Senior Portrait Help!

My cousin is wanting me to take outdoor Senior Portraits of her daughter. I don't have much experience in portraits. I've done them a few times for family for free but nothing I've been paid for. The thing I was wanting to ask is I'm currently using a Nikon D5300 with 18-55mm kit lens, 35mm, and a 55-300mm (I can tell you the f-stops if need be once I get home). I've heard the 85mm is really good for portraits, but I prefer to work with what I have rather than buying another lens, at least at the moment since I don't take portraits often. I may be able to spare $200-$300 for a used lens but not sure yet. Anyone have any suggestions of what would be best to use or what you use? Thank you in advance for all your help!

Hi CoolMystery, For nice-looking portraits, you want something called a nice bokeh, which is the ability of a lens to get a sharp subject (the daughter) while getting a pleasantly not-that-sharp looking background. Zoom lenses, like your 18-55 and 55-300, often don't do a great job here. Fixed-length lenses, often called prime lenses, do a better job, especially if they have a wider aperture (= a smaller f/... number - the smaller, the better). The 35mm may be ok but is not a perfect choice. 85mm is a good length for a portrait lens, but only for a full-frame camera. Your D5300 is not a full-frame but a so-called APS-C or crop camera, so on your camera, something like a 50mm lens would be ideal.

If you want great portrait shots, I would use a Nikon 50mm f/1.8 lens, which is about $200. For a significantly higher price (about $450) but also an even nicer bokeh, you could get a Nikon 50mm f/1.4 lens. Alternatively, you could look for a used Sigma EX 1.4/50 mm DG HSM, which is probably quite a bit cheaper but at least as good as the more expensive Nikon.

If you don't want to buy anything, use your 35mm but shoot from a bit of a distance and crop the resulting image, rather than getting close for the shot, because the resulting picture will probably look better.

As Iokatz said, for the D5300 I would really be looking at the 50mm f/1.8 prime. It's a good FX prime that will work on your DX camera. The 50mm f/1.4 is more expensive, but I don't expect you would get your money's worth from that price difference.

With the three lenses that you do have, you can practice shooting your 18-55mm zoomed out to 55mm, or your 55-300mm zoomed out to 85mm to see the compositional differences of each. You won't get the same bokeh as either prime would give you, but you'll get the idea of how much working room you need and how lens distortion may (or may not) play a role in your compositions.

If you are doing it for free I would not go out and buy a new lens just for this. Use your 35mm of even the 18-55 zoom and do your best.

My advice is to not ever shoot anything important for friends or especially family. It never turns out good.

I almost bought the 50mm once before when I was looking for a prime lens but ended up getting the 35mm since I was needing something more for a low light situation at the time. I've only ever heard good things about the 50mm and how versitile it is. I think it's time I invest in one. I usually don't shoot for free. I did shoot my 2nd cousins wedding but only as a guest. I have told my cousin that I don't normally do portrait photography but I'm willing to give it a shot. She has offered to pay me but I don't like taking money from family, especially since I'm not very experienced in it. Thank you all so much for your help.

In you budget, and it is a good lens to add, get the 50mm and call it good. The lens will do bokeh and give you sharp images. I agree with Don about not spending money for a free job, but this is a great opportunity to justify buying a lens.