Portrait lenses
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tonybarber253
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Partly that but also the slight compression of perspective give a pleasing result
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medium telephoto lenses, in the 85-200mm range tend to produce flattering results with strong foreground/background subject separation and better, less fussy bokeh.
wider lenses can be used for portraits and sometimes and they be used to great effect but when used close to the face for example, they can product unflattering results like disproportionately big noses.
longer lenses will produce a more natural looking image.
the only thing with longer lenses is that because of compression, they can sometimes make the subject look just stuck onto a blurry background with little environmental context and depending on what you want this is where wider lenses can work better.
but like all things in photography, there are no hard and fast rules - check out the 35mm 1.4 group on flickr - you'll see some absolutely stunning portraits taken with a wide (ish) lens.
but, for your standard kind of portrait - 85mm and greater is going to get you the most pleasing results, imo.
and personally, for me, i prefer to use a 135mm lens.
wider lenses can be used for portraits and sometimes and they be used to great effect but when used close to the face for example, they can product unflattering results like disproportionately big noses.
longer lenses will produce a more natural looking image.
the only thing with longer lenses is that because of compression, they can sometimes make the subject look just stuck onto a blurry background with little environmental context and depending on what you want this is where wider lenses can work better.
but like all things in photography, there are no hard and fast rules - check out the 35mm 1.4 group on flickr - you'll see some absolutely stunning portraits taken with a wide (ish) lens.
but, for your standard kind of portrait - 85mm and greater is going to get you the most pleasing results, imo.
and personally, for me, i prefer to use a 135mm lens.
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Cagey75
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Anything above 50mm is good for upper body/headshot portraiture IMO. You don't get that iffy distortion like you would using a wide angle. For full body though, any lens can work, depending. But ... as mentioned, with longer focal lengths, you get that nice compression of the backdrop, which usually leads to more pleasing results, a less cluttered backdrop, better bokeh, an almost 3D 'pop' at times, separating your subject nicely from the backing.
I do like to use my 85mm for portraits, but also my 150mm - given enough space [though as that's a macro lens it works well even in smaller areas, for head shots]
I do like to use my 85mm for portraits, but also my 150mm - given enough space [though as that's a macro lens it works well even in smaller areas, for head shots]