Which settings for a portrait?

[sclewin]

All great advice so far, but there are a couple things I should mention. Even though Facebook pictures are normally of a person's face, my wife wants a shot of her body as well because she haves lost some weight recently and wants to show it off . Also, the only lens I have to chose from is the one that came with the camera which is a 18-70mm lens. I do plan to save up for a telescopic lens for later.

[kat]

All great advice so far, but there are a couple things I should mention. Even though Facebook pictures are normally of a person's face, my wife wants a shot of her body as well because she haves lost some weight recently and wants to show it off . Also, the only lens I have to chose from is the one that came with the camera which is a 18-70mm lens. I do plan to save up for a telescopic lens for later.

I enjoyed this podcast. I really think you might get something out of it. It's about posing.

http://www.photography.ca/blog/?p=58

I think your first step is to go over what poses would work well for what image you want. Listen to this podcast, it may help for this. Do some image searches on the internet. Once you and your wife have a couple poses, next thing to think of is where to shoot. Good lighting is a must. Even if it's in the shade but a good light. May I ask what shooting mode you are using right now? Shoot and shoot. Take lots of photos! Look up some jokes and say them to your wife to get a great big smile! Remember to get that focus on her eyes!! They are the window to our soul after all!

[Marko]

I'd use the 70 mm end then or close to it...I'd try that first anyway...then play around. If you want to show off the body, then take a few where she is turned 45 degrees. Most women look better in that pose than straight on.

[BlueX]

It also looks like there is some camera shake so a tripod or some kind of support will help improve the quality of the shot. I also think you should clean up the background a bit or chose a background with less distractions if you can't get a shallow depth of field. I'm not sure how much effort and time you two want to put into this production, but dressing up a little and posing can also improve things (horizontal strips are unually not very flattering).

Here's a website filled with tips and videos on taking portraits and looking good in pictures:

http://www.lookgoodinpictures.com/

[kat]

It also looks like there is some camera shake so a tripod or some kind of support will help improve the quality of the shot. I also think you should clean up the background a bit or chose a background with less distractions if you can't get a shallow depth of field. I'm not sure how much effort and time you two want to put into this production, but dressing up a little and posing can also improve things (horizontal strips are unually not very flattering).

Here's a website filled with tips and videos on taking portraits and looking good in pictures:

http://www.lookgoodinpictures.com/

Ha ha..I couldn't help but smile at that video!

[BlueX]

Ha ha..I couldn't help but smile at that video!

Which one? Carson is quite a character!

[kat]

A Walk In the Park. He's so full of energy you can't help but smile!

I tell yah though..I wish I could get to know my camera on one date with it :P

He had some great tips for starting out though..and he does know his fashion!!

[BlueX]

Yeah, that site is a good source of info. I usually didn't pay attention to these things when taking picutures of people, but it really matters when you want a good looking pic.

[mindforge]

Great advice from everyone so far. I'll repeat a few things here probably.

1. Light.Light.Light. Move some stuff around, use a window and put a white sheet on the other side opposite the window to bounce some light back on on her. Shut off lights that might conflict with the sunlight of the window. If you can keep it out of the shot, put a white sheet on the ground too, unless you want to go more dramatic from the window - in that case, use only the window light (you can use a black sheet on the other side to kill reflections off your white walls.

2. I had a Sony a200 (given to my mother now) and don't use the lens at 70mm... bring it back just a little down to 50-60mm.. the 70mm on that kit lens is not its best spot, just dial back a little bit.

3. The background is just as important. You can put her standing in front of a window, put house plants behind her (or something interesting). Get something in the foreground if you can, just to create some dimension to the image.

Instead of thinking about this as "just a thing for her facebook", get into it and try to take the best picture you ever have. Take an hour or two and get into it.

[Vladimir Naumoff]

I agree with all members above and this is just a reminder that when you uploading your photo to Facebook it crops it. So make sure you give a little space on the sides for the cropping. I think it gives you a cropping dimensions on your profile page. If you resizing your picture from large to small it's better to shoot your portrait with 100mm macro lens. or set your lens at 50mm and use your legs to get her in focus. The cropped sensor will convert your 50mm to 85mm which is industry standard for portraiture.