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Joris Smid

@joris_smid

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Photographer
Capturing real moments across cultures
↓ Tips & stories behind the lens

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The aperture that makes faces look sharp. 👇🏼

Save this, before your next portrait.

1. f/2.8

Both eyes sharp at 1 to 2 meters, background still soft.

2. Why f/1.4 fails

At 1 meter the focus is about 2 centimeters deep. The nose is sharp, the eyes are not.

3. Focus on the near eye

If only one eye can be sharp, make it the one closest to you.

4. Two faces, f/4

Line them up at the same distance and both stay sharp.

5. Shutter at 1/250

Even at f/2.8, a slow shutter softens a face.

6. My portrait numbers

85mm, f/2.8, 1/250. They work in almost every light I shoot in.

More tips? Follow @joris_smid by @joris_smid

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9 days ago

Different faces in the central market of Arusha! taken in Arusha, Tanzania by @joris_smid

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15 days ago

1. For people, never below 1/250

People sway and breathe even when they swear they are standing still.
1/250 is my floor for a sharp face handheld. Below that I am gambling, and I hate gambling with a moment.

2. Match the shutter to the movement

Walking needs 1/500. Running or cycling needs 1/1000.
If the subject moves faster, that number goes up before I touch anything else.

3. Respect your own shake

A rough minimum is one over your focal length. On a 50mm that is 1/50.
Honestly I still push higher.

4. Protect the shutter, sacrifice the ISO

When light drops, I raise ISO before I let the shutter fall.
Grain is fixable. Motion blur is a delete. That trade is not even close.

5. Slow shutter is a choice, not an accident

Below 1/60 is for panning, intentional blur, or a tripod.
If it is not a creative decision, it is a mistake waiting to ruin your best frame.

6. Learn to pan on purpose

Follow a moving subject at 1/60 and the subject stays sharp while the world streaks.
It looks like speed and motion. It takes practice, and it is worth every failed try.

7. Turn on the shutter warning

Many cameras can blink or flag when the shutter drops too low.
Let the camera nag you. It is cheaper than coming home to a card full of soft shots.

8. When in doubt, go faster

If I am unsure, I add a stop of shutter and add ISO to match.
I would rather explain a little grain than explain why the only shot of the day is blurry.

More tips, follow @joris_smid by @joris_smid

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3 months ago

Magical moments on the Serengeti🙌🏼

All shot with @canonnederland taken in Serengeti National Park, Tanzania by @joris_smid

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4 months ago

Bali, but it’s not Canggu🌴 taken in Bali, Indonesia by @joris_smid

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4 months ago

The camera disappears when you do.👇🏼

1. I never hold the camera up when I first arrive. It stays around my neck, visible but not active. People register it, but nothing happens. After five minutes of it just hanging there, it stops being a threat and starts being a piece of clothing.

2. I photograph everything around them first. The wall, the light, the table, the food. They watch me shoot things that aren’t them. By the time I turn toward them, the camera has been clicking for minutes. One more click doesn’t feel like anything.

3. I keep talking while I shoot. Or I keep watching what they’re doing. The moment you go silent and stare through the viewfinder, people tense up. If you stay in the conversation, they stay in the moment. The camera becomes background noise.

4. I shoot in bursts during natural pauses. When they look away, when they laugh, when they go back to their work. Not when they’re looking at me. The photos where someone forgot I was there are always the ones that end up on my page.

5. I make the session feel like it’s already over. I lower the camera, I say something unrelated, I lean back. They relax because they think I’m done. That’s when I quietly take three more frames. Those last frames are always the most honest.

The best portrait is the one where the person didn’t know it was being taken.

More tips? Follow @joris_smid by @joris_smid

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4 months ago

After 10 years of shooting portraits in places where I don’t speak the language, this is what actually works.

1. Don’t start with the camera. Start with eye contact and a smile. Sit near them. Be present. Let them get used to you being there. This can take five minutes or an hour. There’s no shortcut.

2. Show interest in what they’re doing before you show interest in photographing them. Watch them work. Nod. React. People know when you actually care and when you just want a photo.

3. Show them your camera. Let them hold it. Show them a photo you’ve already taken of someone else. This breaks the wall faster than anything. Now they understand what you’re doing.

4. Take one photo and show them the screen immediately. Their reaction tells you everything. If they laugh or smile, you’re in. If they look uncomfortable, stop.

5. Never rush the goodbye. Stay a few minutes after you’ve taken your shots. Shake their hand. Say thank you in their language, even if you butcher it. That last impression is what they’ll remember.

The best portrait I ever took was after 45 minutes of not taking a single photo.

How do you approach strangers with your camera? by @joris_smid

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5 months ago

People still live like this in 2026👇🏼

Yes. And they chose to.

The Mentawai live deep in the jungle of Siberut Island, off the west coast of Sumatra. To get there: a four hour ferry that only runs twice a week, then a half hour scooter ride, two hours by canoe, and a four hour hike through the jungle. No shortcuts.

They hunt with bows and arrows they carve themselves. They build their longhouses from the trees around them. They tattoo their skin with bone needles and ink made from sago palm. Every line on their body means something. Your clan, the animals you’ve hunted, your role in the community.

What surprised me most: they know the modern world exists. Some of their kids go to school on the mainland. But many come back. Because to them, this life makes more sense than ours.

I slept on their floor for three days. Ate what they ate. Woke up when the jungle woke up. No signal, no screen, no mirror. Four days without touching my phone. Not because I chose to, but because there was nothing to reach for.

It made me question which way of living is actually the strange one.

The Mentawai tribe, Siberut Island, Indonesia. by @joris_smid

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5 months ago

Let’s go, I’ll bring my camera📸 taken in Thailand by @joris_smid

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5 months ago

Elephants in front of my lens🐘

Which one is your favorite? taken in Tanzania, Africa by @joris_smid

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5 months ago

I’ve seen mosques in Dubai, in Istanbul, across Southeast Asia. But nothing could have prepared me for walking into this one.

The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi. Every surface covered in white marble. Gold details catching the light from every angle. Columns stretching up higher than you’d expect. And the silence. For a place this massive, it was almost completely quiet.

I got there early and waited for golden hour. When the light finally hit, the whole interior turned warm. White marble glowing orange, shadows shifting between the columns. That was the moment.

I walked around for over an hour, just looking up. Most of my shots didn’t come close to what it actually felt like standing there. The scale of it is something a camera can’t fully capture.

What got me most was the floor. One single handwoven carpet, the largest in the world. You’re walking on a piece of art and most people don’t even notice. taken in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates by @joris_smid

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5 months ago

There’s something about the chaos of this city. Every corner looks different. Every street has its own rhythm. You walk for five minutes and you’ve seen more than most places give you in a day.

What made it special was the people. Every person we met had a smile ready before we even said a word.

What city surprised you the most? taken in Hanoi, Vietnam by @joris_smid

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5 months ago