Sarah & Kenneth

Sharon Knettell · 03-03-2006, 07:05 PM

Mischa,

If you noticed in the past, the fine portrait artist did two things;

A: Placed their figures on a raised dais generally 15 inches- 18 inches.

B: Stood at least 8-20 feet away from them.

Photos should be chest high to mimic the height of a dais. If you are too high, the figure loses it's elegance and looks squat.

If you work or shoot too closely, anything that protrudes, ie. a nose, a knee is much too exaggerated. That is why you need a portrait lens to minimize bulbous noses.

If you notice in this picture the man's shoulders are way too wide for the rest of him and his figure narrows way too much. The woman's arm looks rather stubby. The noses on each look too large as well. If these were taken at a better angle with a proper focal length they would have worked.

The poses of the two figures work well together and are well integrated, but that does not make up for the distortion.

Mischa Milosevic · 03-04-2006, 09:33 PM

Sharon, thank you for taking the time. Is a 18-70mm lens a good portrait lens and what is a good distance for a head shot? I hope to purchase a Nikon d70s on Monday and hope to learn a few things before doing a commission shot.

Sharon Knettell · 03-05-2006, 10:57 AM

Mischa,

I work mainly from life. I do not have a digital. When I use a camera I use is a Nikon FE2 which is mostly manual and I use fixed focal lenses. The lenses I use are a 55/f2.8 and a 85/f1.2.
Both are extremely fast lenses. The 55 is great for copy work because in photo parlance it is almost a one to one ratio which means no distortion and is invaluable in photographing paintings. It does (nor does the 80) barrel which means distort or round straight vertical edges.You have to check out the speed of your lens, that is THE most important. The faster the lens, the easier it is to take people in available light.

I use the 55 for full length and the 85 for head shots and full length. Before you shoot pick out the place you would be painting from and see what length gives you the most accurate picture of what you see with your eyes.

Mike McCarty is the go to guy here for digital. But I would make sure that the zoom lens you get is able to accomplish the above goals.

No camera is going to be as accurate as the human eye. For example, seated figures, especially straight on are best accomplished by proper life drawing first.

There is a Nikon D12 I am waiting to get, you get bigger and more accurate blowups without graininess, and is why I do not like the digitals as yet.

Mike McCarty · 03-05-2006, 02:51 PM

Mischa,

When you go from an SLR film camera to a digital, such as the Nikon D70, you must do a conversion regarding focal length. For example: if Sharon were to take her 55mm or 85mm lenses and use them on the D70 she would then have to do a conversion using a 1.5 multiplier.

These multipliers will be slightly different between manufacturers. I think the Canon is 1.6 times the old focal length.

So, the 55 becomes 82.5 and the 85 becomes 127.5. I try not to get to deep into the reasons for the conversion, maybe I knew at one time but have gladly forgotten.

It's also important to know that after you make the conversion, the old benchmarks will remain the same. For example: if 80mm was the optimum focal length (many fixed length portrait lenses are somewhere close to 80mm for all the reasons Sharon mentioned) then it will still be 80mm after the conversion. This is my understanding, if someone can correct me here please do.

Most distortion comes when you descend below 50mm.

Sharon Knettell · 03-05-2006, 05:10 PM

Mike,

I think that happens when you go to a larger format, like a Hasselblad.

I just talked to a wedding photographer and, actually the numbers are lower in a digital zoom. The focal lengths in the camera Mischa is interested in might be fine, but he should check with his camera proffessional.

Mischa Milosevic · 03-05-2006, 05:34 PM

Mike, Sharon, thank you for your help.

I am to purchase my camera from a photo shop here in Bad Homburg. The owner has been around for some thirty years and he commented that the 18-70mm lens is excellent for portraiture. My thought on the matter, being that this is all new to me, is to ask you all for advice.

So, please share your experience with me.

Thanks again.

mischa

Mike McCarty · 03-05-2006, 10:52 PM

My understanding of the focal length multiplier is that it is present on most of the digital SLR's that we discuss here. For a more complete discussion you can read up at this link:

http://www.dpreview.com/learn/?/key=...gth+multiplier

I've tried to condense the information down as much as possible for our own narrow purposes. When I shot 35mm film with my lens at 50mm, that same 50mm lens setting transported to my D70 would take on the attributes of a 75mm focal length.

I think ...