Portrait Photography Tips.

Over the weekend we headed out to Goebberts Pumpkin Farm so Jack could pick up a Jack-O-Lantern for Halloween.  If you’ve never checked out Goebberts, it’s as close to a seasonal amusement park as you can find, and is a great opportunity for parents with cameras to take some cute pictures of their kids and family……

However I don’t care how adorable this boy is, or how cute your kids are….if you try to take a portrait with the lens of your camera this close to your subject’s face, it’s not going to end up good.  Standing this close to your subject requires you to use a very wide angle lens in order to fit the entire face into the frame.  Shooting a wide angle lens, this close to your subject results in something that looks a bit like this……….

If it looks like Anthony’s face has been stretched out like you’d see in a fun house mirror (his forehead really isnt’ that big!)…this is what happens when a lens is zoomed to a wide angle (10mm in this case to exaggerate the effect) and placed as close as possible to the subject (about 12 inches from his nose).  I guess if the effect you’re going for is to make your children’s portraits look like cartoon characters it’s a good technique.  However it’s an easy fix by simply using a lens with a longer focal length and increasing the subject to camera distance…….

Here’s what “bugga” looks like when the focal length of the lens is increased to 70mm, and the distance increased to about 2.5 feet.  While I didn’t exactly have the most cooperative subject, it’s still a much more appealing portrait shot this way as opposed to the option above. (There are some other technical benefits, but that’s for another post )

If you’re interested in learning more about how to use your digital SLR to take better portraits and photographs of your children and family, send an email to Jay@jacphoto.net for information on Jay’s upcoming Photography Basics Workshops!