Landscape photographer seeks advice about photographing faces

edwardseco

I'll second Zoltan's part B 1. A good telephoto lens is worth the expense..

Hyderabadi

I am learning a lot of stuff with your VRs & panos, Cameleer.

Would you say that aperture matters in these techniques?

kristinm

Cameleer - what do you do if the camel refuses your request? Do you talk to them first or just sneak up with a long lens? And where does that leave their soul? Is it ethical? (Sorry - just joking, not paying out)

I think the best portraits my partner took was when he was engaged with the people in the portrait and they were reacting to him, there's a moment of contact which can be really nice, or even just bring out the real person - whether they are grumpy or sad or happy. Just because someone isn't smiling, doesn't mean they don't want their photo taken.

I think the only real issue is not to take pictures after someone has told you not to... we have taken some nice shots when people weren't aware, but its more of them doing something than a closeup of the face... I guess its a fine line - but I like shots of people going about their business, or a group of people, it's a snapshot of daily life rather than a portrait as such, and I'm not sure you need to be too concerned about permission and so on in that case?? But maybe you do?

There was one shot - which I haven't put on the gallery - where JP shot a group of men bathing on the roadside, I was horrified and really told him off for doing it - I thought it was an invasion of privacy not to mention a 'look at the poor people' type of shot.

Anyway - when I look at the shot now the guy who is bathing is looking right at the camera and smiling so while I still feel funny about it, it seems like he didn't mind and its a great memory of the vibrant life we saw on the street which is so much a part of India.

Cameleer

Hyderabadi,
When shooting panos I’m using a Canon 5D with a Nikkor 10.5mm fisheye lens on it. All settings are put in manual. The aperture doesn’t matter much on it for DOF but does for lighting. Full open this lens is still sharp. I also use the raw setting because you can’t do near as much tweaking with JPG’s.

Kristinm,
I just spend a lot of time around the animals which I enjoy, and I take a lot of photos to end up with a few good ones.
Some people say animals don’t have souls.

I learned in India “DON’T ASK, JUST DO IT" that’s not true with everything there but use your own good judgment. When taking pictures go for it until someone says no or does something like putting their hand in front of their face signifying no photos.
From my experience in India most people love getting their photos taken, and if you can give them a copy of the photo that’s a big plus!

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kristinm

I must say I agree - it seemed to me that Indians love having their photo taken - even veiled women happily pose for pics.

I think Cameleer does the hardest thing - animals, they are really hard to shoot - you have to take heaps of photos to get that magic shot, but when you get it its worth it. I can see why you photograph camels, I hadn't really thought much about them until I went to India but once there I admired them for their ability to rise above the menial chores they are required to do, or the traffic on the freeway and carry themselves as if they are carrying a King.. they really are very regal creatures and such beautiful eyes.

fsg

I do not think the compact digital camera you have is suitable for portrait photography, but it does depend on the standard you want to achieve.

Shutter lag is the biggest bugbear of compacts, and as far as I am aware the Ricoh
GX8 has the shortest shutter lag, and is ideal for capturing 'an instant moment', the drawback is that the lens is more suited to landscape photography, being a 28-85[35mm equivalent] f/ 2.5 with settings from ISO 64 to ISO1600.

However at the 85 end of the zoom you should be able to get good portrait pix. That is if you have the bottle to get close to your subject. That really is very important. Also you should start to observe people closely, their expression, hands, interaction with others and learn how to capture that.

On 35mm SLR cameras I used to do all my portraits at about 70mm zoom, lens being a 28-105mm, and on 120 cameras used a 150mm lens, which is about 90mm equivalent on 35mm.

In my opinion a 135mm lens is too long to use generally, particularly in India where somone will always walk between you and the subject, if you are closer that will not happen.

There was a thread before by someone who was reading an airline magazine and saw that one of their pix had been used without permission to illustrate an article, as far as I can remember the pic was not watermarked and on a site similar to
IM. No reproduction fee would have been paid to the original photographer.

Photo theft is so common these days,that is the reason I do not post pics on this site. I use a reputable photo agency to sell my work.

Yuo might also consider purchasing a digital SLR, problem of shutter lag solved

Baba

To the OP:

Your old camera is probably much better than most P&S-models you can buy today. These days they make them with smaller sensors and more pixels: a guarantee for noise.

I use a 4year-old P&S for my portraits (here) and while I cannot expect to get huge prints from those shots, I find it does have some advantages: it is silent, which an SLR can never be. It's also much smaller and thus quite unobtrusive. Mine has a swivel screen and I find this the most important feature for portraits as it enables me to shoot from the hip.

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Baba

machadinha

It turns out there's already something of a sticky thread for it: Uploading photo attachments on IndiaMike?

That one worked out a little rambly, so let me know if it's unclear and I could write a new one to just feature the instructions as such.

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Haylo

Well, fingers crossed this works, I think I have managed to figure out how to attach images as thumbnails.

1. One of the few portraits I've taken, from inside the cab of a WWII truck. I think it came out okay.
2. Sunset on the Grand Canal, Venice taken from a vaporetto.
3. Bon Echo Rock, taken from the shore of the partly frozen Lake Mazinaw, in Canada. Special place for me, that is where I determined to climb it one day. I trained in the UK for several months before going back over to climb it.
4. The pool at the end of the Levada das 25 Fontes, a spectacular if often precipitous walk in Madeira.
5. Stonehenge, England at dawn which has given the image a monochromatic feel.
6. View from hotel window, Ailefroide, French Alps.

