What's with soft focus for Women? (Page 2): you are obviously male! :) Not to say all, but why do most women use makeup? Whether they are real or perceived flaws, softening makes them...

pithydoug Loc: Catskill Mountains, NY

Jaackil wrote:

I have been reviewing other photographers "Senior Portraits" to prepare for and get ideas for shooting my sons Senior Portrait. Every single portrait of a woman is very soft in the face. Personally I don't think it looks very good. But why? I understand teens have blemishes but with the level of pp software today they are easy to take care of without softening the whole face. Do portrait photographers think this is flattering? Asking seriously about this not commenting facetiously.

you are obviously male! :) Not to say all, but why do most women use makeup? Whether they are real or perceived flaws, softening makes them disappear. Of course there are degrees of softening but very few people in general want their natural look, at least in a head shot.

bobmcculloch Loc: NYC, NY

boberic wrote:

There wer a lot of tricks that were used in the "old days". One was to actually smear a touch of vaseline on a lens to soften a portrait.

Yep, and filters with clear center and frosted perimeter, special less corrected 'portrait' lenses too, oh nylon stocking stretched over lens with a hole in the middle of the lens area.

leftj Loc: Texas

Robert Bailey wrote:

This effect was quite noticeable if you watched an ageing Barbara Walters interview anyone.
The guest would be sharp as a tack. Barbara Walters would be barely visible
through the fog of a heavy diffusion filter.

I would prefer her to not be visible at all.

OviedoPhotos

A while ago I took head shots of my mother, wife and two sons. Took both soft focus and regular. Both women liked the soft ones better. Both sons liked the regular focus. Both women also wore lots of makeup. I've given up trying to figure it out. Just give them what they want. :-)

Jim Bob

OviedoPhotos wrote:

A while ago I took head shots of my mother, wife and two sons. Took both soft focus and regular. Both women liked the soft ones better. Both sons liked the regular focus. Both women also wore lots of makeup. I've given up trying to figure it out. Just give them what they want. :-)

This thread has outlived its usefulness.

cameranut Loc: North Carolina

This is more of a "mental outlook" issue than a photographic one. Until we quit thinking that it is okay, even admirable, for men to have wrinkles, but taboo for women to have them, we will continue trying to change what nature (and God) has created. Plastic surgeons and makeup manufacturers profit nicely from outmoded thinking.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

Jaackil wrote:

I have been reviewing other photographers "Senior Portraits" to prepare for and get ideas for shooting my sons Senior Portrait. Every single portrait of a woman is very soft in the face. Personally I don't think it looks very good. But why? I understand teens have blemishes but with the level of pp software today they are easy to take care of without softening the whole face. Do portrait photographers think this is flattering? Asking seriously about this not commenting facetiously.

Generally speaking Women are more concerned about how they look than some men. Following that logic, when I did senior pictures I always posed females in deep shade so their features would appear softer and more gentle than for the guys. Guys I tended to look for more subdued direct lighting to bring out the more masculine features. My clients seemed to like it.

SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

It's just crappy photography, flat out and simple!!
It minimizes the time spent on an image and maximizes the profits.
A good portrait should probably take an hour of PP but that would be impossible for assembly line work.
The eyes, eye brows, lips and hair should be dead sharp and the face skin can be deblemished and softened as needed to crest a great beauty look but that takes time, and time is money!!!
SS

bigwolf40 Loc: Effort, Pa.

SharpShooter wrote:

It's just crappy photography, flat out and simple!!
It minimizes the time spent on an image and maximizes the profits.
A good portrait should probably take an hour of PP but that would be impossible for assembly line work.
The eyes, eye brows, lips and hair should be dead sharp and the face skin can be deblemished and softened as needed to crest a great beauty look but that takes time, and time is money!!!
SS

Now this is what I think is the best answer and most flattering for women....Rich

Fotoartist Loc: Detroit, Michigan

There's a proper way to retouch skin which preserves the skin pores and looks natural. Google: Frequency Separation.

Jaackil wrote:

I have been reviewing other photographers "Senior Portraits" to prepare for and get ideas for shooting my sons Senior Portrait. Every single portrait of a woman is very soft in the face. Personally I don't think it looks very good. But why? I understand teens have blemishes but with the level of pp software today they are easy to take care of without softening the whole face. Do portrait photographers think this is flattering? Asking seriously about this not commenting facetiously.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

When photographing and printing portraits of male and female subjects. I always use a frame with a single layer of panty hose material, positioned between the lens and the paper, to soften the female subjects that I photographed. Varying the distance between the print and the frame would vary the degree of softening.
--Bob

Jaackil wrote:

I have been reviewing other photographers "Senior Portraits" to prepare for and get ideas for shooting my sons Senior Portrait. Every single portrait of a woman is very soft in the face. Personally I don't think it looks very good. But why? I understand teens have blemishes but with the level of pp software today they are easy to take care of without softening the whole face. Do portrait photographers think this is flattering? Asking seriously about this not commenting facetiously.

jeryh Loc: Oxfordshire UK

Try taking a photo of ANY female using a specific portrait lens; if you produce a razor sharp image for her to view, I guarantee you will be in very deep do do ! Whereas an image produced using the soft blur technique gets universal praise- l go figure !

Fotoartist Loc: Detroit, Michigan

Viewing on an LCD screen vs. a final print is a different story. You can do that. But Never print a raw file. And Never tell them how much you retouched the print.

1950Dan Loc: Lockwood, Nevada

As stated there are many ways to soften a portrait. Soften lenses or filters, hairspray, vignettes, vasoline, and my favorite was a Star-4 filter. TV and Movies use Starcross to soften features and give that flare to background lights.

SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

jeryh wrote:

Try taking a photo of ANY female using a specific portrait lens; if you produce a razor sharp image for her to view, I guarantee you will be in very deep do do ! Whereas an image produced using the soft blur technique gets universal praise- l go figure !

Jeryh, that's pretty funny! LoL
I use the SHARPEST lenses I own for photographing women. Now true, I don't shoot to many 80 year olds, most are 1/4 that age.
I leave what should be sharp, dead sharp, and soften what needs to be softened.
It's EASY to soften but IMPOSSIBLE to make what was photographed soft, SHARP!!!
SS