How to choose the right lens to shoot portraits

There are many kinds of lenses, which one is suitable for taking portraits? In fact, there is no scene that is absolutely unsuitable for portraits. Any lens can be used as a portrait mirror, but the shooting effect of each lens is different.

This paper will explain the imaging characteristics of various lenses and the effect of portrait taking, so that you can choose the lens according to your own shooting needs and take the good portrait you want.

1 wide angle lens

Generally speaking, a wide-angle lens refers to a lens with a focal length less than 50mm and a viewing angle greater than 46 degrees.

Imaging is characterized by a wide field of vision, which can shoot more scenes in a limited shooting space, but the edges will be deformed. The shorter the focal length, the larger the viewing angle and the more obvious the deformation.

Let's take a look at an architectural photo taken with a wide-angle lens and experience this deformation effect.

Note that at the top of the picture, the eave was originally a straight line, but it was deformed into a curve in wide-angle lens imaging. The closer to the edge of the picture, the more obvious the bending deformation.

When applied to portrait shooting, wide-angle lens is suitable for shooting landscape portraits, taking into account the details of the subject and background scenery. In order to avoid reducing the deformation of the characters, try to keep the characters away from the edge of the picture.

Another way, you can also use the perspective deformation effect of wide-angle lens to shoot some creative works.

For example, face close to the camera, shoot from top to bottom, and take this lovely big photo.

Because of the perspective deformation, the eyes will be particularly large and the chin will be sharp, which is very suitable for shooting girls. But remember not to pat your feet, or the visual effect will be very strange, like this.

Too small a lower limb looks extremely clumsy.

From the bottom up, you can create the effect of super long legs. But also, the feet near the edge of the picture will become big and thick, so please think twice before shooting.

2 medium focal length lenses

Traditionally, a lens with a focal length of 50mm to 135 mm is called a medium focus lens.

This focal length is characterized by "returning to nature", natural perspective effect and shooting effect close to what human eyes can see.

This focal segment is the most widely used focal segment in portrait photography. The proportion of characters in the picture is moderate and the picture is true and natural.

However, the viewing angle of the middle focal segment is obviously smaller than the wide angle, so there are few background scenes that can be photographed. When shooting, we should pay attention to choosing some characteristic scenes that can explain the scene information to avoid dull pictures.

Among many medium focal length lenses, the 50mm standard lens and the 85mm lens commonly known as the "portrait mirror emperor" are particularly worth mentioning.

The 50 mm standard lens is closest to the human eye angle, and the picture is the most natural. At the same time, because of its simple structure, few lenses and fast working principle, it often has the clearest imaging and low price.

When shooting realistic portraits, the 50 mm standard lens is undoubtedly the best choice.

Let's take a look at the "portrait mirror emperor" 85mm lens.

The focal length of 85mm is neither long nor short, and the sense of perspective deformation and compression is not strong; The picture brought by the shooting distance is very expressive.

Best of all, the 85mm lens can easily create an excellent Jiao Wai spot, making the picture dreamy, which is very suitable for taking small and fresh photos.

3 telephoto lens

A lens with a focal length of more than 200mm is called a telephoto lens. Its most remarkable features are small perspective deformation and strong sense of spatial compression.

The so-called sense of space compression means that it can "close" the distance between the foreground and the background, which is suitable for shooting portraits with distant scenes as the background.

The telephoto lens greatly reduces the sense of distance between the characters and the background.

When the background is a scene with a strong sense of depth such as roads, bridges and Woods, the spatial compression characteristics of telephoto lens can also be brought into full play.

4 macro lens

Seeing the title of this chapter, you may feel strange, "Isn't macro used to shoot flowers and insects?" How can I take a portrait? "

This is one of the most common misunderstandings about macros. The real meaning of macro lens is "can shoot macro", but it is misunderstood as "can only shoot macro". I really want to cry.

The biggest feature of this kind of lens is its high resolution, which can shoot the details of tiny objects clearly. You can also take portraits. Let's look at a macro portrait.

The imaging is very clear. The problem is, it's so clear that there are even the smallest flaws on the face. People who are not confident about their looks dare to take selfies at a macro?

Not only the subject, but also the details of the background are very clear. This puts higher demands on the backstage.

Macro portraits require a simpler background.

There are some other technical problems in macro portrait shooting.

First, the aperture, compared with other lenses, the macro aperture is very small, and the blur ability to the background is limited, and the blur effect is not soft enough.

Second, the focusing accuracy is low, and it is easy to lose focus when the distance exceeds 1 m, so a camera with powerful focusing function is needed to make up for it.

The blur effect of macro lens is not soft enough.

To sum up, macro has many shortcomings when taking portraits, so it is best not to use it to take portraits.

Of course, if you don't want to buy another lens for economic reasons, it is not impossible to take portraits with the existing macro, but you need to use certain methods to make up for the macro defects.

The background is too clear and messy? Then choose the distant scene as the background, which is naturally unclear.

Too sharp facial details? Then learn PS and sharpen your own skin. It is difficult to make details with the later software, but it is easy to eliminate details.