Portrait Photography.doc

8/10/2019 Portrait Photography.doc

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Portrait Photography

Lens

If you want to flatter your subject, you'll probably want to deemphasize his nose. That

means you want to stand at 10 or 15 feet away from him so that his nose isn't significantly

closer to you than the rest of his face. owe!er, at such a large distance from the camera,

filling the frame with just your subject's face will re"uire a high magnification #i.e.,

telephoto$ lens. Typical %portrait% lenses are therefore between &0 and 15 millimeters

long #for 5mm cameras$. (any professional fashion photographers use 00mm or

)00mm lenses, resorting to using a wal*ie+tal*ie or bullhorn to communicate with the

model

At right: South Beach. Miami. Fashion photography capital of the world. Here a yuppie

photographer sneers from the back of his 6!". He#s unhappy at being on the glass

end of a$ollei 6%and &mm lens. 'he model is way down the beachfront and he#s

using a radio to communicate with an assistant holding a reflector by the model (in

yellow).

-ith aanonor/i*on, most professionals end up using their 0+002.3 or 30+002.3

zooms as portrait lenses. These lb. monsters aren't !ery pleasant to handhold, though,

and if you *now that you're only going to do portraits, you're better off with a prime lens.

4rime lenses are lighter and gi!e better image "uality. nfortunately, the prime lens in

this range that a serious photographer is most li*ely to own is the 100 or 105 macro.

These are !ery high "uality optically but difficult to focus precisely since most of the
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2/13

focusing helical precision is reser!ed for the macro range. ere are some great portrait

lenses6

anon 78 35mm f21.9 II :(, ;10 #re!iew$ or, if you're on a budget,anon 78

35mm f21.3 :(,;30 #re!iew$

anon 78 100mm f2 :(, ;8 /i**or, ;8 =+/i**or,;100

/i*on 15mm f2.0= >8 =+/i**or, ;10

-hat if you're using a small+sensor digital :9?, such as any of the /i*ons or the anon

=igital ?ebel@ In that case, an ineApensi!e 5021.3 will function as a !ery usable portrait

lens, roughly e"ui!alent to the 3521.3 short portrait lenses that are popular on full+frame

cameras. /ote that the bac*ground will not be as blurred as it would be with the longer

lens.

anon 78 50mm f21.3 II, ;& #re!iew$ or, if you're feeling rich, anon 78 50mm

f21.< :(, ;8 /i**or, ;15

There are fol*s who argue that a portrait should not be clinically sharp. 8or them, fuzz B

glow and is flattering. 8uzz fans definitely don't li*e using standard 100mm macro lenses

for portraiture. They'll start with a lower performance lens and add fuzziness with a filter

#e.g., Ceiss :oftar or Tiffen :oft8D$, a stoc*ing stretched o!er the lens, or digital post+processing.
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3/13

onnoisseurs of soft focus insist that you must ha!e a lens with uncorrected spherical

aberration. Eou can get spherical aberration either by using a !ery old camera2lens or by

buying a purpose+built modern soft focus lens. The image at right was ta*en with a

anon 78 15mm f2.3 :oft 8ocus. The lens starts as a modern prime telephoto lens,

lighter than a zoom, high in contrast, and reasonably high "uality, especially stopped

down to f25.) or smaller. -hat is different about this lens is that, with the twist of a ring,

you can !ary the softness from none to rather soft. The photo at right is luminous in a

way that is tough to eAplain and would be difficult to reproduce in 4hotoshop. :adly,

anon has not updated this lens with an ultrasonic motor, which would allow

simultaneous manual and auto focus. If you're only going to own one prime telephoto

lens, the 1002 :( or 1529 :( are probably better choices.

>s far as doing soft focus in other formats, ?odenstoc* ma*es an Imagon lens for


4/13

The standard place to start is a digital single+lens+refleA camera. If you can afford it, a

full+frame digital camera, such as the anon 7F: 5=, is !ery nice for portraits because

you get less depth of field for a gi!en composition than with a small sensor camera, such

as any of the /i*ons or the anon =igital ?ebel.

8or a serious challenge to digital :9? "uality, start with a asselblad and a 150mm lens.

If you ha!e a flotilla of assistants li*e >nnie 9iebowitz, you could use the camera she

uses6 (amiya ?C). If you ha!e a lot of patience, a


5/13

/ote that with en!ironmental portaits, you don't necessarily use a %portrait+length% lens.

In fact, often a wide angle lens of some *ind is used, typically closer to 5mm than 0mm

#full+frame25mm film$.

ere are some more eAamples of photos that might reasonably be called en!ironmental

portraits6

*ote: these are from my *ew +ork pagesand 'ra,els with Samantha.

Capture the spirit

If the photo captures something that you remember about a person, there is no need to

show the whole face clearly. The photo may ha!e a lot of meaning to friends and family

e!en if it doesn't communicate much to a stranger.
http://photo.net/philg/ny/http://photo.net/samantha/http://photo.net/photo/pcd0866/rhya-harvard-books-13http://photo.net/photo/pcd0094/eric-jordan-37http://philip.greenspun.com/images/20051111-frankel-girls-and-sabrina/025.tclhttp://photo.net/photo/pcd1765/easy-rider-10http://photo.net/photo/pcd1255/inside-14http://photo.net/philg/ny/http://photo.net/samantha/


6/13

Do you really need the wide aperture?

