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Portraits with the wide-angle lens

Capturing from very close distances facing the “subject” in order to obtain facial images with a wide-angle lens, is something that some consider a fatal technical error ... The truth confirms that working in such a manner, based on a prior conception to achieve extraordinary effects, will ensure that we obtain wonderful artistic images that cannot be achieved with lenses other, and for normal capture distances.

In the field of portraits, we talked a lot about the appropriate lenses for them, and we also repeatedly mentioned that adopting a wide-angle lens in taking portraits should not be done except in the case of a desire to obtain artistic images of a special kind (some may see them as distorted images). As we have repeatedly pointed out, the effects are of facial images. She shoots with a wide-angle lens, often with exaggerated expressions and figures that the model she is photographing hardly accepts. Especially if our model is female.

Those people who want official portraits, free from any unnatural influence, must be dealt with regularly with normal lenses ranging from 85 to 105 mm. It gives us the impression closest to a vision similar to that of the human eye.. But this does not mean that with a 28 mm lens you will get some very interesting pictures, even when the camera touches the nose of the subject with a wide-angle lens.

Some photographers have actually experimented with this method, and achieved many strange close-up portraits with a wide-angle lens. But their goal was limited to producing exciting effects on the borders of the picture frame or a forehead that extends, similar to highlighting rectangular burials that extend beyond a long distance and so on.
And with other photographers, the effect of unusual proportions can be enough to turn an ordinary photo into a
A snapshot with which you can enter into photographic competitions... But we point out here that our visual approach to a person with the camera will inevitably lead to a significant change in his personality and often contributes with us to imparting movement or a caricature expression that doubles the value of the snapshot that will go beyond being taken to show unexpected effects This approach to the faces of people you know will create a special atmosphere, as it comes to the mind of the subject that we do not want to capture as much as we want - clowning, and here he rushes with us in the game, and the atmosphere turns into fun that cannot be obtained if we were to capture from the traditional distance.

Here we point out that the degree of widening of the angle of the lens is of no importance. If we are dealing with the subject from a distance, then with a mm lens, for example. When I work from a distance of five feet, the dimensions will be normal and similar to those produced with a regular telephoto lens.

One of the great advantages of working from a very close area with a wide-angle lens is that it helps to avoid the most annoying dilemmas of this type of lens, which is the dilemma of getting rid of the unwanted depth of field behind the subject.
With the lens open to the fullest. And from a distance of five feet or more. Of course, we will find it extremely difficult to make the background blurry to the extent required so as not to obstruct the subject.
Sometimes it is about dealing with bright light to the extent that requires a noticeable reduction of the aperture, - f 5.6 or f / 8 - but despite that, it is possible here to limit the depth of field by highlighting some of the foreground parts in full focus to capture them clearly, and then leaving the farthest part out. Focus, which leads to avoid obstruction that usually arises from the background in normal shots.

This talk pushes us more to talk about focusing extensively, when we usually deal with ordinary subjects, we know that principles require us to focus on the eyes or on the closest eye - with a three-quarter view - because the subject we are dealing with always wants to get a clearly focused shot on his eyes first and there is no objection After that, if the nose, ears, or anything else is out of focus, these principles are not valid in the field of photography with a wide-angle lens, and in close-up shots, because here it is necessary to deal with the face as we deal with landscapes or buildings and so on. So, in normal circumstances, we usually focus on about a third of the distance back, and we work to reduce the aperture to get a sharp protrusion for the whole subject. From here, we have to study the face of the person sitting in front of us through a wide angle, and then we decide on what the point of influence is, and it may be the chin, lips, or even The frame of the glasses, not just the eyes.. Sometimes we may want to get a sharp prominence for the entire subject, and here we have to make the aperture as small as possible, or we decide to choose an isolated focus point to give more effect.
We point out here that medium-wide-angle lenses become very useful for portrait images that include the full frame, especially when they are mounted on mirrored or bulky cameras, and when dealing with a subject that shows its relationship to its surroundings, such as an artist in a studio or a housewife inside.

Kitchen... The wide angle usually allows for a good amount of the interior to be included within the frame. And if the subject is not too close to the camera, or if he is not in a position that makes one hand or one leg close to the camera, the effect will come out more natural.
In subjects like this, where dealing with people within their surroundings, it is necessary to pay attention to the perpendiculars that closely converge, and the treatment here begins with placing the camera parallel to the ground during capture. As the photographer often bends his camera to obtain a stronger convergence or more dramatic, but the result will be negative in a field like this.

As for the modern lenses at the level of wide-angle lenses - 35 or 28 mm - which are more common among amateurs, we point out that they are ideal lenses that can transform the living room in an ordinary house into a spacious, luxurious palace, and in them the seated inside the room will appear to the features of luxury as well.

Some inexpensive lenses may come with barrel modulation, and this will look bad in balanced indoor shots, but with close-up portraits we may not find a defect in these lenses.
Finally, we point out that what is mentioned here does not indicate in any way that portrait photos should always be taken with wide-angle lenses.
On the contrary, we presented a method of dealing with facial images rich in shots taken with these lenses, noting that facial images can be captured in all fields and focal lengths to give different effects⏹