The Rules Of Good Portraiture

[Tedski TX]

Just to keep the camel karma comin' at ya, Benjie, thanks for a great tutorial. I came here via the flickr/Strobist group (if you're keeping score, I think that makes it now POTN 873 Strobist 2, for referrals).

The great thing I find with this tutorial is that NONE of the rules has to do with gear, meaning anyone can pose great portraits with no excuses.

Looking forward to checking out the rest of the boards.

Thanks,

Ted

[JRphoto]

Excellent stuff Benji, nothing like getting down to the practical. Thanks for sharing.

[deluco]

Excellent job, Benji. Thank you for posting. I noticed this as a result of the Camel newsletter.

Just one important nit: Rule 11 Feminine versus Masculine Head Tilt: What creates the feminine pose is the turning of the chin to the high shoulder, not the tilt of the head. In your example, the male pose on the right is not considered a traditional feminine pose (although not particularly attractive). In the photo following that one, you can see the correct feminine pose with the female leaning away from the main light and turning her chin (not tilting her head) to the high shoulder. I usually have a female subject leave her head un-tilted, just in your example, but turn her chin to the high shoulder. You can also add a head tilt with the turn of the chin, with young women. It may seem like a small detail, however a head tilt implies something different than turning the chin.

Again, thank you much for posting the guide...excellent work !!

[c_dwebb@msn.com]

What you have done here with the rules is fantastic, I wish D.Peterson was still here and could see your magnificient up-date of the rules he pioneered and tought us so many years ago.
I used em for over fifty years, simply because they work!

C Webb
Camera Room 2:
D. Peterson Studio
May, D&F Tower
Denver, Colorado

[Benji]

Originally Posted by c_dwebb@msn.com

What you have done here with the rules is fantastic, I wish D.Peterson was still here and could see your magnificient up-date of the rules he pioneered and tought us so many years ago.
I used em for over fifty years, simply because they work!

C Webb
Camera Room 2:
D. Peterson Studio
May, D&F Tower
Denver, Colorado

Thanks. I never met Don, but I did buy his book! I feel the rules are vital, but this sentiment is not shared by too many of the crop of young photographers. They buy a $5000.00 camera, a hand held meter and four or five flash units and they think they are pros and since they are sure that pros never follow rules, they don't either, and their work shows it.

Benji

[slyder0244]

i made another version of the pdf if anyone wants to download it
drop.io su1ynol

[Liberty101]

Benji.
Thank you for sharing.
Everything helps to improve.
Bill

[Liberty101]

Benji.
What focal length should a telephoto lens be for a full frame DSLR.
85 mil or 135 mil?

Bill

[slyder0244]

not quite sure what you're asking liberty101 85mm is considered by most to be a telephoto lens doesn't matter if you're on a cropped or full frame sensor as is 135mm i know a lot of people use an 85mm lens for portraits but that can also be said for the 135mm and on a cropped sensor 85mm is similar to 135mm because of the crop but on a full frame sensor it's just 85mm

but technically anything over the "normal" lens focal length is considered telephoto and on a 35mm/full frame that's around 50mm

[Austen]

Originally Posted by Liberty101

Benji.
What focal length should a telephoto lens be for a full frame DSLR.
85 mil or 135 mil?
Bill

Good question !!

In the last couple of days I've read a book by Scott Kelby (the Photoshop guru), and my interpretation of what he said was "Yes".......

He said that pro photographers argue among themselves the merit of focal lengths of lenses in this range !!!

But he did say that you should shoot portraits at f11 (unless of course you have reasons for using other apertures..)

Your thoughts Benji ??


Austen.

[Austen]

Originally Posted by slyder0244

not quite sure what you're asking liberty101........

I interpreted the question as asking "What length lens should I use for portraits ?"............


Austen.

(Did I mention I love my 70-200 f2.8....Now I'm starting to sound like a rabid fan-boi !!! )

[Liberty101]

Have to re-phrase my question. For full length and 3/4 length portraits what should the focal length be, 85 mil or 135mil ?

[Benji]

Originally Posted by Liberty101

Benji.
What focal length should a telephoto lens be for a full frame DSLR.
85 mil or 135 mil?

Bill

Bill,

Both 85mm AND 135mm (and everything in between) would be considered a telephoto lens for a full frame DSLR (and most other less than full frame DSLRs as far as that goes.)

For head shots and head and shoulders shots I usually use around 100mm or so. If you use too great a focal length (around 200mm on a head shot) you may have some flattening of the face, just like using too wide of a lens will make the face and nose look bulbous.

Benji

[Liberty101]

Thank you Benji.
I was debating what kind of prime lens to use for portraits or if my Nikon 70-200 f/2.8 would cover instead of a 85 f/1.8. The portraits with the 70-200 are crisp but there might be an advantage to a prime lens over a zoom lens. I am using FX with a D3.

[Tareq]

Originally Posted by Liberty101

Thank you Benji.
I was debating what kind of prime lens to use for portraits or if my Nikon 70-200 f/2.8 would cover instead of a 85 f/1.8. The portraits with the 70-200 are crisp but there might be an advantage to a prime lens over a zoom lens. I am using FX with a D3.

Mostly primes will give you more f-stops, like going to f2 or f1.8 even to f1.4 and 1.2, so this may be an advantage in some cases, mostly at night and low light conditions, and we always saying the primes are sharper than zooms, technically it should be because it has less glasses elements maybe, even if not i see that primes always giving you sharp results, but zooms many or some are shiny and great but some could be soft or not sharp enough.

[Liberty101]

Thank You Tareq

[Tareq]

Originally Posted by Liberty101

Thank You Tareq

Welcome!

[frannyk]

Thank you so much for this information. The photos provide an extra "valuable" resource.

[RoyWu]

Benji, this is really great work. I have been looking for such information for long time. Thank you very much for your sharing!!

[Benji]

Originally Posted by Austen

But he did say that you should shoot portraits at f11 (unless of course you have reasons for using other apertures..)

Your thoughts Benji ??


Austen.

f/11? Never heard that one before. Perhaps what he is trying to say is that he likes all of the subject's body to be in focus in the image.

Our eyes give us normal perspective (we don't have telephoto or wide angle capability unless we get closer to (telephoto) or further away (wide angle) from the subject, or move our heads from side to side (wide angle).

When we are talking to someone on average we are usually about 3 to 4 feet away from them. Our eyes in average indoor illumination will have an aperture value of about f/5.6 and of course our eyes are at normal magnification, so at f/5.6 and at 3 to 4 feet the body and clothing of the person we are looking at will all be in focus.

Benji

P.S. Ever wonder what the normal lens is on your camera? If you want to know simply look at something through the viewfinder and while keeping the other eye open zoom the camera lens until both the naked eye image and the viewfinder image are the same size. Whatever that setting is on the zoom lens, that is the normal lens on that particular camera. This will usually be in the 35 to 55 mm range on most DSLR cameras.