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One of the tasks I had on my trip to Kenya was to get nice photos of each teacher at the Konditi Primary School. I was shooting to support the non-profit, I-Kodi, whose mission is to support the Konditi Primary School, so nice pics of the teachers were essential and important.

How do you go about getting these shots? The teachers are actively teaching so you can’t disrupt their classroom too much with elaborate set-ups or unsure technique- NO BRACKETING! You have to identify the best situation, move in to get the composition you want, take the shot and then get out of the way so the teacher can resume teaching.

This is how I took these shots- I used my Nikon D750 at about ISO 2000 set on aperture priority with matrix metering and single point autofocus on the subject. I used my Nikon 16-35 mm lens at the 20mm side of things and shot closer to wide open (f5.6) then closed down (f16).  I then moved in to arms length away or so and blasted away.

No flash was used- I never use flash, too much of a distraction. But I do use window and door light- I think it is more beautiful and creates a magnificent softly lit portrait.

So get in there close with your wide angle lens and get a portrait of someone in the context of what they do- these are called environmental portraits because the environment is included in the image. Easy to do, you just have to get in close.

Here are some of my favorites- Enj0y!