Focus on the eyes

Today’s small tip to bet­ter your pho­tog­ra­phy is a sim­ple yet cru­cial one and the title of this post really explains it all. Por­traits are the most com­mon type of pho­to­graph that peo­ple take. Peo­ple con­tstantly ask me to eval­u­ate their pho­tos that they think are amaz­ing. 50% of the time when there is a per­son in the pho­to­graph their eyes are not sharp. This DESTROYS the shot. When tak­ing a por­trait, focus on the eyes. Don’t focus on their nose or their hair, focus on their eyes. If their head is turned toward the cam­era, focus on the eye that is clos­est to the camera.

That said, I’m sure to get “but Marko what if I want to try some­thing funky and keep the sub­ject blurry to get an effect”. In that case you can do what­ever you want to do, because that is your inten­tion. You gotta know the rules before you can break the rules.