under exposed photos with confidence
• And many more

Enjoy!

DO YOU WANT A FREE AFFINITY PHOTO COURSE THAT WILL BLOW YOUR MIND?

If you like this tutorial you will LOVE our full FREE course on how to create cinematic black and white portraits with Affinity Photo. Grab the FULL course for free by clicking here.

The post How to fix and retouch underexposed photos – Free Affinity Photo Tutorial appeared first on Ilumius - Free Photoshop Lightroom Affinity Photo Tutorials.

In today’s episode / free Affinity Photo Tutorial I will show you from start to finish how I edited a portrait to transform it into a vintage looking photo!

Hello everyone!

After a much-needed holiday beak we are BACK with a free brand new Affinity Photo tutorial.

Today I am going to show you how I transformed a photo of a pilot into a vintage cinematic shot.

As always, I will start in the Develop where I will do some much needed adjustments and once I am done, I will continue editing the photo in Affinity Photo.

As always, this workflow is 100% nondestructive and you will be able to customize it to fit your very own style of shooting and editing.

Skills you will learn:

• How to bring to the surface hidden details within your photo
• How to create a vintage color grade
• How to use overlays for that extra vintage feeling
• How to use various adjustment layers and make them work together in harmony
• And many more

Enjoy!

You can download the texture overlay by clicking here!

DO YOU WANT A FREE AFFINITY PHOTO COURSE THAT WILL BLOW YOUR MIND?

If you like this tutorial you will LOVE our full FREE course on how to create cinematic black and white portraits with Affinity Photo. Grab the FULL course for free by clicking here.

The post Raw Edit 013: How to create cinematic vintage portraits appeared first on Ilumius - Free Photoshop Lightroom Affinity Photo Tutorials.

In today’s episode / free Affinity Photo Tutorial I will show you from start to finish how I edited a RAW explosive landscape photo that I took during a thunderstorm!

Hello everyone!

In today’s free Affinity Photo tutorial, we will get thunderstruck!

Why? Well, because I am going to show you my step by step, from start to finish editing workflow of a RAW file that is full of energy and light!

As always, I will start in the Develop where I will do some much needed adjustments in order to take full advantage of my RAW file once I am done, I will continue editing the photo in Affinity Photo.

This workflow is 100% nondestructive and you will be able to customize it in order to fit your very own style of shooting and editing.

Skills you will learn:

• How to normalize the light in a photo with a bright subject
• How bring hidden details to the surface
• How to reshape light
• How to create a cinematic image
• How to create a vignetting to draw the viewers eye to your subject
• How to use the Curves tool for multiple adjustments that will level up your photos
• And many more

Enjoy!

DO YOU WANT A FREE AFFINITY PHOTO COURSE THAT WILL BLOW YOUR MIND?

If you like this tutorial you will LOVE our full FREE course on how to create cinematic black and white portraits with Affinity Photo. Grab the FULL course for free by clicking here.

The post Raw Edit 012: How i edited an explosive landscape photo appeared first on Ilumius - Free Photoshop Lightroom Affinity Photo Tutorials.