Let there be light!

For close-ups you need soft natural light for the best results, so if youre shooting outside avoid bright sunshine. If the weather is miserable you can shoot indoors like we did, positioning your model by a window. Whether youre indoors or outdoors, use a reector to bounce light back onto your models face and ll in unattering shadows.

Macro lens
The Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L IS USM Macro is ideal, as you can get up close without being restricted to the minimum focusing distance, as you would with a non-macro lens. The 100mm focal length enables you to get nice close-ups without distorting facial features, and the lens has a four-stop stabiliser, which is great for shooting handheld in low light.

Camera settings
Set your camera to Manual mode for full control. To shoot handheld youll need to set a wide aperture to let in plenty of light; depending on the speed of your lens this will be somewhere between f/2.8 and f/5.6. This will ensure that you have a fast enough shutter speed to avoid camera shake, and will also create a nice shallow depth of eld, so your models facial features stay sharp while peripheral detail and the backdrop are thrown out of focus.

Focus on features
Make the most of features such as the eyes, mouth and hair, but dont feel that you have to include every feature in a single frame. Try shooting half of your models face, or their prole, and come in tight to emphasise details such as the eyes for added impact. For precise focusing, manually select the autofocus point thats closest to the detail you want to capture youll need to change the active focus point as you compose different shots.

Shutter speed
Once youve set your aperture, half-press the shutter button to meter the scene, and turn the dial to adjust the shutter speed until the exposure indicator is in the middle to obtain a balanced exposure. Keep the ISO low for maximum image quality; however, to ensure you have a fast enough shutter speed to capture pin-sharp shots you may need to increase the ISO to 400 or even 800, depending on the ambient lighting.

ACR adjustments
Open the ve start les in Camera Raw in Elements (as theyre DNG les theyll open in ACR by default). Click the portrait_start_1.dng thumbnail, and set Exposure to +0.60 and Shadows +20. Select portrait_start_2.dng and set Exposure to +0.65, Shadows to +38 and Blacks to +23. Select portrait_start_3.dng and set Exposure to +0.35, Highlights to -27 and Shadows to +43.

Composition
When it comes to composition, try to think outside the box and capture something a bit different. Most portraits are taken face-on with the camera around the subjects eye level, so try changing the angle and viewpoint. Get up high and shoot down on your subject, and get low and angle the camera up for an abstract feel. Try shots from the side too, with your subject looking both at you and away from you.

Open in Elements
Select portrait_start_4.dng and set Exposure to -0.75, Highlights to -45 and Shadows to +30, then select portrait_start_5.dng and set Exposure to +1.05, Highlights to -25, Shadows to +55 and Blacks to +42. Click Select All at the top-left, and set Clarity to +10, then click Open Images to open all ve images in Elements Expert/Full Edit mode.

Retouch the skin

Press Ctrl+J to duplicate the Background layer, and use the Spot Healing Brush tool to remove minor blemishes and stray hairs by clicking on them. Use the Brush tool to even out areas of uneven skin tone by Alt-clicking to sample lighter or darker skin tones and painting over areas at 20% opacity. Take the Dodge tool, set Range to Midtones and Exposure to 20%, and brush over the eyes to brighten them.

Merge and sharpen

Move the Midtones slider left to brighten the image, then change the layers blending mode to Soft Light to subtly boost contrast throughout the tonal range you may need to tweak the Levels settings after doing this. Press Ctrl+Alt+Shift+E to create a merged layer, then go to Enhance > Unsharp Mask and set Amount to 70% and Radius to 2 pixels.

Make a montage Convert to mono

Take the Burn tool, set Range set to Midtones and Exposure to 20%, and paint over the lips and eyebrows to enhance them. Next go to Enhance > Convert to Black and White, select Scenic Landscapes and click OK. Add a Levels adjustment layer, and move the Shadows and Highlights sliders in until theyre below the outer edges of the histogram, to set the black and white endpoints and boost the contrast. Go to Layer > Flatten Image, then repeat Steps 9-11 for each start le. Select portrait_start_1, take the Crop tool, select Use Photo Ratio, click the arrows below to swap the height and width values and draw a landscape crop. Crop portrait_start_2, 3 and 4 to square format by changing the height setting to match the width setting; leave portrait_start_5 as portrait format. Create a new blank document, copy and paste all the start les into it, and resize and position them to create a montage as shown. Q