Portraiture with a wide-angle lens: The authenticity and honesty of a close-up portrait

 

 

Tony and Chelsea Northrup enjoy trying different photography challenges to keep their skills sharp. Chelsea has recently been trying her hand at portraits with a wide-angle lens. There's a recent that lenses like 50mm and 85mm primes are often referred to as "portrait primes." They offer a flattering field of view and represents faces in traditionally pleasing ways. However, as Chelsea notes, the longer your lens, the further you are from your subject, all else equal. This can lead to a certain emotional distance in your images, when instead you often want a more intimate and personal look to your portraits.

As Tony puts it, "I think 24mm is the focal length of honesty. It's the focal length of your friends." That's an interesting way to phrase it and I think it hits on something important. If you communicate regularly with friends and family using a smartphone camera, such as on Snapchat or FaceTime, you're used to a wider focal length. There's a certain warmth and familiarity and even if it is not the standard choice for most professionals, there's a value to the more candid and casual look and feel, especially for certain types of portraiture.

(Via Tony & Chelsea Northrup)