It's criticial that the eyes are sharply focused in portrait photography.

Without a doubt the most common photographic subjects are people. Even those who trek for miles into remote territory in order to shoot landscapes will find themselves occasionally photographing other people, even if it’s only for fun at a party using a cellphone. In the past few years, with the boom in digital photography, that’s probably even more pronounced.

The single most useful thing you should know and remember when shooting people (and the same applies to animals) is to focus on the eyes. If the eyes, or at least the leading eye when the person is angled to the photographer, are in focus, the rest of the elements in the photo will come together nicely.

This is a particularly important point to pay attention to, as we often find ourselves using shallow depth-of field for portraits and the area of focus becomes very small. It is critical that the eyes be in the in-focus area or the photograph won’t hold the viewers attention.

It’s pretty easy to practice this. If you have a friend or family member who doesn’t mind posing for you, great. Otherwise, shoot your dog or cat, find a statue in a park or even use a toy – a teddy bear won’t get bored with posing.

That was the twelfth Daily PhotoTip. If this post was useful to you, why don’t you subscribe to my feed, leave a comment and share it with your friends. You can also get access to exclusive content and special offers by joining my newsletter. Sign up today. Thank you.