In my opinion, a portrait is a picture that undoubtedly separates the subject from the background. This can be done by lighting or depth of field. I'll explain both. I think taking a picture of your child in front of a carousel is just that...A picture of your child and a carousel. In order to separate them, I think it looks nice to get close and focus on the subject and let the background go blurry. To achieve this, set your camera to 'av' on canon or 'a' on nikon. The lowest number displayed will be the shallowest depth of field. The lower the number, the fuzzier the background. The higher the number, the more 'in focus' the picture will be. These higher numbers are good for landscape photos, or anything you want to photograph that needs a lot to be in focus. Like 2 or more people involved in an activity. This setting controls the aperture. Also called 'f stops'. In other words, the quantity of light getting to the sensor. Not to be confused with shutter speed, which controls the the amount of time the sensor is exposed. More on that later. If your camera doesn't have these settings, you may not be able to get the results I'm talking about.
This poorly lit penguin is in a picture with a shallow depth of field. F:4. That is the widest open (smallest number) this lens can achieve. The difference in focus between the subject and the background is called 'bokeh'. If you ask me...in a portrait, the more bokeh, the better. I used to get this effect once and a while by accident, but, I didn't know what caused it. Now that I know what causes it (maybe you , too), I can really push it. I have lenses that open to f:1.8. That means if your nose is in focus, your eyes won't be. Very shallow depth of field.
As an experiment, try taking a few pictures with this technique in mind. Don't worry about how it's lit, just look at the bokeh.
As always, if you have any questions, please, ask.
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