As you can imagine, I am eager to capture images of India!

Edited to add, thanks Mach, I was about to write to say I'd figured it out!

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machadinha

Success! & Lovely pics they are, too. btw Are you kidding the portrait came out "okay"?! That US soldier couldn't be more, well, US soldier

Haylo

Thanks mach!

Actually, that is why I am a bit pleased with it. It was taken during a two week living history trip, and despite the US uniform, truck and general "Totally GI" look, believe it or not he is actually German!

Wanderer22

Hylow, Thought I'd jump in with my 2 annas worth....

Try some street shooting around your home area and find what camera and style works for you. For travel, size and weight are very important. You will have to carry all your gear with you every where you go. Can't say that the idea of Indian style train loos with a big Nikon and zoom lens around my neck is very appealing.

I'm a fan of using wide angle lenses for people photography. My style is to show more of the location around the subject. Some of my favorite people shots have been with a 21mm lens on film. This lens has a 92 degree angle of view so you must get very close to your subject or they end up looking too small. Unfortunately this lens is not very fast so will often carry a 35mm f/1.4 for available darkness shots.


Have been photographing in India since 1970 mainly using rangefinder film cameras. On my last trip I used a tiny 2MP point and shoot as my only camera, a trip with minimalist gear. I soon found the drawbacks, shutter lag and poor hi-ASA noise. Next trip will probably be with a small film camera and a more modern digital point and shoot with image stabilization. Better gear is a necessity if you plan on making big prints, but screen size images are very forgiving. I have a gallery here as well as over on the Photonet site. http://photo.net/photos/GlennS ..... The images on Photonet were taken with everything from the above mentioned 2MP P&S to 4"x5" film. On screen there's not too much difference in quality, .... 20"x24" prints are quite another matter..


The search for the perfect travel camera is not a simple one, I wish you luck.

Wanderer22 @:-)

Rebecca-VT

Hi there, this is my first post to the Indiamike forum, so I hope it's helpful!

I am traveling to India for the first time in the fall, so I don't have advise specific to photographing portraits there, however I am a professional photographer with experience in taking photos of people in other parts of the world.

The most important thing is to become comfortable with asking people if you can take their picture. A great place to start is at a market or bazaar. Buy a small trinket or something from an interesting looking vendor, and then ask if you can take their photo. Sometimes just a smile and a gesture to your camera is enough. Often they are grateful for the purchase, and will happily oblige. Be sure to thank them, and show them the photo on the LCD screen if possible. Be respectful and friendly, and try only snap one or two photos unless they seem really comfortable with the camera. If the person seems uncomfortable, don't push the issue.

I prefer people photos where the subject is engaged with the camera, unless they are part of an overall scene. I'm not a big fan of long lens, candid head shot type photos (does anyone know what I mean by these?).

As far as the type of camera, I think the best one to use is the one you feel comfortable with. Although a digital SLR may produce better image quality, if you don't feel comfortable using it, or have to spend too much time fiddling with settings, it will absolutely be reflected in your photos.

Haylo

Welcome to IndiaMike, and thank you so much for your advice.

I won't be there until the Autumn either, which is why my mind is turning now to the question of whether to buy a new camera, I would need time to get used to it before I go. A digital SLR is tempting, but its main disadvantage is not having to fiddle about with it, but its size and even more so its weight. I'm pretty small and even carrying just one spare lens, my old OM10 used to be too cumbersome and heavy after a while! I find it easier to hold a smaller camera, and the one I have does give me a lot of flexibility with aperture / speed priorities as well as full manual settings.

It is also extremely robust, I used to use it for work and it has survived some pretty heavy bashings. The tilt and rotate screen is also something I use, for instance I can put the camera above my head on top of a wall and rotate the screen so I can still line the shot up. If only it didn't have such a long startup time. Just shows there's no such thing as the perfect camera!

Your idea of taking photographs of vendors would be a good way for me to get started, I don't want to be buying stuff I don't need, but I'm sure there are lots of interesting people selling snacks...

I also like the idea of taking one or two photos and then judging whether they feel comfortable to take a few more.

Know what you mean by having the subject engaged with the camera, but I do like seeing photographs of people concentrating on a task, especially if you can see what they're doing.

grikoo

There are basically two angles for getting good portrait shots:

First, you can simply click away until people notice you. This will give you the most 'realistic' photos of people in real life. You'll need something with a good zoom on it, and preferably a super high pixel rating.

Second, you can engage the person directly. This will produce portraits where the end photo shows whatever interaction you create. It comes over as the subject interacting directly with the the viewer, and ideally there will be no sense of the photographer's presence- only the subject and end viewer. Learning how to get this interaction going is a great art.

About your camera- I have colleagues that use this camera for macro shots, and it seems good for that, but I don't know how it will turn out with portraits. Try it out and see....

As pointed out above, shutter lag is a real problem when taking pics of people. A lot can happen in the 1/2 second between you pushing the button and the camera taking the picture. If your camera is slow, try to keep the focus button depressed all the time. At least then you take out the time required for the camera to focus.

If you can get you're hands on one of the old mini polaroid cameras, these are good to have as you can give a person a photo to take with them. It makes them feel like they're getting something in return. These produce a photo about the size of a standard passport photo. May be hard to find one though. I haven't seen them around for several years.