Nikon D4, 85mm ƒ/1.4, ISO 200, 1/8000

The key to any good photo is the old KISS rule, which is: Keep It Simple, Stupid.

For this portrait of my dad, I chose to shoot outside and use some of the sunny weather we were having down at the beach. We shot this outside on the balcony of our cottage. The location was chosen because it was the fewest steps I needed to make to get a good photo.


Start with the sun backlighting the subject.

One of the reasons I always start with the sun on the back of the subject and not where it is lighting their face has to do with expression. I find i  almost impossible for getting a good expression when people are squinting and straining due to the sun being directly in their eyes.

The benefit of backlighting the subject is that you get a good rim light around it, which will help you separate it from the background.

Look for a darker background.

I like to find a simple background without blown-out highlights. I normally look for a much darker background than I chose here. My point is to be careful, or your blinking highlights will be in the background and distracting rather than complementary to the subject.

Choose a shallow depth-of-field

I am using my favorite portrait lens, my Nikkor 85mm ƒ/1.4, for this photo. When shooting with this lens, you need to be sure that the eyes are the sharpest point in the photo. I still recommend having the eyes be where you focus, even if you shoot this at ƒ/22.

In general, if you are doing a portrait of a person and not an environmental portrait, then the background and surroundings are not really that important. Since that is the case here for this photo, I threw that background way out of focus by shooting at an aperture of ƒ/1.4.

Fill Flash

I love to use an off-camera flash as my fill/main light outside for portraits. Here is a diagram showing where the sun was and the off-camera Nikon SB-900 speedlight placement for this photograph.

You can trigger the off-camera flash in many different ways. I often use the Nikon SU-800, which uses infrared to trigger the off-camera flash. I chose to use the PocketWizard Mini TT1 on the camera with the AC3, which lets me alter the power of the flash from the camera and not the flash itself. This saves you a lot of steps back and forth for tweaking those fine adjustments.

The Nikon SB-900 has the PocketWizard FlexTT5 on it, which receives the signal and talks to the camera’s TTL system to give consistent exposures.

I placed the light 45º to the right of the camera and not quite 45º above the eyes. I am a little lower since my subject has deep-set eyes. 

What is the benefit of the flash, say, over a reflector? If I use the reflector, I will be bouncing the sun into their faces and often getting the squint I was trying to avoid.

Second, I get good skin tones by using the flash, and the color temperature of the flash gives it that “pop” I like to see.

Third, I like seeing a catch light in the eyes, and the flash helps me be sure one is there. I think it helps bring the eyes to life.

Go and try this setup yourself. Adjust it to your conditions and the subject, and see what you come up with.