How to Take Portraits With a Medium Format Camera
The medium format camera really was made to take portraits. That’s why portrait photographers and wedding photographers used them extensively. Unlike the view camera of the late 1800s and the early 1900s, which was the original portrait camera, the medium format is very portable so portraits don’t have to be done exclusively in the studio. The large size of the negative or slide and the high quality of the film, camera and lens glass make the medium format camera ideal.
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Things You'll Need
- Medium format single-lens reflex or twin-lens reflex camera
- Portrait-quality film
- Portrait lens (100 mm to 150 mm)
- Adobe Photoshop or another photo manipulation program
Instructions
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Select a portrait lens that will suit your subject. A portrait lens is a short telephoto lens. In medium format, a normal lens is 75 mm to 80 mm. This will produce a normal view, about the same as you see. A portrait lens usually is 100 mm to 150 mm and gives a sharp, clear image of your subject while capturing a soft out-of-focus backgrounds.
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Select a location for your model. Not everybody has a studio, but the world itself offers good studio conditions. A forest glade is good, or a beach or even a backyard will work. Look for a good background that won’t be distracting in the photos.
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Take your model to the background you’ve selected. If it’s an outdoor scene, try for an overcast day or shade. Never position the model with the sun in his face or directly behind him. Sun in the face will make the person squint and tend to wash out the shadows. Sun from behind can cause a bad exposure and can leave the face entirely in a shadow. Both of these situations can be used for special effects, but for more traditional photos, avoid these settings.
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Take lots and lots of photos. Don’t worry about “wasting” film because this is rare. Sometimes photos you might consider bad or to be “throwaways” actually might be better than those you planned. The more photos you shoot, the more likely it is you will get great photos.
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Use unusual angels. Get lower than your model’s face. Get higher and focus downward. Go to either side. Ask your model to have fun with it and try different things. Some of the best portraits are captured when the model is paying no attention to the photographer.
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Shoot straight on for traditional photos, but try profiles and half-turns, too. Have the model look up slightly or down slightly. Looking up will give the person’s face a positive look while looking down will make the person look more thoughtful and pensive.
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Get really close for some shots, and farther away for others. This may seem obvious, but try a face-filling portrait. Try a shot of the person mixed in with leaves or trees, for example.
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Tips & Warnings
Get a lot of film for a portrait session.
Get several different types of film unless you already know how the film will look when it’s processed.
Load film magazines ahead of time so it takes less time between film magazine changes. This will prevent your model from getting bored or losing her mood.
You can enhance and improve portraits in Photoshop or another photo program. The best photos don’t need that much improvement, but you can use the Filter Gallery to give special treatment to them.
Medium format single-lens reflex cameras good for portraits include a Hasselblad, Pentax 645, Bronica or Mamiya. Suitable twin-lens reflex cameras include a Mamiya and a Rolleiflex.
Some medium format cameras shoot square negatives, so remember the bigger area and square image of the finished photos. Other cameras, like the Pentax 645, shoot rectangular shots, so they will be different and give different perspectives.
Remember you are not shooting digital, but film, so there will be no preview to look at immediately.
Resources
- Photo Credit Shawn M. Tomlinson
