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March 23, 2006
[ THE EYES HAVE IT ]
The art of digital portraiture
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Amy writes to lament that she finds “it so hard to take photos of people”. And a quick look at her attempts at portraits proves that she is right to lament.
It so happens that digital cameras seem almost to have been designed and built for portraiture. Most compact digicams have optical zooms that cover a focal length range from about 35mm to 114mm in the old 35mm film terms. The 114mm medium telephoto is perfect for portraiture. In the olden days of film serious photographers reckoned that the ideal lens for faces was of a focal length between 100 and 135mm.
There are a number of reasons for this choice of optic for portraits. The first is to do with proximity. A lens double the focal length of the 50mm “normal” lens brings the subject closer to the camera without pushing it into the face, invading personal space and generally intimidating the sitter.
The longer lens also tends to have a shallower depth of field and therefore blurs distracting background detail, particularly if a wide aperture is used.
But most importantly the longer lens gives a more flattering face perspective. Moving in close with a wide angle or standard lens makes for a big nose and tiny ears whereas tight framing with a telephoto puts all the features in proper relationship to each other.
The rules of the portrait are these (remembering that once the rules have been mastered they should be broken from time to time in the interests of Art)…
· If your portrait is no good then you are not close enough. In other words think of the zoom at maximum telephoto extension as normal for people shots and frame tightly to concentrate on the character in the face and to eliminate background distractions.
· The eyes have the character, so focus on the eyes. This is the part of the face that must be sharp in the photograph. Every other feature is secondary. Most digicams allow for spot metering and spot focussing. They never default to these settings so they have to be found and set in the menu. Multi area auto focussing never works because it is programmed to focus on the object closest to the camera which is usually the tip of the nose.
· Flash is only for last resort because the inbuilt flash units on compact cameras produce a harsh, unflattering light and also frequently turn the subject’s eyes werewolf red. It is better to increase the ISO speed of the sensor and use available light through a window for indoor shots. Make the camera default “flash off” and only turn it on in extreme situations.
· The camera is an eye – make sure it sees eye to eye with the subject. Amy’s problem is that she is taking pictures of children and pets from above. To take good photos of children or pets it is almost always necessary to get down on the floor.
· Talk to the subject and be quick – be very quick! Children up to 3 years of age are not self-conscious about cameras, everyone else is. You have approximately 8 seconds to persuade a person to look at the camera and to take a picture before they strike a self-conscious pose. Amy’s photos look as though she has futzed around for a minute or two before pressing the shutter release.
· Never say “Cheese!” Smiles are nice but not essential because forcing a subject to smile compels them to pose. Google the collections of the great portraits by Yosuf Karsh, Philippe Halsman or Arnold Newman and see how many subjects are smiling. Practically none. When Karsh took his famous portrait of Churchill in Ottawa during the War the Prime Minister regarded “my camera as he might regard the German enemy" Karsh wrote later. Churchill had a cigar stuck between his teeth and Karsh says: “Instinctively, I removed the cigar. At this the Churchillian scowl deepened, the head was thrust forward belligerently, and the hand placed on the hip in an attitude of anger." Who needs cheesy?
As you know there are some people of different religions and ethnicities who resist the camera for fear that it captures their spirit. They are right to be wary. The aim of every portrait photographer is to capture the spirit of the subject, preserve it in a digital file, print it and email it. The difference between a snap and a good person photo is that sense that we are seeing something more than the surface features of the sitter.
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Posted by terry at March 23, 2006 09:06 AM