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Portrait
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hi looking for advise how take best portrait picture?
At this moment I took only landscapes etc.
I like to start with portrait but i don’t know which lens use and what about light?some of mine pictures are in personal gallery some on website http://www.madv.org
thomas
You have a great gallery there ..
I loved the picture of Mother Earth !Best lens for portraiture is a 135mm on film (about 85 mme digital)
If you use a wide angle the nose looks too big and many people are sensitive about that !
A medium tele lens will throw the background out of focus .
I used to shot mine on a Hasselblad with a 250mm and that gave even better perspective.You need two main lights with umbrellas – one on either side at the front plus a lamp without an umbrella low down behind the subject to rim-light the hair.
A more modern way is to get a ring-flash (make sure it fits your camera as older ones for film cameras will fry your digital’s electronics) and that will give you the slightly harsh full-on portrait with a dark shado all around so beloved of music magazines and trendy fashionistas !
Or you could buy a couple of old cine lights and put a snood (conical hood) on one for a spotlight and use the other further away as a fill-in and then you get shots like Josef Karsch (?sp)- he did the great photos of Churchill and Einstein and every politician/movie star fought to be photographed by him.
Hope that helps..
KeithThis really ought to be in the People forum, where more “people” photographers will see it and hopefully reply.
One thing I’m curious about – why does your website say you specialize in “portraiture and landscapes” and then you ask about portraits here? Surely if that’s the case, you’re the one that should be giving us advice, no? :wink:
KeithJones wrote:
You need two main lights with umbrellas – one on either side at the front plus a lamp without an umbrella low down behind the subject to rim-light the hair.
May I respectfully suggest that this is the worst possible and least interesting lighting setup for portraits! For starters, you don’t need any studio lights for portraits. Natural light is much better than studio lights. Bring your subject outdoors and shoot them in the natural environment that’s around them. One thing to avoid, until you learn how to work with it, is direct midday sunlight. Instead, try and find open shade and shoot in that. If you can’t go outdoors, because of inclement weather, then shoot indoors using window light. A north facing window is ideal, but really any window will do. You can control the quality of the light on your subject by moving them closer to further from the window, or using a reflector, or adjusting the curtains – there are a multitude of available to you using window light.
Don’t get too hung up on equipment. Portrait photography is all about light and connecting with your subject. If you haven’t got those two ingredients, no amount of money is going to buy you the equipment to take a a good portrait. Be creative and use what you already have before you go and spend more money. Then, once you develop a feel for it, you will get a better idea of what additional equipment, if any, you will need to do the sort of portraits you like.
Also spend some time looking at other photographers work. Lot’s of professional photographers provide free information on portraiture. For example Damien Lovegrove’s Lovegrove Consulting features a number of downloadable PDF articles which are worth a read and Becker has a great blog (the school) featuring lots of tips in the form of video pieces – his main blog is also worth looking at.
Have fun!
Now I’m confused :)
Actually is great idea not spend too much money for equipment as umbrellas but what about flash ?
And what about lenses?I found nikon 50 mm f1.8d but I m not sure this is good. I thing for digital camera result will be as 80 mm or Im wrong.?
Why are you confused?
Forget about flash when you’re starting out. Learn to work with natural light first. If you have any spare money, you should spend it on a good fast telephoto zoom (rather than a studio flash system) in order to maximise your options, although you will learn more by shooting with prime (i.e., non-zoom) lenses. Something like a 70-200mm f/2.8 would be a good choice in my opinion.
A 50mm lens is fine although it may limit you a little later on. You should be able to get good 3/4 length and full length images with it but it’s not the best for headshot style portraits. The 50mm lens is also ideal for environmental portraits, where you want to capture some of the environments that the person is being photographed in.
