portrait photos

* Hi. I have recently bought the D3100 and want to take portrait photos of my baby. I have the standard 18-55mm lens on my camera. I will be taking photos indoors with a good daytime natural light. Can someone give me some tips on settings I should use, ISO? Shutter Speed? and Aperture. what mode is best? Also when I set the ISO to automatic it always takes the photos using the max ISO setting which is 1600 but the same photo in Auto mode uses a much lower ISO.*
Regards

I recommend you check out clickin moms, with all types of online classes for moms that want to get the best out of their equipment.

Photography is a long process, where well, leaving it in AUTO is best for start, but once you take over the knowledge curve raises fast.

Nothing beats some solid lessons from experts. That site is other Professional photographers who happen to be Moms.

Have fun,, but do do consider classes.

Welcome

ISO 200...Aperture priority F5.6 to F8 and let the camera choose the shutter speed...

You can dial down the strength of your flash to a level to assist the natural light..

Thanks for the reply. I will give it a go with those settings tomorrow. I will be looking at classes. I have the standard 18-55 lens,what setting should i use 50mm..?

Try in the middle of the range...I wouldn't use any thing shorter then 24mm for portraits...

The sharpness will drop off towards the edges so leave a bit of room around to crop...

Have fun and experiment...Cheers