50 F1.8 Too short for portrait

It's a very good value for any low light situation, and I love my 50 F1.8 so much, and I sold it and bought a 50 F1.4 to do more low light work, overall it's a very sharp lens, and for portrait application, maybe a little too harsh in terms out of focus area, maybe you can try this:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=Search&A=details&Q=&sku=12182&is=GREY&addedTroughType=search

or the Tamron 90 macro, which gives you macro capability and a portrait lens, two in one.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=Search&A=details&Q=&sku=330641&is=USA&addedTroughType=search