Response to When taking portraits

A "portrait" can be taken with any lens, regardless of focal length, if what you mean by a "portrait" is a picture of a person. Environmental portraits, for example, are often taken with wide- angles. However, if you're talking about "head shots", a 50mm lens will require you to get too close, resulting in big noses and small ears, with an unflattering rounding of the face. The effect will get more pronounced with shorter lenses and will decrease with longer ones. Generally speaking, for a 35mm camera, a lens of 80 to 105mm is regarded as optimum. Another factor is rapport with the subject. Anything longer than 105mm and you will be in the next room! Also, long lenses will result in a flattening of perspective. (Realize, of course, that it is not the lens that "distorts" or "flattens"; it is your distance from the subject.) http://www.ravenvision.com/rvapeter.htm

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