I could possibly buy you one this year if you wanted <| sep |> Take the 70300 , in Aperature mode , shoot at around f 5 . 6 , if you really want to get some background in focus use f 8 . 0 . Infocus backgrounds aren ' t really that popular in portraits . You will probably want to work within the 90 mm 150 mm range of the lens . This will compress the background and give a nice proportion to her facial features without being inconveniently far away . Since you are outdoors in daytime use base iso . Since she won ' t be moving and you have VC you can get away with the slower shutter speed . White balance adjust to the conditions or use auto and shoot raw . Really the most important thing is lighting . You want to find some flattering lighting for your subject . Usually outdoors this means finding some shade . You can also put the sun behind her and bump up your exposure compensation to properly expose the face and overexpose the background . Try to avoid having the sun in her face at all costs . This will lead to harsh shadows and squinting . Also keep an eye on your exposure . Your camera will probably want to underexpose daytime outdoor portraits so make sure to stay on top of your exposure compensation . If anyone else is reading this and disagrees , please feel free to comment . This is just my style of shooting portraits , I ' m sure there are a million different styles that work well too .