How I Set My Camera for Stunning Portraits

[@tudorciobanu3895]

Thank you. One of the few youtubers who is in photography and not in equipment sale.

[@dmytrohryshyn]

For some reason I have a feeling that I know Martin for ages and he is my best friend. Thank you sir.

[@MartinCastein]

Thank you my friend

[@KatarinaSmelikova]

Can't agree more, Martin. Portrait photography is more than technical skill; it’s about capturing the subject's essence. Creativity starts in the photographer’s mind, not with the lens-how accurate! A great portrait tells a story, reflects emotions, and connects personally. Every choice-lighting, composition, and setting-supports the narrative you envision, making the portrait a true reflection of the individual. A good photographer needs to think before hitting the shutter. Love your work, Martin!

[@robigerovasilisphotography]

I’m gonna binge watch all your previous videos. You have drawn me in 🙋‍♀️

[@1EyedJack51]

Thank you kindly for taking your time to make these extremely informative and helpful videos!!! Your videos have helped my photography immensely and I appreciate you sir !! Respect from 🇨🇦👍

[@MartinCastein]

You are so welcome!

[@jlaw8882]

A most valuable video, thanks. It would greatly assist someone learning to show the actual image taken vs the edited final image in a tutorial like this.

[@jongilmour211]

I bought a canon 5D mark ii $250, great photos. Thank you for the great info, duke from Philly

[@geraldinebryce594]

I often think of what do want to take away in the light in my photo then I decide what light do I want for my photo. I always set up for my ambient first. Really good video Thank You

[@homecareful]

Great job. You are obviously very well acomplished at portrait work and you really want to share what you have learned. While there are certainly times when I don't quite grasp what you are saying, enough comes through. Your work is often not perfectly exposed because there is little drama in 18% grey. Great work, thank you.

[@JohnBrimmer-c3h]

Thank you so much… I’m learning so much from your videos… I’m learning concepts from you and understanding the why behind the settings you’re recommending

[@luissalazar2021]

Well say, thanks for sharing

[@smooth111012]

Excellent advice, I have had a couple of white wedding dresses slightly blown out in the past, mainly on sunny afternoons etc

[@bottomendbliss]

Brilliant video. Learnt a lot. Havnt heard quite a lot of this info before even though iv watched loads of photog vids. Thanks very much. Sub.

[@Georgie_B_]

Fantastically helpful and straight-to-the-point information as usual Martin. Thank you! Btw do you have any videos on your editing process? Your photos often have a very appealing smoothness and silky finish to them. Any windows into your editing workflow would be really cool. Thank you!

[@andrewcroft2570]

Great video, Martin

[@CliffHairston]

Thank you for all that you have done so far and all that is ahead. As a hobbiest I do get an awful lot out of everything you post, especially your opinion pieces. I’m eager to see your new content and may have to pigeon some money away to join you in your other platform as I know it will be more than worth it. Thanks again!

[@lifesbeautiful3024]

Awesome teaching. Amazing job. Many thanks. Subscribed.

[@dan.knows.photography]

This was super informative Martin 👏

[@Twobarpsi]

Excellent info and advice Martin! I will have to watch this a few more times to fully remember it all. You have taken some incredible portraits! Portraits are my main genre of photography, and the advice you give is much appreciated. Cheers!

[@martinedwards3082]

lovely,clearing up some stuff for me.

[@alimouizina5318]

Thanks for the explanation! I always thought digital cameras capture more tonal information from midtones to highlights, rather than midtones to shadows. But you mentioned that sensors actually store higher quality data in the midtone-to-shadow range, which has me a bit confused. My understanding is that as long as the highlights aren’t clipped, it’s better to recover details there than to underexpose, as underexposure can bring out noise when editing. That said, I now see your point about underexposing when dealing with such a bright background in this particular situation

[@MartinCastein]

I explain it like this because it gets the desired results from beginners. In reality, highlights can increase in value exponentially as opposed to shadows which tend to be more linear and so its easier to just see it as under exposing to preserve the highlights if you need to. I dont think I can explain that in depth in a video well enough to keep peoples attention yet. So basically in harsh backlight the if you under expose the highlights its easy to recover the shadows if they are in good light vs bad light. You only really get noise if the light in the shadows is poor.

[@alimouizina5318]

@@MartinCastein Ok I get it now. Thanks for the clarification and to make it accessible for beginners (like me)

[@RohannvanRensburg]

With most high end modern sensors, you get about 4-5 stops of shadow recovery without bad colour issues, and around 1.5 stops of highlights overexposed.

[@ilmatanela1816]

Great content, informative and well explained. Liked and subscribed.

