Why use huge, long zoom lenses for portraits?

I simply don't understand this. Maybe someone can come up with a good reason.

I was walking through a park today and saw a wedding party being

photographed. The photographer was using a massive lens, which was certainly

bigger than my Nikkor 80-200mm f2.8, and I know how heavy that is on a big

body. Not only that, but he was standing between 20-30 feet away from the

group, yelling instructions to the person holding the flash unit and the photo

subjects. This isn't the first time I've seen a ridiculous scene like this. Why not

shoot with a great prime lens such as the Canon 85mm or the Nikkor 85mm / f1.4 if

blurring the backround is the goal? Why do fashion and wedding photographers

shoot like this?

Single focal lenses are of course useful, but not flexible. A fast pro zoom is a time saver. They are quick to use and convenient. Some also have VR which is useful.

 

 

Kent in SD

"standing between 20-30 feet away from the group" with a "massive lens" does not sound right. How many people in the group and how many rows in that group?

 

One would use a 135mm up to 30 feet away to photograph one person. But for a group? Must be a tight group head shot. If that was the case, then I can't see a problem with that. What works, works.

Why ask a question about lens choices for portraits in the Lighting forum?

I'm not sure how you decided this was a "ridiculous scene"? Wedding photographers (like most photographers) use zooms so that they don't have to carry a bag of lenses, and to avoid switching lenses continually.

 

The only person that could have answered your question would have been the "shooter" in the park.

The benefit of this set up is that the longer lens compresses the image more and brings the background closer to the subject to give the image a different look. it is not ridiculous it is just a different way of doing things. If I have room I like to get back for some shots as well. Not something I do all the time but if the situation is right it gives a different look to the image if the background is cool.

It gives a different perspective to the image. What did the subject look like? The

background can be manipulated and elements eliminated if needed by zooming to the

longer end of the zoom. Perhaps that was the longest, fastest lens that he owned. Not

everyone can afford or even want a 85/1.4.

Compression. Long Telephoto lenses makes the bride look thinner (preferred from a bride's perspective) - as compared to 85mm lens; which is most suitable for head shots and children closeups.

To expand on what Tony and Umesh wrote; it is optical physics at work.

 

Standing further back reducies the realtive distance between the tip of the nose and

the ears (in a head on portrait) which makes for a more flattering photo.

 

If you keep the size of the subject in the frame the same whether you get close with

an 85mm lens or step back with a 300mm lens, the area of the background covered

seen in the composition is narrower with the longer lens.

 

Since you have an 80-200mm set up a static 3 D subject and try it.

Sorry for posting here.. I should have put this in the wedding forum.

 

I thought it was a ridiculous scene because the photographer was so far from the subjects and the light that it would be very difficult to manipulate either of them.

 

Interesting point about the distance between the nose and ears... thanks.

Sometimes the distance between both ears is more important.

 

Oh, and if you use a long one, put your clients on Pocket Wizard.

 

Cheers

I think a simple experiment demonstrates the principle involved here. Stand a few feet

from a mirror and extend your arm and hand. Carefully compare the apparent size of

the reflected hand and your face. The hand will appear much larger than normal

compared to the face. Now stand 10-12 feet from the mirror and do it again- your hand

appears in correct proportion to your face. Now stand three layers of people on a

bleacher. Using your zoom lens at the shortest focal length, compose and take a

picture. Then move further away and use the zoom lens to get the same composition.

Do this over and over until you are as far away as you can stand and still frame the

group. Make prints of each and compare. When you are close the heads in the third

row look smaller than the heads in the front row. When you are further away the

heads become become the same size, and can look like they are in the same plane.

1. Better Bokeh.

 

2. Better isolation of the subject. Avoids confusing and distracting backgrounds, in situations where the "sideground" is too busy. With a narrow angle of view, only the background exactly behind the subject appears in the photo.

 

3. Occasionally helps to pull a distant object into closer relationship with the subject. For example, if you have a famous mountain background, you may want to use it as a backdrop for a portrait. The long lens pulls distant objects closer, compressing distance.

 

4. It avoids the tendency for wide lenses to overemphasize foreground, like the subject's nose, or the front row of participants.

 

Dave

Ridiculous, eh?