 BetterPhoto Member |
Too Much Space Above Heads in Portraits It seems that when I take pictures I end up with more space - especially above the head than I wanted. This changes the whole composition. It happens most often when I turn my camera vertical. I'm very new to photography - however, I am a professional artist. I'm sure I am just making some simple mistake. Does anyone know what that mistake is??
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Bob Cammarata |
Most 35mm format cameras have a viewfinder that shows about 95 percent of the actual composition. The 5 percent or so which you don't see is on the short end, and will show up in the photo. There are two things you can do to remedy this. Either over-compensate during composition of your verticals by adjusting the camera angle slightly, or turn the camera vertically the other way so the extra space will be at the bottom of the frame where it's less noticeable.
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- Gregory LaGrange Contact Gregory LaGrange Gregory LaGrange's Gallery |
What you're most likely doing is just not paying attention to where the subject is in the frame. Pointing the camera straight ahead, and looking straight ahead, when you take a picture of someone you look them in the eye as you're looking through the center of the viewfinder, which is natural. It's just that since it's rectangular, having the point you are looking at (the eyes) close to the middle of the frame, in a horizontal picture there's less room so the frame is filled more above and below that point. (The forehead above and the shoulders and rest of the body below.) You turn to vertical, you naturally have the eyes towards the center, but you've got extra room so you have space above the head, but the rest of the body just fills in the bottom half of the picture.
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John L. Webb |
I have always found the advice of Photographer David Douglas Duncan to be perfect for my portraits..."get close...then get closer...." Undoubtably that is overly simplsitic, but I usually fill my frame with my subject and then back out some as opposed to being too far off...but then, I am an intimate shooter....
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Wayne Abraham |
I think I know what's happening here Tracy H: most cameras have focusing aids in the middle of the viewfinder when you focus you are leaving the subject in the middle of the frame and not recomposing. I know because I still make the same mistake occasionally. The trick is to focus then compose. Hope this helps. Wayne
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John A. Lind |
I'm guilty of this too . . . with manual focus gear . . . although it's rather rare now. For me it was simply not paying attention to all the compositional details (including head position) in the viewfinder because I was paying attention to other things . . . plus I'm definitely taller than average which contributed to the problem. Work very consciously at watching head position and its placement in the frame, and it will soon become automatic. If you're shooting candids with people doing things and moving, there's a lot to pay attention to in the viewfinder. It's mentally demanding and it's a skill that most of us had to work at and continuously nurture. -- John Lind
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- Shirley D. Cross-Taylor Contact Shirley D. Cross-Taylor Shirley D. Cross-Taylor's Gallery |
Tracey, it is also possible that your camera has the same problem as mine: the viewfinder is not balanced. In other words, mine shows more space on the finished photos to the right of horizontal pics and therefore more space at top when I turn it vertically on my tripod. When I remember, I try to compensate in-camera while taking the photos. You'd think I have some cheapo camera, but it is a Nikon N90, which was the top of the line at the time I bought it. It just has this quirk.
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Ken Henry |
With 35mm format I don't feel it really matter since the 4 x6's are your proofs, so when you have your 8 x 10" enlargements processed the photofinisher will crop per your instructions. Hence an 8 x 12 reduced to 8 x 10, a standard for portraits. I use a very different lens, a Canon 90mm TSE, a tilt & shift perpective control lense and sometimes I use a 1.4x with gives me a 125mm lens. No matter how tall or short the client is I can adjust the verticals without tilting the camera up or down. This eliminates distortions caused by angling your camera up or down. Therefor the face is always in the top 1/3 of the viewfinder. You can also create a more angled perspective by shifting the lens in the opposite direction, as when the model is in a prone position. Tilting the front lens also gives you more control in focusing especialy at F2.8.
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