Yoooo. That ISO tip just blew me away! I know its true because I did it by mistake one time when I shot a high ISO as just a test shot outdoors in direct sun and it wound up being the best shot of the entire session day. I was wrecking my brain trying to understand why, (always taught the lower the ISO the better), but now I know. Thanks for this video and sharing this knowledge!
You have one of the best simple explaining of portrait basic photography, i do alot of landscape and now getting into portraits this helps alot i did what you suggested and photos came of great on my model. Appreciate time and effort you put into this video to help people like me.
I've been an amateur Photographer for over 30 years. ISO: I guess I had an old school thought process from using film for more years than digital...for portrait/landscape, lower ASA/ISO = better. The higher ISO for digital made a difference in dynamics, I never would have realized. It's a subtle but definitely there. Thank you!
I never thought to use the ND filters and increasing my ISO. I usually us ND filters for low ISO long exposures to smooth out running water and clouds. Am really excited to play with this and see what happens. Thanks for the tips.
Thanks for including a recommended F stop and shutter speed. I’m fairly new to photography. I have to take a portrait series this weekend. Somehow I stumbled upon your video as a suggestion to me. Thank you
Change every exposure setting on your camera to the extremes. Change and pay attention to the results and do it until you have a complete understanding of shutter speed, aperture, and ISO. Each setting change on any one of those dictates that one (or both) of the others must then be changed in order to have the best exposure. In care you aren't aware, the three make up the "exposure triangle". You can get truly creative with your camera only after you understand the whats and whys of each component. Do you have to understand it to be able to make a good picture? You do not. An automatic mode such as A, S, P... depending on our camera brand, will set the exposure but it can't know what effect you might want to achieve. You can always change it all back. Go for it!
Hi Stanford, I really appreciate the feedback! I’ll be working on an online class in the near future and I’m curious what kind of course you’d find most helpful? What do you most want to learn?
I like shooting towards the sun underexposing background (need to experiment) and add some subject fill with off camera flash. All very good information. Thx!
This is really useful. Thanks. I’m off to do my first ever outdoor portrait shoot tomorrow. Looking forward to trying out some of these. I really like the sun behind the subject. It looks so good. Haven’t heard of the ISO idea before, so will give this a try.
Can’t you just increase your shutter speed instead of using a ND filter? Since you have to be at 1/500 s minimum, might as well go up to 1/2000 if needed to kill the extra light while keeping your ISO at 800 and aperture wide open. Your thoughts? Awesome tips by the way.
This is really helpful! Out of curiosity, how do you shoot your own videos? Would love to see a behind-the-scenes video about your process shooting on-camera videos from lighting to camera to editing.
Thanks for this, simple to understand. I am new to photography but i think it's common sense that you do want that softer sun. Iso at 800 is interesting will try and see how it goes. Thank you again
This was a very helpful tip. Could you also do a hands on video photoshoot where you demonstrate all these helpful tips showing real scenarios and camera settings. Thanks and you got a new sub.
Thanks for this! Curious if you’d recommend anything different now that it’s been a few years. Also curious if you’d still boost up your ISO without an ND filter. Doing my first outdoor portrait shoot tomorrow morning & don’t have one quite yet.
Thanks for the video! I'm excited to try the ISO tip. What would you suggest for a metering mode when shooting into direct sunlight to not have everything blown out or under exposed?
I think spot-metering is really reliable. I show you how I use spot metering for portraits in this video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-UH2E6c-o8Bg.html
Thank you for all this information. What F-stop do you recommend or should I just set the camera in Tv mode with the iso (800) and shutter speed (1/500) and let the camera pick the f stop?
I tried following someone else's advice to keep ISO at 100 outside but at the 8-11 f stop they recommended for a wider focus area but it was resulting in dark images and the only thing i could change was ISO! So yes at 800-1200 range, my pictures were coming out great!
