What is the best focal length for portrait photography? In other words, if you use a zoom lens, what is the best zoom position to take a picture of one or more people? What's different between a close-up and a full-length portrait? The answers to these questions will allow us to make images of the finest people we love to photograph.
In order to answer these questions we must first focus on what we do. It usually takes two things:
1) Playing 's people without any distortion.
2) Throw the background out of focus to avoid a scenario of distraction.
To satisfy point 1) we should avoid getting too close to our subject. So this in turn leads to the question: what is the right distance from the subject? The answer is twofold, depending on whether you want a close-up, or rather a group of full-length 3/4-length portrait.
If you make a close-up, a short telephoto is the best choice, say a 80 mm> Lens. This lens offers normal perspective, while a standard 50mm lens would force the photographer to get too close to the subject and thus alter the perspective (a phenomenon known as "end"). If you view the case, the narrowest part of the subject's face (nose, chin) is greater than what they are, and the opposite would happen to the back of his head. Or, in the case of a large group, people's faces in front seems much biggerthan on the back. That is why, in the event of a large group, a target for longer than 80 mm would be better. If a 200mm is used for a close-up of the group, the background is completely out of focus, if that is what you want, thus fulfilling the previous point 2). This is because the greater the focal length, the shallower the depth of field (although this is rather improper). Be careful, though, to put all the faces on the same level of surface focus. Finally, avoidusing extreme telephoto (300mm), because, once again, the perspective becomes distorted, with all the characteristics of the subject appears compressed. Also, keep in mind that the closer to the edges of the frames, the greater the distortion. This is particularly true of large - angle lenses.
If you're doing a full-length portrait or group 3/4-length, a standard 50mm lens is the optimal choice. This time will be further away from the subject and the aforementionedview will not take place. Unfortunately, this goal will be impossible to separate the subject from the background, making it difficult to fulfill the requirement 2). The best you can do is use it with great openness, because it helps reduce the depth of field too. This recommendation also applies when the photographer is forced to run wide - wide to accommodate a large group in the frame and maintaining areasonable working distance.
Only if you use a compact digital or analog camera with a zoom, it has a 3x zoom lens, its focal length will be something like 35 mm when fully zoomed out (wide - angle position) and 105 mm when fully expanded ( telephoto position). On the other hand, if you have a 10x zoom lens that will be around 35-350mm. These equivalences will help implement the recommendations of this article.