[@adg8269]

This is very useful. Please make a video about skin tones. I struggle to get them right.

[@xcx8646]

White balance is key there, but it also comes down to personal taste as manufacturers use different colours and renderings. Personally I prefer older Canon DSLRs and Fuji for skin tones, but YMMV. That said, you don't always (rarely, in fact...?) need perfectly accurate skin tones. The colour palette is vital, and an 'unnatural' skin tone often looks best when part of an overall colour harmony blend.

[@adg8269]

@@xcx8646 great insights, thank you!!

[@des7638]

awesome perspectives. thanks for this

[@KerryFreemanMelbourne]

Great lesson...

[@janedagger]

Lovely, perfect even. I have learned again. Shapes, that's what the eye is drawn to. Think of it as painting with people. :)

[@sigurdrille9693]

Thank you, great video🙏🙌

[@blindsquirrelmedia]

Master class. Thank you for doing this.

[@MartinCastein]

No worries!

[@lerrynhawke3375]

Another vid that make me practice! I love the shots I'm taking (and how/why) now after watching your vids.. and LOVING your recommendation of the nikon d810, im just having a blast.. thanks again champ, just got lightroom happening so won't be long before I Crack into some of your editing videos

[@charlesfisher2134]

Man great job 👍

[@charlesfisher2134]

Could you do a video on shooting a run and gun event . Like the Halloween one I have coming up . One 580 EX II flash. Use a flash modifier ect. E-TTL? Indoors. Thank you.

[@JamesMears76]

Great, thank you very much

[@notcirrious]

Great advice from a pro- ta x

[@onemanband3579]

Cheers, another top-notch video! Good luck with telling your model that she's not the brightest thing in the picture.

[@MartinCastein]

That’s brilliant 🤣

[@KeithPaynePhotography]

Thanks!

[@MartinCastein]

Thank you!

[@PJ-om2wq]

You talked at the end about the wedding dress scenario. If I go near to the bride filling the frame so I can check that the dress isn't blown out, and then step back for a wider shot, presumably the near up exposure is still valid (providing that ambient light didn't change) ?

[@MartinCastein]

Yes that would work but you can take a test shot with blinking highlights on and see where the picture is blowing that’s faster

[@JR-ro5kv]

Very interesting and informative. If you were to add a sentence or two on white balance setting, what would they be? I have Nikon mirrorless and find setting wb to 5000K works well when reviewing images in camera

[@MartinCastein]

Carry on as you do, find the white balance that works best for you when you review your images.

[@theren8311]

I agree that it's not just light which draws the eye, but I disagree with the example given. That example works because of the fact that it's the only object in an empty area. So one would therefore assume that the eye is drawn to a subject that has prominence in the frame (not separation). For example if you took the same example and replicated the dots in a grid format, then what's the subject now? So give your subject prominence and it'll always stand out, even if something as bright as the sun is in the frame.

[@MartinCastein]

I was just trying to show it’s not a solid rule. It always depends.

[@tatcavicon]

chào anh, tôi sử dụng nikon d300 và d800 nhưng màu sắc nó không như tôi mong muốn, tôi thấy ảnh của anh rất thích nó, hy vọng anh có thể làm 1 video chi tiết về cách anh hậu kỳ, chỉnh sửa vài tấm ảnh chụp chân dung trên file nikon. cám ơn anh rất nhiều.

[@dwaynepiper3261]

Thank you, well done. Advice thats a level above your typical youtube photography channel. Your comment about mid and shadow quality seems to contradict the ETTR crowd. Can you elaborate on this point more or do a more in depth video on the topic. My gut tells me that getting the exposure as close to ideal in camera and minimize post exposure adjustments is going to give the best tonal qualities. Under and overexposure only on a need basis like in the example you give.

[@jimpool6096]

It would be nice if you could demonstrate with a model what you're trying to tell us. And demonstrate for each idea you're talking about.

[@MartinCastein]

I will try and do this at some point but it costs me £400 every time I do that.

[@odysseusreturns9133]

Yes I agree, very wide appertures are over rated. My f1.4 lens isn't much good until f1.8 and my f1.8 lenses only come into their own at f2.2. The only lens that is I found is just as sharp as a prime and throughout the zoom range and at all f stops is the Nikon 80-200 f2.8 ed.

[@flamindigo]

f-stops do not a photographer make - light is the page, the photographer is the pen - the image is the story

[@destinyangel5]

My I phone Pro max has portrait mode no need to muck around with settings and big heavy very and expensive devices .

[@onemanband3579]

Please leave the room.

[@MartinCastein]

your phone is more expensive than my camera by about 4x but ok.