When to Use This Cheat Sheet
Pull this up any time you are shooting people and the light changes. Portraits live or die by exposure on the face. Dial in these starting points, then fine-tune to taste.
Quick Settings Reference
The table above covers the most common portrait scenarios from blazing sun to dim rooms. Start there, chimp the histogram, and adjust.
Key Principles
- Expose for the face. Spot-meter on the cheek or use exposure compensation. A blown background is often acceptable; a blown face never is.
- Wide apertures separate subjects from backgrounds. f/1.4 — f/2.8 produces pleasing bokeh. Stop down to f/4 for group shots so everyone stays sharp.
- Keep shutter speed above 1/focal-length. At 85 mm, stay at 1/100s or faster to avoid motion blur from camera shake.
- ISO is the last lever. Raise it only after you have maxed out aperture and reached your minimum safe shutter speed.
- Watch the eyes. At f/1.4, depth of field is razor thin. Focus on the nearest eye.
Adjustment Tips
- In backlit situations, add +0.7 to +1.3 EV exposure compensation so the face is not silhouetted.
- When mixing flash with ambient, set ambient exposure first, then layer flash on top.
- For groups of three or more, stop down to at least f/4 to keep every face in the focal plane.
- Shoot in aperture priority for run-and-gun sessions; switch to manual when light is constant.
Common Traps
- Using f/1.4 for group shots and getting only one face sharp.
- Trusting auto white balance under tungsten lights, producing orange skin.
- Leaving shutter speed at 1/60s with an 85 mm lens and blaming the lens for softness.
- Ignoring catchlights; they make eyes look alive.
ShutterCoach Connection
Submit your portrait to ShutterCoach for instant feedback on exposure accuracy and background separation.