What do I need for portrait photography?

1. Camera.
2. Person as subject*.

Everything else is optional.



* it is possible to take a portrait with no one in it, but it's a very difficult concept to pull off.
 
Camera + lens + subject + some light that you like.
 
More talent and guts than i have. but look forward to seeing your shots
 
Nice replies. ;) They're right of course, but that's not the kind of answer you were after.

In terms of kit, it can be helpful to have a short telephoto - 50 to 80mm for APS-C, 80 to 105mm for FF - with a widish maximum aperture for head & shoulders or closer portrait work. Using wide angle lenses close up will distort facial features, and make people look very odd. A large maximum aperture can be useful to help separate the subject from the background and reduce apparent surrounding clutter. If you move further away in terms of framing then wider lenses are fine. A standard kit zoom is entirely suitable, even if it limits your control of depth of field.

But there's no reason to stick to convention, assuming you know how to use a camera and have a particular final image in mind.
 
The thing is Toni, you've already assumed head-and-shoulders or tighter framing. The OPs question is so vague that that can't be assumed. Portrait photography and landscape photography are very similar when it gets down to the important stuff, if you don't know what you want to do absolutely anything could be the right kit to use.

James, you need to first think what you want from "portrait photography". Odds are you can have a dam good go at it with nothing more than the kit you already possess and a few items scavenged from around the house.
 
Alastair said:
The thing is Toni, you've already assumed head-and-shoulders or tighter framing. The OPs question is so vague that that can't be assumed. Portrait photography and landscape photography are very similar when it gets down to the important stuff, if you don't know what you want to do absolutely anything could be the right kit to use.

James, you need to first think what you want from "portrait photography". Odds are you can have a dam good go at it with nothing more than the kit you already possess and a few items scavenged from around the house.
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Alastair, I've not assumed anything, but I have explained what I would use for a certain kind of portrait work and why, suggested alternatives if doing other kinds of portrait work and followed through suggesting that the standard kit lens would be fine - something you allude to in your post.

Yes, the enquiry was vague, but if someone is asking what to use for portrait photography it's no unreasonable to assume they are talking about what most would recognise as portrait photography too, providing certain caveats along the way. While it's amusing to post in a thread asking for help, providing wittily correct answers that carefully avoid actually answering the question, it doesn't actually help the OP. Now if they came back and said they wanted to take portraits of people on stage in theatre we might come up with some suggestions, but as it is, I've tried to provide a way in for them to start discussing what they want.
 
On a more serious note. I'd look at getting a 5 in 1 reflector, they aren't expensive and you can start to learn how to shape the light, before diving in with speed lights/studio strobe. What kind of portraits is it you are looking to do, studio style or using the natural surroundings? Also Syl Arenas - Speedlighters handbook, is a really good book to learn about light.
 
As above, you need nothing but a camera, a light and a subject. As there's a free light in the sky, that makes it simple.

To shoot head and shoulders and portraits with a shallow DoF, I'd recommend a long fast lens 85 on crop, 135 on ff, a couple of reflectors is a cheap addition, from there you're into lighting, for that you've already got advice.

Tips? There are volumes written on t he subject, so it's a bit much to expect too much for one thread. But in a nutshell, think about your concept. If you're shooting someone, to capture an element of their personality, then the location, props, costume, pose and lighting are all ingredients that'll help create that image. A tough guy with a plastic gun and a big smile with flat beauty lighting on a white background doesn't work, the same as an angelic 3 year old with moody smoky lighting on a black background will be odd.
 
Alastair said:
1. Camera.
2. Person as subject*.

Everything else is optional.



* it is possible to take a portrait with no one in it, but it's a very difficult concept to pull off.
Click to expand...

Of course you don't need a camera either; a sheet of film or light sensitive paper will do the job too. But again, makes things more tricky.

Portraits are about people, and some of the 'best' (best being entirely subjective) portraits ever taken were created with the most basic gear and what ever light was around at the time. Think about people before you get caught up in equipment.
 