Good advice from Thorsten there,
and Keith’s choice of focal length works for me-The 50 might work,
though I wouldn’t go close with it-
it’s fine for head, shoulders, and upper body-
and if you need to get closer than this I’d use a longer lens rather than change your position-Longer focal lengths can work too,
and in addition to making the features appear more harmoniously proportioned,
have the advantage of putting some more distance between you and your subject,
which is slightly less intimidating for them-The best advice is to find a vic, sorry subject, and get out there and take pictures-
just as Thorsten described-
You’ll learn a lot from looking at what you come up with-j
Thanks a lots for advices i will experiment with the day light.
A lot of work to do :)I will do some shopping today
:twisted:I think after that will be much more questions :))
Forgot to mention, one of my favourite portrait photographers, Greg Gorman, has a great interview over at the FineArt TV site. Just so happens that he also mentions the importance of communicating with your subject. You can view it here
I m sorry I wasn’t that long in forum but I have been practice a bit with 50mm lens and few lights, results ?
http://www.madv.org/gallery.html
Im gonna open studio in June or July :)hope there are some good photos :)
I have been change this website a bit and is not finish yet than u can notice that some of links doesn’t work yet, but will be soon :)
Really appreciate any suggestions. At list u are professionals.
;) thomas
Portraits:
Like all of photography, there are guidelines which can be bent. Some guidelines:There is only ever “ONE” main light. Other lights are for accent, fill or backgrounds.
The fill light is often best placed as near the centreline as possible. 45 degree lighting can give nasty nose shadows on both sides of the face.Very few people are symmetrical and therefore everyone (with very few exceptions) will photograph better from one side; the “best side” (look to straighten the nose compared to the eye line). Symmetry is usually more attractive/beautiful, although you don’t always want that from a portrait.
Have a “caption” in mind. What’s the story (a portrayal).
Does the lighting reflect the story?
Does the expression reflect the story?
Communication and rapport is key. Get them to think about pleasant experiences, think like a hairdresser!! “Where is the best beach you’ve ever walked on?” etc.Separate the subject by positioning, DoF, colour etc etc.
It’s easier to learn how to light faces/people in a studio, but you can then take this knowledge into the natural light World.
There are some articles on my website:
http://www.allinthemind.infoSi
this is great advice
:)
I will try it and hope i will be good student
thomasAllinthemind wrote:
Have a “caption” in mind. What’s the story (a portrayal).
Does the lighting reflect the story?
Does the expression reflect the story?I’d have to disagree with some of this-
Every so often someone will come along and criticize a photograph for not telling a story-
and sometimes, they’re missing the point-If they want an illustrated story with every picture,
then perhaps they should buy books with big letters-A portrayal is a picture, not a narrative;
if there is a story, well and good,
but its not a prerequisite for a portrait,
in my opinion-
depending on who the picture is of, or for, or by, even,
there can be many other levels on which it can work-The story might even be made up by the viewer,
and perhaps a picture can have as many stories as viewers who want to make them up-A picture might only be part of the story anyway-
the context in which it is viewed might make up some of the missing information-
whether its on the cover of a newspaper, in a teeny mag, or in a gilt frame on top of the piano-Some pictures might tell stories-
but perhaps, with people especially,
those stories might not be known to those who weren’t there-
an enigma can be just as compelling-j
I think Allinthemind tried to show me the way and like all arts, there is many ways to create something special.
In my opinion you are right too.
My friend asked me one time what is the art?
I think if even one person will like your work and will tell u it is the art for him/ her, it will be art.
But always are some rules.
Maybe I’m wrong but this idea let me go further, learn and have fun with my pictures, I think that with some story is easier to learn how this magic working.
I will take all advices to try and learn to be better and better.
All of you guys have lots of experience and each experience is different.
thank you for telling me thisthomas
Yes, there are many ways-
right ways, wrong ways,
sometimes both at the same time,
depending on who is doing the viewing-Everyone has an opinion, so we’re forced into agreeing or disagreeing,
or having our own-btw Simon-
wasn’t referring to you with the storybook comment above,
just in case you think it comes across that way-j
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