Tighten up

Siân Lewis shows how to frame tight on faces for a different take on people pictures

Zoom in close on your subject’s facial features for extreme portraits

Want to add a oomph to your portraits? It’s time to break the rules, to crop in close and play with framing. This technique doesn’t require any extra kit – just avoid plain head-and-shoulders shots and experiment with space and cropping.

While you want to avoid conventional composition, some norms of portrait photography are still helpful. If you’re indoors, natural light from a window is the most flattering, and a shallow depth of field keeps your Nikon’s focus on your model’s features. If you’re picking one part of your subject’s face to shoot, make sure it’s pin-sharp, and when you’re framing in on the eyes, look for catchlights (a reflection of your light source in the surface of the eye) to make your close-up sparkle.

You don’t need anything besides your D-SLR and kit lens, but a zoom lens like a Nikon 18-105mm is handy, as it’ll allow you to shoot your subject’s face without having to invade their personal space.