Phil V said:
As above, you need nothing but a camera, a light and a subject. As there's a free light in the sky, that makes it simple.

To shoot head and shoulders and portraits with a shallow DoF, I'd recommend a long fast lens 85 on crop, 135 on ff, a couple of reflectors is a cheap addition, from there you're into lighting, for that you've already got advice.

Tips? There are volumes written on t he subject, so it's a bit much to expect too much for one thread. But in a nutshell, think about your concept. If you're shooting someone, to capture an element of their personality, then the location, props, costume, pose and lighting are all ingredients that'll help create that image. A tough guy with a plastic gun and a big smile with flat beauty lighting on a white background doesn't work, the same as an angelic 3 year old with moody smoky lighting on a black background will be odd.
Click to expand...
Thank you all, im looking at natural light head and shoulders
 
Then I'd recommend a longer than 'normal' lens (as above) and a reflector and maybe a flashgun to pop into the shadows on really tricky days.

There's a post I wrote here that you might find interesting, it's aimed at customers but you should be able to see a thought process (contains OCF but nothing too challenging)
 
Shooting with just natural light can be fun, challenging and rewarding. Its takes a bit of practice but even when the light is not ideal you can learn to use it to your advantage. This usually involves things like changing perspective and a good understanding of some interesting post processing. But over time it will give you a very good eye toward how light behaves, as you can only capture and use what is there while not adding any of your own. I shoot everything with natural light (macro, portraits, etc) as I just really dislike using flash. Ive always said that natural light is just better for a photo then artificial flash but it could be that I am just lazy and cant be bothered to understand flash systems. The older I get the more Im going with the latter. :)

Here is a flickr folder of mine featuring some child portraiture as examples. Mainly family members and friends with all the shots using natural, available lighting. http://www.flickr.com/photos/8539414@N07/sets/72157626741667467/

As Phil said above a longer then normal lens is good if you want a tight crop of the head and shoulders. Although you can use a 50mm on APSC crop to give you around a nice 75mm and you can always zoom with your feet. But you will get more of the 'telephoto seperation' effect with the background if you start going longer on the focal length. This might be more noticeable in full body shots but can show up in head shots as well.
 
I agree with the above that it can be nice to use natural light, I quite enjoy doing portrait work outside, my favourite portrait lens is my 85mm 1.8 but if you want a cheap option the 50mm as mentioned by others also gives great results.
 
f/otographer said:
Shooting with just natural light can be fun, challenging and rewarding. Its takes a bit of practice but even when the light is not ideal you can learn to use it to your advantage. This usually involves things like changing perspective and a good understanding of some interesting post processing. But over time it will give you a very good eye toward how light behaves, as you can only capture and use what is there while not adding any of your own. I shoot everything with natural light (macro, portraits, etc) as I just really dislike using flash. Ive always said that natural light is just better for a photo then artificial flash but it could be that I am just lazy and cant be bothered to understand flash systems. The older I get the more Im going with the latter. :)

Here is a flickr folder of mine featuring some child portraiture as examples. Mainly family members and friends with all the shots using natural, available lighting. http://www.flickr.com/photos/8539414@N07/sets/72157626741667467/

As Phil said above a longer then normal lens is good if you want a tight crop of the head and shoulders. Although you can use a 50mm on APSC crop to give you around a nice 75mm and you can always zoom with your feet. But you will get more of the 'telephoto seperation' effect with the background if you start going longer on the focal length. This might be more noticeable in full body shots but can show up in head shots as well.
Click to expand...

Thanks for this tips

Uxon said:
I agree with the above that it can be nice to use natural light, I quite enjoy doing portrait work outside, my favourite portrait lens is my 85mm 1.8 but if you want a cheap option the 50mm as mentioned by others also gives great results.
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Ive just bought a 35mm 1.8, I know its not the best for portraits but its for general use aswell. I do have a telephoto aswell though
 
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