Struggling with soft or blurry portrait images? You’re not alone. Capturing crisp, clear, sharp portrait photography can be difficult – unless you take the right approach.
And that’s what I share in this article: My eight best tips, techniques, and secrets for tack-sharp portrait photos, including:
- The best shutter speed to prevent motion blur
- Where to focus for perfect results
- How to choose the best aperture for portraits
- Much more!
So give this article a read. Follow these guidelines. With a little practice, you’ll start to see some major improvements!
1. Use the right shutter speed to freeze motion
Soft portraits are often caused by two related issues:
- A moving subject
- Camera shake
If your scene features a moving subject (such as a person leaping high in the air), the movement may be too fast for your camera to capture, resulting in motion blur. And if your hands are shaking – even slightly! – when you take a photo, you may end up with blur due to camera shake.
Fortunately, these two issues have the same simple solution:
Use a fast shutter speed. The faster your shutter speed, the easier it is to freeze motion – whether it’s caused by a moving subject or an unsteady camera.
But how do you determine the best shutter speed for your situation? There’s not a one-size-fits-all approach, and you may need to experiment with your shutter speed setting until you get a good result. However, here are a few tips to bear in mind.
Start with the reciprocal rule, which states that, to capture sharp images, you should set your shutter speed to the reciprocal of your focal length. So if you’re using a 50mm lens, you’ll want to set the shutter speed to at least 1/50s. And if you’re using a 200mm lens, you’ll want to set the shutter speed to at least 1/200s.
(Note: There’s nothing wrong with making your shutter speed faster than the reciprocal rule dictates. In fact, if the overall exposure can handle it, pushing your shutter speed to 1/250s and beyond is often a good idea.)
Now, the reciprocal rule will generally take care of camera shake, but it won’t handle motion blur. For that, you’ll need to increase your shutter speed further. So once you’ve determined the setting dictated by the reciprocal rule, check your scene from movement, then boost the shutter speed accordingly.
If your portrait subject is moving slowly – swishing their hair from side to side or moving their hands across their face – I’d recommend setting your shutter speed to around 1/200s, though the optimal setting will depend on your lens’s focal length and your distance from the subject, so experimentation is key.
If your subject is moving quickly – running, jumping, or dancing, for instance – I’d recommend setting your shutter speed to at least 1/500s (and maybe beyond, depending on the speed of your subject). If you’re not sure whether the portrait is sharp, be sure to review the results on your LCD, make the necessary adjustments, and only then proceed with your photoshoot.
2. Hold your camera correctly
While the reciprocal rule is great and can certainly stave off blur due to unavoidable camera shake, it only works if you’re using good handholding techniques. Poor technique will create extra motion blur, which will show up in your images, especially if you’re shooting at or just above the reciprocal-rule-recommended shutter speed.
So before you take a portrait photo, here’s what I recommend:
- Cup your left hand under the lens
- Firmly hold the camera grip using your right hand
- Keep your elbows tucked in tight
- Make sure the camera is pressed against your face rather than extended out toward the subject
Then, when you go to take a shot, press the shutter button gently (don’t hammer at it!).
Pro tip: If the light is low and you’re forced to shoot at a shutter speed below what I recommended above, then you can often get sharper results by leaning against a sturdy surface, like a tree or a wall.
3. Raise your ISO as required
When you increase the camera shutter speed, the image will get darker – unless you offset the exposure reduction by widening the aperture or boosting the ISO. While I tackle aperture settings later on in this article, I’d like to take a moment to discuss ISO settings, which can dramatically improve your portraits.
Now, understanding your camera’s ISO is simple:
The higher the ISO, the brighter the resulting photo (all else being equal).
So if you need a faster shutter speed (e.g., you’re photographing a moving subject), you can always increase your ISO. That way, your shot will turn out sharp and well-exposed.
Unfortunately, a high ISO does come with a major drawback: It creates image noise, which looks bad and reduces image quality. Modern cameras can often shoot at ISO 800, 1600, and even 3200 with minimal noise, but just