Custom Search

Monday, June 26, 2017

Portrait Problems

Regular visitors here will have noted that I've been posting a lot of photos of performers lately. One of the reasons is that my photography interests lately have been in two directions - portraiture and landscapes. In part these two interests stem from two lenses I have - an 85mm lens (the focal length generally agreed to be most useful for portraits) and a 20mm wide angle lens that should be good for landscapes. I've been having more success with portraits but I feel that I tend to end up with the same old head and shoulders composition. Today's two photos illustrate two different choices for composition. Above is what I usually end up with - the subject (in this case, the lovely Esther-Ruth Teel and her Celtic harp) is pretty much centered in a 3:2 frame. Below is a different crop of the same photo - a close-up of just head and shoulders but sharing a square frame with the harp. I think I prefer the version below but I will be interested in any opinions visitors care to share.

3 comments:

William Kendall said...

Both are outstanding. Personally I do prefer the first version, simply because it puts her more into context.

The Furry Gnome said...

Yes, as a portrait, the second is better.

JoJo said...

I like them both but of the two, the top is my preferred choice.