How to Choose a Lens for Portrait Photography
Amateur and professional photographers alike often have to shoot portraits. Whether it's weddings, graduations or headshots, photographers need to have the right lens for the job. If a photographer uses the wrong lens, the portraits can look distorted or have cluttered, distracting backgrounds. These are costly mistakes, not only because the photographer purchased a lens that doesn't work, but paying customers have a right to demand a refund if the portrait photography has been mishandled.
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Instructions
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Avoid wide-angle lenses in 10 to 18 mm range. While they seem like an obvious choice because they are used from short distances, wide-angle lenses capture too much background that can distract the eye away from the subject of the portrait.
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Avoid telephoto lenses that are beyond 200 mm. They do not capture as much background as wide-angle lenses, but because they compress the space in a picture it can make facial features, such as noses, appear two-dimensional.
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Choose a lens in the range of 50mm to 200mm. These lenses not only eliminate background distortion but also must be used at a slight distance. This means you do not have to be up close to a subject to photograph a portrait. Your subject will probably feel more comfortable and take a better picture.
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References
- Photo Credit Photos.com/PhotoObjects.net/Getty Images
