Reader's Comments - Index of - Free

Portrait Photography
sharp as the the sharpest lenses out there. Wide open it gives some softness to the edges and an out of focus
background. Environmental work is the kind that is the supreme example of the art. These are the portraits that
never get forgotten. Show some of the subjects life, and they relax more. And love the result more. A pretty face
is a pretty face, but a person in their home or on their tractor. That is ageless.
-- Gerry Siegel (Honolulu), March 17, 2002
As always, an item on photo.net talking too much about cameras, lenses and films, and not enough about
photography.
I don't care whether you used an SLR, TLR, P&S, rangefinder, 35mm, 6x6 or even flippin' APS. I care what
pictures you take.
You don't meet up with other writers and talk about typewriters and pens. You don't meet up with other artists
and talk about paintbrushes. So why do photographers always seem to spend hours talking about flipping
cameras!
-- Tom Morris, May 14, 2002
Check out this Portrait of my 5 months old son
-- Kalpesh Sheth, June 13, 2002
Alex Lee's picture of Camille (two above at this writing) is a perfect example of the need for short-telephoto
portrait lenses. If I were shooting her in a tightly cropped frame as he did, I would have used a 135mm, because
beautiful as she is, I'll bet she goes on and on about her ski-jump nose. That's what a girl friend of mine called
hers, but I loved it, too. Mr. Lee's objectivity has been clouded by his appreciation of her beauty, and the use of a
short-tele would have made her nose less prominent, instead of exaggerating it, even beyond how she appears to
the corporeal eye-brain connection that cancels out the phenomenon of optical physics, perspective.
If Mr. Lee's intent was to lend emphasis to the subject's nose because he likes it, then his choice of a 50mm lens
in a tight shot is appropriate. A subject with a broad, flat nose would be better served by use of a 50mm, the
closer perspective narrowing the nose and bringing it out. The perspective shaping power of lenses is the first and
most effective tool a photographer has to emphasize or de-emphasize a subject's features, for good or bad, or
different.
And to Gerry Siegel, I envy you your 20/20 vision, but when it begins to fail you so that you can't clearly see the
image in the viewfinder as quickly as you used to, you'll think that AF is a Godsend and realize that it IS a
necessity, because without it you'll lose shots. In portraiture or candid people photography, time taken to frame
and focus, if more than an instant, is the killer of the first, honest expression, the natural smile and the subject's
patience. After you've learned to see your AF's focus-lock indicators (depending on mode and lens) as quickly as
you see a flash-ready light come on, then you can trust the camera and go with the shot you know you want, even
if your eyes haven't caught up with the camera's yet.
http://www.photo.net/portraits/intro (22 of 37)7/3/2005 2:16:41 AM