The photo at left #=ieter$ was ta*en with a

anon 5+509 zoom lens. The 5+509 slows

down to around f25.) at longer focal lengths.

The photo at right #7mma$ was ta*en in

>las*a's Jatmai /ational 4ar*in front of a

bac*ground with similar potential for

distraction. 7mma was captured on film with a

002.3 lens. Eou can decide for yourself

whether the reduction in bac*ground

distraction is worth the cost and weight of a

fast lens.
http://photo.net/samantha/samantha-Xhttp://photo.net/photo/pcd1765/emma-41http://photo.net/cr/baru-dieter-31.jpghttp://philip.greenspun.com/images/20051111-frankel-girls-and-sabrina/139.tclhttp://philip.greenspun.com/images/20061025-dc-trip/luca-tattoo.tclhttp://philip.greenspun.com/images/200412-eos1ds-julie/96.tclhttp://philip.greenspun.com/images/20060406-windy-golden-retriever/brad-holding-4.tclhttp://photo.net/samantha/samantha-X


7/13

This was ta*en on !acation with a anon :)0 point and

shoot digital camera. The small sensors of point and shoot

cameras necessitate !ery short lenses. 7!en at wider

apertures, these lenses ha!e way too much depth of field for

portraits and the bac*ground will always be distracting.

Is the 70-200/2. !oom use"ul?

Though the big professional zooms are hea!y and not as sharp as primes, they encourage

eAperimentation. >t right is a standard portrait from /ew Eor*,captured down near the

0mm end of the lens. -ith a "uic* twist, the anon 78 0+00mm f2.39 I: :(lens

is capable of producing the image at left #sadly the negati!e was damaged by the =uggal

lab in /ew Eor*$.

(iscellaneous Images with the 0+00, mostly in uncontrolled en!ironments where the

ability to blur the bac*ground by going to 002.3 was essential....
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8/13

#$#% &ive your su'(e)ts some room

The rectangular format of most cameras encourages photographers to crop rather tightly

around a subject's face or torso. The )A) cm s"uare format encourages you to gi!e

subjects a little bit of space.

Keorge on the carpeted floor of an office

building. and+held, Tri+D film. It seemed

li*e a good idea to crop out some of the

carpet with >dobe 4hotoshop. >fter all, this

is supposed to be a photo of the dog, not of

commercial carpet. >s the cropping tool

was being adjusted, an an art director from

earst (agazines wal*ed by. e grabbed

me by the shoulders and shoo* until I

became con!inced that it was the space in

front of the dog that made the photo wor*.
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9/13

?oommates. :adly marred by a technical

flaw6 the reflector edge in the lower left

corner of the frame.

?eading. 8rom ape od. This was ta*en

with the 30mm lens, a normal focal length

for )A). If you're not trying to fill the frame

with the subject's face, you don't need a

telephoto lens to a!oid an unflattering

perspecti!e. In medium format, this can

result in big sa!ings. > telephoto lens for a

asselblad or ?ollei )000 is about ;


10/13

(y grandfather /ic* Kittes

ousin =ouglas and wife 9eslie at arry and Jaterina's wedding.

8uji /4 low+contrast wedding film, anon 7F:+, 3+02.39

lens

Pi)tures that I+m too la!y to write a'out

#but that might gi!e you a good idea$
http://photo.net/photo/pcd2898/harry-and-katerina-wedding-81http://photo.net/photo/pcd0865/nick-gittes-and-alex-107http://photo.net/photo/pcd0865/nick-gittes-108


11/13

I" you+re still usin, "ilm...

(ost people probably loo* better in blac* and white. If you want the sharpest results,

you'll get them with >gfapan 5, Joda* T(>D+100, and Joda* H-


12/13

:eemy film articlefor more on this subject.

tealin, a Lo)ation

-hat if you don't ha!e a big open space with diffuse light and a neutral bac*ground@

:teal one. If you li!e in the nited :tates, a !ast open space with light pouring in from

eApensi!e s*ylights is as close as your nearest art museum or uni!ersity. -ith a 00mm

lens set to f2.3, the bac*ground will be thrown out of focus. ere are some eAamples

from the Hoston (useum of 8ine >rts and a couple of lobbies at (IT, ta*en on a cold

8ebruary day in Hoston. anon 7F:+5=, 0+002.3 I: lens, handheld without flash.

Li,htin,

The most flattering light for most portraits is soft and off+camera. > large north+facing

window wor*s, as does the electronic e"ui!alent, the softboA #light ban*$. The 7lsa

=orfman 4olaroid photo at the top right was ta*en with two large light ban*s, one on

either side of the camera. /ote that there are essentially no shadows.
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13/13

If your subject is outdoors, an o!ercast day is best. If the day is sunny, ma*e sure to use a

reflector or electronic flash to fill in shadows underneath the eyes.

At right: -n a *ew +ork loft light coming from a bank of windows at left. /anon 01

2!2.% lens on tripod. 3ossibly some fill1flash. Fu4i -S5 " color negati,e film.

(ore6 the 9ight chapter ofMaking 3hotogaphs.

-hat if you're in

(eAico, the sun is

strong, the longest

lens that you ha!e is a

5021.

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Portrait Photography.doc