Shooting With Zoom for Portraits
In my little photography experience I have found that shooting with a zoom lens greatly improves my portrait shoots. The closer I get to my subject, say, using a wide angle lens, the more distortion and stretching of their face I’m going to get. Their nose is going to get enlarged, the sides of their face stretched back – in short, they’re going to look horrible, or at best, like a clown. Using a zoom or higher millimeter lens (a 55mm instead of a 18mm,) I can get a much more accurate portrait of my subject.
Below you can see the difference between lens angle of 18mm and 55mm:
By being able to stand further away from the subject I create a sense of isolation and comfort for the subject, allowing them to act naturally. Getting too close to the model’s face makes them become self-conscious and stiff.
So not only does using a zoom lens, or a lens in the 55mm+ range – help tremendously to create a pleasant portrait of your subject, but it also allows your client to be able to relax and be natural. Ultimately, using the appropriate distance+zoom equals the best portraits you could imagine.
And that’s all, folks. Happy Thanksgiving!
What would an 18mm lens be best used for, in your opinion (I don’t know too much about photography)?