Transform Your Portrait Photography

Portrait photography never ceases to appeal to photographers. It is a subject that is very deep, as it not only captures the style and the expressions, but also the aura of the subject and their connection with the photographer. The camera is a factor which greatly influences this interaction, but how about the Nikon Z series mirrorless cameras that provide a whole new level of image quality and field of photography to its users? Join me as I explore some of the eye-catching features of the Nikon Z 7, from Creative Picture Control and Auto-area AF with face detection, to Quick sharp, and find out more on how they can totally transform your portrait photography. (Report by Yuriko Omura, Model: Parisa Maheri)

I took the shot using maximum aperture to make the subject stand out. Then, I selected a Creative Picture Control effect that suited the ambience of the antique room, and adjusted it as appropriate.

The comprehensiveness of Creative Picture Control has been pointed out as one of the attention-grabbing features of the Nikon Z series cameras. The camera has some 20 types of detailed settings built in, such as hue, toning, and saturation, from which you can select an effect that suits the mood you are wish to depict.

In this shoot, I like the inviting facial expression of the model surrounded by antique furniture, so I searched for an effect that enabled me to bring out that atmosphere. When I set the effect level of "Dream" to 70%, I felt that "This is it!", and released the shutter without hesitation.

Creative Picture Control is a wonderful feature that instantaneously brings to life the images in your head. The feature that allows you to check the focus in detail using the zoom-in button is also easy to use, and I had no issues even when using my favourite MF lens.

I set a fast shutter speed so the subject would not appear blurred, and set an f-stop number that creates a bokeh effect while still enabling you to see the scene in full.

When you select Auto-area AF for the AF area mode, the camera automatically determines the subject from all of the focus points and focuses accordingly. When the camera detects a human face, it prioritises focusing on the person.

The face detection capability exceeded my expectations, tracking my subject accurately even when she was facing to the side or looking behind. Even though this was a scene with a moving subject, the Nikon Z 7 captured the moment perfectly.

I wanted to softly blur out the background to make the subject stand out, so I used f/1.6, which is close to maximum aperture.

Picture Control allows you to finely adjust the sharpness, contrast, and so on. With [Standard] selected for this scene, I adjusted [Quick sharp], which allows you to control the three settings related to image sharpness, [Sharpening], [Mid-range sharpening], and [Clarity], at once. Both the model and ambience of the location gave a soft impression, so I set Quick sharp towards the [Softer] end.