There’s nothing quite like capturing the perfect portrait with your Canon 700D.
Dialing in the light, getting a great response from your model, and making sure that the background is free and clear of distraction while still adding to the overall image is a bit of a challenge – but when you pull it all together, nothing looks quite is composed or as impressive.
Combine that with the fact that the technology “under the hood” of the Canon 700D makes it one of the best DSLR cameras money can buy, especially when you are shooting portrait work.
Now, of course, like any other photography discipline there’s a lot more that goes into shooting great portraits than just pointing and clicking.
But that’s why we’ve put together this quick breakdown of five tips and tricks to help you out.
By the time you finish you’ll know exactly how to squeeze every drop of portrait horsepower out of your Canon 700D. You’ll be able to dramatically improve your portrait work almost overnight, taking it to the next level without any real headache or hassle whatsoever.
Best of all, these tips and tricks will spill over into other areas of photography, too. Master these core fundamentals and you’ll find yourself shooting amazing pictures every time out.
Shall we jump right in?
Use Softer Light When Shooting Portraits With Your Canon 700D
One of the first things photographers learn when they start to get serious about their work is the importance of lighting.
Lighting can make or break the way your photos look in way few other elements can. When lighting is perfectly dialed in the photos come alive in ways that are difficult to describe, and when the lighting is even just a little bit off otherwise great shots are compromised quite a bit.
When you are shooting portraits you need to be sure that you are avoiding hard light at all costs (like that can cause a lot of contrast, unflattering shadows, and highlights that are difficult to control) and instead seek out or generate soft like as much as possible.
Look for ways to diffuse the light that you are working with, to shade your subject, to keep them out of direct sunlight, or to otherwise play with your lighting sources to produce something a little gentler.
Get this right and your portrait work with your Canon 700D changes completely.
Play With The Light In Your Subject’s Eyes
If there’s only going to be one aspect of your subject that you focus on when shooting portrait work it needs to be their eyes.
This is where everyone is going to be drawn to, this is where the ultimate focus of your photo is going to be, and this is what people are naturally going to engage with even at a glance. People are used to face-to-face interactions and are going to want to look into the eyes of the model that you have captured with your portraiture.
The last thing you want is for the eyes of your model to be dull or muted. You’re looking to create light, fire, and energy inside of their eyes – and that means playing around with different light sources as well.
Just remember, the softer your light source the less detail you’re going to be able to get out of the ice themselves in the darker they are going to appear in photos.
It might be worthwhile to find a way to add a bit of hard light to your portrait work that is laser focused on the eyes while bathing the rest of your subject in soft light. This combination approach makes the eyes sparkle and shine without adding any harshness to the overall individual your photographing.
Inject Personality Into Your Portraits
The best photographers in the world not only have a natural eye for detail and a dedication to their craft, but they also have the ability to generate real rapport with each and every one of the people they are photographing.
This is one of the most important skills for you to master as a photographer and it has absolutely nothing to do with how you use your Canon 700D in any way, shape, or form.
No two people that you ever photograph be exactly alike. None of them are going to respond to the same jokes the same way. None of them are going to feel as confident or as nervous in front of the camera as everyone else.
Each photography session is entirely unique from every other. You need to find a way to be able to connect with your subject, not only to create the kind of portrait work you are hoping to make possible but also to put their mind at ease, to have them come alive in front of the camera, and to create a real partnership between the two of you.
The only way you are going to be able to make your portrait work come alive is to have the model themselves become an eager participant in the session. The more at ease you put them, the more relaxed they are, and the more willing they are to put their personality into your work the better it’s all going to be.
Find a way to generate that rapport and your photography will improve dramatically.
Clean And Declutter Your Canon 700D Backgrounds
Another of the most important fundamental skills you want to master when it comes to photography in general (not just portrait work), it’s critical that you practice decluttering and “cleaning up” your backgrounds every time you take a picture.
At first, this is going to feel really foreign and is something that you will have to focus on consciously.
You might find it takes a little bit of time to get used to, too. But after a few weeks – or maybe a few months – all of a sudden you’ll start to feel like you are really dialing in your photography and your backgrounds aren’t taking away from the central focus of your imagery, either.
Soon becomes automatic to sort of “sweep” the backgrounds of your photos so that you don’t show end up with something really busy and something that’s diluted because of it.
This isn’t to suggest that you want to shoot your portrait work up against blank canvases, either.
You can still shoot portraits with really interesting, really engaging, and really energetic backgrounds and get great results – so long as you know how to sort of clean things up and guarantee that nothing in the background is detracting from the central image you want the focus to be on, your model in the portraiture.
Cozy Up With Your Canon 700D
Finally, one of the great skills the only to master when it comes to your Canon 700D is finding the right lenses that allow you to get right up close and personal with your subject when shooting portraiture.
There’s something about the intimate nature of this kind of photography that really lends itself well to up close and personal shots. We don’t necessarily mean head shots alone (though those definitely require a bit of close proximity), either.
We are talking about finding a way to really bring your model forward into the work, to make them the central focus of the imagery, and to do so in a way that isn’t at all unobvious or ambiguous.
A lot of photographers have a tough time at first getting up close and personal with the people that they are photographing.
Nobody wants to invade someone else’s personal space and most people are used to shooting with lenses that allow you to capture stunning detail from a distance. Well, if you really want to take your portrait work to new levels – and if you really want to create intimate, emotionally charged, engaging photos – you’re going to need to get closer to your models and start snapping away.
The beautiful thing about the Canon 700D platform is that it makes this approach so simple and so straightforward. You’ll never have to worry about feeling as though you are handicapped by your camera hardware.
With a multitude of lens and accessory options available, the Canon 700D can be completely decked out from top to bottom to let you sort of capture photographs on your own terms. You’ll be able to get up close and personal, you’ll be able to dial in lighting, and you’ll feel confident in your hardware to create the kind of rapport you need with all of the models you are photographing in the first place.
Zero in on all the tips and tricks we highlighted above and you’ll find your portraits become a lot more “lively” straightaway. A little bit of practice will take these photos to the next level, and when you have these fundamentals master you’ll be able to do really special things with your portrait work without even consciously thinking about it.
It doesn’t get much better than that as a photographer, amateur or professional!