It’s a lesser known approach to nailing outdoor exposure, but makes such a difference! Glad this is working for you, and congrats on the successful shoot!
I've also followed "experts'" advise to keep it at 100. As for the shutter speed I was told to keep it double the fps so I was confused when you said at 1/5000. Can you explain ?
In this video I was referring to 1/500 as a good shutter speed to eliminate motion blur when shooting handheld portraits. If you’re shooting video I would suggest setting the shutter to “angle” mode and just leave it as 180, this will always ensure natural motion blur regardless of frame rate and you won’t need to touch the shutter ever. But yes the rule is double your frame rate for the shutter, so 24fps is a 1/48 shutter, etc. hope that helps!
@@JMWilyat honestly the other day I was shooting (manual) 24fps and set the shutter at 1/50, since my camera doesn't have 48, used a good ND filter and I'm kinda disappointed that all of my my photos came out a bit blurry. It was a sunny/cloudy day. Not sure what I did wrong with the settings since I followed the rule... Thanks so much for your quick reply
Happy to help! The blurry footage could just be a result of shooting handheld. You might want to look into a gimbal for your video work, this will keep the movement smooth and help with the blur. I’ve got the one I use linked in the description of this video if you want to check it out.
Hi J.M Wilyat, thanks very insightful. What would you advise if the shoot is at 11am just before noon.? Can you speak to using strobes lights to over power the sun.?
Hey Cornel, if you are shooting between 11am and noon I would recommend using something to diffuse the sunlight so your subject does not have that harsh light on their face. You would be better off diffusing that light rather than attempting to balance the shadows using a strobe, especially if the lighting is changing constantly such as the sun going behind the clouds. Hope that helps! Thank you for watching.
Hey there, I find a standalone variable ND to be the most useful. Maybe a standalone pro mist filter if the project calls for it. But general I think the all in one products are a bit trendy and unnecessary. You’ll probably find yourself using the variable ND more than anything else.
I currently have a CPL and FL-D filters but not an ND filter. Would either of these be okay for outdoor photos on bright days? Living in Texas it gets very bright and very hot
When shooting Models in and outdoor, do you set your camera to manual or do you use a semi auto mode? Finally what filter or filters would you suggest we use? I thank you in anticipation for your reply.
I'm really wondering how to reduce shadows (light trickling through tree branches/leaves). I photographed a family in a pathway where there are over arching trees . I'm wondering if I need to adjust the ISO so the faces look "clean" of shadows?
Adjusting your ISO won't eliminate shadows. Try using a speedlight/flash mounted on your hot shoe. A simple way to set the flash is to set for -1 to -2 ev (underexposed) so that you get enough light to eliminate the shadows but not to override ambient light. It'll take a bit of trial and error but it will be well worth the effort.
Not currently shooting weddings but I have in the past. I’d say go with a zoom lens for sure, probably 24-105mm to get a solid range. That should give you a fair amount of room for composing wider landscape shots and closer portrait style shots. Hope that helps. Best of luck!
Hi, ISO in relation to dynamic range was also new for me. Quick question though on the shutter speed. Do you have your lens IS enabled with this high shutter speed or do you disable it like when shooting from tripod to not have IS compensate for something that is not there? Thanks so much for your response.
This is a great question! The short answer is when shooting handheld keep your IS on ALWAYS. Your mileage might vary depending on the IS of the lens. In my experience with Canon L-Series glass you are safe to leave it on always when shooting handheld. I have found it to be entirely reliable and in most cases gives me a more stable shot especially with a longer lens. I would assume the same would apply to other brand lenses but I’d encourage you to test it to compare results.
What kind of lens is it? If you’re using it for portraits I’d suggest keeping it wide open at f3.5 and with the ISO between 500-800 and shutter at 1/500 or above. If the image is overexposed you’ll need an ND filter. I have a link to a good one in the video description.
![Camera Settings for Outdoor Portrait Photography [Perfect exposure every time!]](/img/logo.svg){kind=logo}
