what is best f-stop for portraits and why
Jun 25, 2017 05:23:19 #
Jun 25, 2017 06:10:53 #
wdross
Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado
folkus wrote:
I take a lot of photos of people and am wondering if for individual people - from a depth of field point of view there is an ideal f stop to use as a starting point. Thanks so much for your helpful replies.
If you want to the blur the background as much as possible, you would want an f-stop that would render the face sharp from the tip of the nose to the ears with the focus at the bridge of the nose. All that would be dependant on the lense and what portrait size (head shot, head and shoulders, 3/4, or full) you wanted.
Jun 25, 2017 06:22:17 #
jeryh wrote:
Use the old film era bench mark; F8 @ 100th second. Works !
ISO?
Jun 25, 2017 06:34:06 #
Resqu2
Loc: SW Va
I was just playing with this yesterday, full frame camera and an 85mm lens, set it at f/1.8 and took a few pics of my wife off our deck, have a line of pine trees 50 yards away and her face was crystal clear and the trees were a nice green blur. Turned out beautiful but had plenty of light also.
Jun 25, 2017 06:35:55 #
billnikon
Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont
folkus wrote:
I take a lot of photos of people and am wondering if for individual people - from a depth of field point of view there is an ideal f stop to use as a starting point. Thanks so much for your helpful replies.
There is no sweet spot for portraits. Just make sure the eyes are in focus what ever the F stop. Some like to stop their camera down a couple of stops to assure corner sharpness, but since a portrait involves the person usually in the middle of the frame this may not be necessary. You know, with digital, it is an easy thing for you to experiment with. Set up your model, usually a son, daughter, friend, relative, anyone who is FREE. Shoot with various F stops, have the person hold a card with the selected F stop on it. Make sure the eyes are always in focus, and shoot at 5 to 7 different F stops, they enlarge and look at the results. Yes Virginia, it is that easy. Use various distances too, and various focal distances, mark them all on the cards the person holds. Experiment, experiment, experiment, digital gives you instant results, and digital is certainly cheaper to play with then film. Your shutter speed should be fast enough to eliminate camera shake.
Jun 25, 2017 07:21:34 #
folkus wrote:
I was particularly thinking headshot only, single person, 3/4 angle, sunlight sufficient to not affect f-stop choice
But sunlight, unless you are in the shade, has it concerns. Backlight, front, side, shadows. It could effect f/stop if the person is in front of some object. Then you need to open up the lens to get the bokah or move them away. Or use flash for fill to compensate for odd lighting.
Jun 25, 2017 07:35:53 #
photoman022
Loc: Manchester CT USA
erinjay64 wrote:
There is no such animal as "the best_________... (show quote)
It's basically what I would have said, but I would have added, "the best f/stop is the one that gets the job done." Not being flippant, but being honest. The larger the f/stop, the less depth of field; the smaller the f/stop, the greater the depth of field.Jun 25, 2017 08:07:56 #
The premier wedding and portrait photographers recommend the sweet spot of the lens which is the middle f-stop of the range of your multi-focal lenth lens--most likely f-5.6 to f-8. As a rule of thumb with off camera flash I prefer f-11 for good DOF and adjust my lighting accordingly. Jewelry photographers always use f-8 for tac sharp macro images and focus stack several exposures.
The best lens for portraits is the 85mm f-1.2 portrait lens. They are expensive but the quality of capture is paramount. A dedicated single focal length lens is always more sharp than telephoto multi-element lenses. What you do with your aperture from there for creativity is up to you.
The best lens for portraits is the 85mm f-1.2 portrait lens. They are expensive but the quality of capture is paramount. A dedicated single focal length lens is always more sharp than telephoto multi-element lenses. What you do with your aperture from there for creativity is up to you.
Jun 25, 2017 08:19:40 #
The answer depends on which areas of the main subject you to want to appear in focus. The f-stop varies for this reason.
A large lens aperture like f/2.0 few photographers will use for a portrait because it brings sharp focus to a shallower depth of field.
From my study, I've found that portrait photographers use a small range of f-stops for doing their photography -- from f/5.6 to f/11.0
I have read that roving photographers, say, in a nightclub would use an f-stop of f/5.6 or f/8.0 along with a fixed distance and shutter speed when employing flash lighting. This formula allowed then to have confidence in their results.
To answer your question for yourself you'd want to test several f-stops to see which suited your purpose.
A large lens aperture like f/2.0 few photographers will use for a portrait because it brings sharp focus to a shallower depth of field.
From my study, I've found that portrait photographers use a small range of f-stops for doing their photography -- from f/5.6 to f/11.0
I have read that roving photographers, say, in a nightclub would use an f-stop of f/5.6 or f/8.0 along with a fixed distance and shutter speed when employing flash lighting. This formula allowed then to have confidence in their results.
To answer your question for yourself you'd want to test several f-stops to see which suited your purpose.
folkus wrote:
I take a lot of photos of people and am wondering if for individual people - from a depth of field point of view there is an ideal f stop to use as a starting point. Thanks so much for your helpful replies.
Jun 25, 2017 08:22:32 #
Jun 25, 2017 08:33:04 #
It is subjective, what looks good to one may not to another, try different aperture settings and see which one you like best, but remember, the photos that you like others may not. be prepared to deal with rejection.
Jun 25, 2017 08:45:13 #
I found that my go to lens for portraits was my 70-200 f2.8. I also found that at f5 and 105mm was the sharpest for shooting indoors and produced the best results. Again, this is all subjective to the shooter and what he/she is looking for. Digital is cheap and like others have stated, shoot at different f stops and lenses.
Jun 25, 2017 08:49:37 #
Focus on the eye, if you have a wide aperture, the back of the head may be out of focus, but that may be ok, expression of the face may be what's most important. (I've seen some great portraits that have the front of the nose out of focus, but the eyes and mouth in perfect focus.)
Jun 25, 2017 08:53:53 #
Just remember that what I like is subjective, but how to achieve it is objective fact--science.
Jun 25, 2017 09:01:34 #
folkus wrote:
I take a lot of photos of people and am wondering if for individual people - from a depth of field point of view there is an ideal f stop to use as a starting point. Thanks so much for your helpful replies.
Have you ever studied portraits made by the masters through history of photography? Study them closely. The aperture is irrelevant for this exercise. Then take your photos and adjust your aperture until you reach the same type of depth of those you studied as great portraits. Now you are at a starting point. From there adjust the aperture to see what the change creats as far as mood etc. Keep track of all this. Indoor and outdoor will be different as to background in or out of focus. People have different ideas as to what is good. I would say develop your unique look and style from this study you did. Then promote this as your look as people like this.
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