Define detail in portraits

[alaine_mangabay]

<p>My cousin is taking photography in her highschool class. She asked me for some definitions for portriats which I was able to answer, except for one. She asked me to define detail. What does this mean exactly. Is this just like making sure you keep the detail in your photograph. Like keeping the detail in the eyes and hair, things like that, or is it something completely different?</p>

[hal_b]

<p>From a portraiture point of view, I would call detail the ability to see texture in a certain area. For this, light is required. That's why you focus on lighting areas of important texture, such as the hair and face, so that they don't lie in shadow in the final print. When your textures are properly exposed, you see the full range of "detail" across 7 stops from highlights to shadows in that area.</p>

<p>I would definitely stay away from the new mutated definition that morphs detail into the new realm of "resolution", where detail becomes nothing more than the ability of the film or sensor to detect horizontal and vertical lines...blah, blah, blah. Detail is the ability to see what your subject is made of.</p>

[John G.]

<p>Hal's post is correct as far as he goes, but from a more technical view (more technical than high school, sorry), detail is the opposite of texture. I happen to have this in front of me....</p><div></div>

[charlesheckel]

<p>Within the context, detail may simply mean the inclusion of props or poses that tell more about the subject: sitting in a director's chair, dressed in a tutu, holding a sketch pad, safety pin in hornrimmed glasses, and so on.</p>