Your choice of lens length (wide angle, normal or telephoto) has a big effect on the way a person's face looks when you photograph them.
Take a look at these two images of my son Zachary. The only significant difference between them is lens length, coupled with the distance between the subject and the camera.
The first photo was taken with a 70mm lens (on a camera with a full frame sensor). This is quite a standard lens length choice for a portrait.
For the second photo, I came much closer to Zac and photographed him with the lens at 38mm. This is unusually short for a portrait, and the result is quirky. When you stand this close to a person, their nose and chin loom towards you, their eyes look big, and their ears and shoulders look small. Overall, their face looks slimmer.
It's not actually a distortion caused by the lens - you can see this effect with your very own eyes if you look carefully. Perspective is emphasised when you stand close to your subject.
I believe that every person has their own 'ideal viewing distance'. A person with a slim or long face will benefit from being photographed with a long lens from a distance (try 120mm or even longer). The flattening effect will suit them well.
A person with a round face will look more attractive when photographed from closer range, with a shorter lens (try 50mm).
A short lens length is also great when you want your portrait to have a slightly ridiculous feel to it. That's how comedians get those fun, quirky portraits of themselves!
1 comment:
All that I can think of when I look at the first image is this boy looks mature.
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