Photographing portraits outdoors is very rewarding when it works well, but it is difficult to get everything working well. Here are some suggestions to make great outdoor portraits. The first tip is to make sure you are close enough to the subject fill most of the frame. This is not to say that all of your portraits will be close to the camera, but for the most part they most likely will be. Use a normal slight telephoto lens if you have one. You can use a normal lens, like a 50mm, but as you get closer to the subject, you will experience distortion. This will make the subject to appear un-natural looking. This is what you want to avoid as most subjects wish to look more flattering. For this portrait of Eugenia I used a lens that is comparable to the focal length of a 75mm lens on a 35mm camera. Use a shallow depth of field with your aperture to create a soft background for the subject to stand out against. You’ll notice that the background is out of focus which makes Eugenia center of attention. I set the aperture at 2.8 the widest aperture possible on this lens. Always focus on the eyes as these are the most important element that we connect to in the photograph. Shoot in total shade if possible. This will give you an even lighting, which for portraits is important in outdoor lighting. Use a flash if possible for fill flash. This will minimize harsh shadows especially in the eyes. It also gives a nice highlight in the eyes. If you are using flash make sure your shutter speed is not too high. What will happen is that the photo will appear darker in half of the photo compared to the other half. On the camera that I photographed Eugenia here was a 1/500th of a sec. Anything faster than that would have messed up the photo with the flash not syncing correctly which I described. Try using angles and do not place the face directly in the middle of the frame. experiment a little. You will need to shoot precisely and more than just a few to get that one photo that will work well.