How to find models for portraiture?

Question

So far, portraiture has not been my main area of interest, but I do find many portraits fascinating and would like to develop myself further. Across time, I've gathered various theoretical knowledge on portraiture, have got my gear together and done a few self-portraits and shot friends and family.

The next logical step, it seems, is to start taking portraits of strangers - but how (and where) to find those? I've seen the older question concerning taking photos of strangers, but I'd like the shots to be a bit more prepared than plain street photography (I'd like to select or set up a background and lighting).

I don't intend to use the photos commercially, so I have no strict requirements regarding model releases or professional level of the models. On the other hand, this limits my willingness to invest heavily.

Answer

Model Mayhem is used well known website to find models. You can find not-so-well established models who will model for free in exchange for head shots. It is a good way to start out.

Another option would be to join a local portraiture meetup group in your area. They normally share the cost of the studio and the model when doing a shoot.

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Is a 50mm f/1.8 or a 55-200mm f/4.5-5.6 a better lens for portraits, and why?

Question

I just recently bought "Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II" for a Canon rebel T3. This was about $100. I just came across "Canon EF 55-200mm f/4.5-5.6 II USM" which is only about $40 more right now.

My wife wanted the 50mm because a friend of hers recommended it for portrait shots and yes the pictures are better than the standard lens the camera came with.

What I am trying to figure out is whether the 55-200mm would give me the same great pictures with zoom. That's the part missing in the 50mm.

The part I am completely confused about is "f/1.8" vs "f/4.5-5.6"

The reason this lens was bought was to take portrait pictures.

Answer

The numbers 1.8, 4.5 and 5.6 refer to the aperture of the lenses. The smaller the number, the bigger it's light gathering power, and the smaller the minimum depth of field you can achieve with it. The 50mm is then a lot faster (i.e. gathers more light) than the zoom, by almost an order of magnitude.

The pros of the 50mm are then:

• better ability to take pictures hand-held in low light
• better ability to get a shallow depth of field.

One of the reasons the pictures taken with the 50 look so good is the fact that with this lens you can throw the background out of focus. The background-defocussing ability of a lens is proportional to the diameter of it's entrance pupil, thus:

• for the 50mm/1.8, the entrance pupil is 28mm across
• for the 55-200 @ 55mm, it's 55mm/4.5 = 12 mm
• for the 55-200 @ 200mm, it's 200mm/5.6 = 36mm

This means that the 55-200 will also allow you to defocus the background. You will, however, need to go to the long end of the lens, which in turn means a long working distance: you have to stand far from your model. With the 50mm you would stay closer.

Although I don't know this particular zoom, it's also common for this kind of zooms not to provide a very good sharpness when used at their long end and full aperture. In summary I would expect the 50mm to provide nicer images and the 55-200 to be more comfortable to use.

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Best portrait lens for canon 7d that gives beautiful bokeh?

Question

I tried using the 70-200mm but I couldn't stand how heavy it was and how far away I had to be from the model! Opinions? I was thinking between 85mm 1.2 or 50mm 1.2 ....or another lens? Any help would be much appreciated! I've been researching for weeks but everyone says they are both decent lenses!

Answer

There really isn't a "right length" for a portrait lens -- there's a "right distance" for a portrait shot. The "right lens", then, is the one that lets you frame the picture the way you want when shooting from the right distance.

A 70-200mm lens is a great fashion/beauty lens on a full-frame camera (like the 5D); you can stand at a distance that's very flattering to the model and crop in tight on just the face. On a 1.6x crop factor camera (like the 7D), you've either got to be quite a distance away, or crop in very, very tightly.

The 50mm and 85mm lenses fall well within the bounds of traditional portrait-length lenses on a crop-sensor camera. The 50mm fills about the same role as the 85mm lens would in the traditional full-frame world; the 85mm hits about the same spot as the traditional 135mm lens. I can't say a lot about the quality of the bokeh of either of those lenses (I haven't been a Canon user since the manual focus F1n went out of production, so you'll have to rely on online reviews like those at photozone.de), but I can tell you that there will be sufficient quantity of bokeh with either lens. Which one you'd choose depends on the kinds of pictures you want to take. The 50mm is good for half-figure or better; the 85mm is better suited for head-and-shoulder, but it's also great for full-figure shots if you have the room. And do yourself a favour by taking a look at the 50mm f/1.4 and 85mm f/1.8 lenses, since they offer a significantly reduced depth of field for a lot less money than the f/1.2 lenses, and might be all you relly need.

For a very tight head crop, you might want to go a little longer than either lens -- and you might find that the 135mm f/2.8SF (soft focus) lens, which is a sharp lens when the SF is dialed to 0, is a versatile addition to your kit. When soft focus is right, it's right, and the effect from a proper soft-focus lens is better than what you can do in post.

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