subject: Tips For Choosing The Right Canon Portrait Lens [print this page] Ever given thought to "portrait photography?" Join the crowd. A Canon EOS camera is a great start. Experts and amateurs alike are always looking for ways to develop their portrait skills and equipment.
While the perfect Canon portrait lens is very helpful, it is not the most critical factor in getting that beautiful portrait. But a good lens will unquestionably go a long way toward getting you to that great image.
Being a portrait photographer can truly be a pretty glamorous career. If you are good and make the right connections, you could be in the company of some very well known people. It would be a much better way than the paparazzi, who are not very highly regarded in the photography business. What they do in not portraits, anyway.
Even though the most viewed portraits are of famous people, by far, most photographers are not hobnobbing with the rich and famous. There is plenty of work in portraits that does not include actors, singers, and other glitzy individuals.
There is the individual portrait opportunity, family portraits, high school senior photos, babies, and even pet portraits. Opportunities abound in the portrait photography field.
** Depth Of Field - Your #1 Goal
While the digital SLR camera is a requirement (and extremely important), good portrait photographers are aware that the lens that is attached to that camera is equally as significant. You will want your portraits to have certain qualities that make the model or subject a very special part of the picture. The first, and probably the easiest way to make that happen is to use a narrow depth of field. This means that the plane of focus is shallow, putting the other objects in the photograph out of focus. This brings the viewer's eyes right to the subject.
One of the reasons for this shallow depth of field is the quick speed of the shutter. This is a feature of good portrait lenses. This is accomplished by having a wide aperture, usually f/2.8 or wider. In fact, the better lenses have apertures as wide as f/1.2. If you want a sleek and sexy photo with an out of focus background, a good place to start is with a wide aperture. This effect will really make your subject feel special when they see the final image. Plus, the feeling of accomplishment for you, the photographer, is exhilarating.
** Focal Length - Critical Element #2
Another feature you will want as a portrait photo shooter is the right focal length lens. Photographers who do only portraiture use what is know as prime lenses only. A prime lens has a single focal length, no zoom capability. If choosing a prime lens, 50mm would be the shortest length to choose. You definitely don't want to go any shorter, because you will have to get too close to your model. Focal lengths longer than 50mm are more common among those who normally shoot portraits. In fact, a focal length of 75mm to 150mm, or somewhere in between, is considered optimal. This gives the photographer a better combination of depth of field, distance from the model, and flexibility in choosing the perspective.
If the lens does not have a long enough focal length, it could cause facial features that are out of proportion. Everyone has seen those images of the cows where the cow's nose looks way out of proportion when compared to the rest of the animal. That is done on purpose, of course, using a wide angle lens (less than 50mm) and getting too close to the subject. However, a high school senior would be less than thrilled to see that type of photo in their final school yearbook.
There are also lots of photographers who use zoom lenses for portraits. In particular, the Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 lens is employed as a hot portrait lens. Using a lens with such a wide selection of focal lengths can add so much flexibility to your set up.
The good news is that just about any lens can double as a portrait lens. If you know how to pull it off, you can take great portraits with you cell phone.
** Blur Your Backgrounds With This Photographer's Trick
Depth of field has been mentioned as one of the things that can make your portrait special. One way to do that is to move the background further away from the subject. You want as much distance as possible between subject and background. This compensates for the aperture component. The background will be blurry in spite of the aperture because of the distance.
When you own a digital SLR, your family and friends automatically take it for granted that you can take good portrait images. Actually, you can. But the job can be done so much easier with the right lens, a portrait lens.
