Portrait photography is one of the most rewarding genres — but also one of the most unforgiving. A slightly soft eye or an unflattering background can ruin an otherwise great shot. The good news: dialling in the right settings before you shoot saves you a lot of frustration in post-processing.
Aperture — Go wide, but not too wide
The golden range for portraits is roughly f/1.8 to f/2.8 for a single subject. This gives you that smooth, blurred background (bokeh) while keeping the face sharp. If you're shooting two or more people side by side, close at f/1.8, you risk one face going soft — step up to f/3.5–f/5.6 to keep everyone in focus.
Shutter speed — Fast enough to stop motion
People move — even when they're trying to stay still. Use at least 1/125s for a relaxed subject standing still, and 1/250s or faster if they're moving, laughing, or you're shooting children. Going slower risks a soft image from subject movement, not just camera shake.
ISO — Keep it clean
In good natural light, ISO 100–400 is ideal. As the light drops, raise ISO gradually. Modern mirrorless and DSLR cameras can produce clean results up to ISO 1600 or even 3200 — test yours to find the sweet spot. Shooting in RAW gives you more room to reduce noise in editing.
Focal length matters too
Lens choice has a huge impact on how flattering a portrait looks. Wide lenses (24mm, 35mm) distort facial features at close distances. The classic portrait focal lengths are 85mm to 135mm on full frame — they compress perspective in a flattering way and let you maintain comfortable distance from your subject.
On a crop sensor camera, a 50mm lens gives you a similar field of view to an 85mm on full frame. Even a 50mm f/1.8 is a fantastic, affordable portrait lens.
Lighting tip
Camera settings alone won't rescue bad light. For portraits outdoors, the best natural light is the hour after sunrise or before sunset — soft, warm, and directional. In harsh midday sun, find open shade (under a tree, next to a building) to avoid unflattering shadows and squinting subjects.
The ShutterFox cheat sheet for portraits gives you a starting point for any lighting scenario — from golden hour outdoors to studio flash to indoor window light.