Does the ideal portrait focal length depend on the subject’s face shape?
Asked 7/15/2014
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2 answers
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For head-and-shoulders portraits, photographers often recommend roughly 85–135mm because faces tend to look more natural and less exaggerated than they do with wider lenses. Does that recommendation apply to all face shapes, or can wider focal lengths sometimes be used deliberately if you want a different look, such as a rounder or more exaggerated face?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
12y ago
2 Answers
1
Hard to see what you're asking. A given focal length and composition will always have the same character due to laws of optics. You're always going to see that effect, it has nothing to do with the subject. If you're asking whether some people look good that way, then yes of course they do — but that's your responsibility as the artist to make that happen.
If you're asking if wide angle portrait photography is a thing — definitely yes... do a web search for wide angle portraits.
But, it's kind of up to the viewer to say whether the person looks better or not.
If you are asking if what the human race has learned about photography in the last (more than) 200 years is correct, then yes, yes it is. Portraits taken with a little zoom are typically more flattering to human subjects.
BTW — I have taken one "famous" portrait in my life, and it was wide angle... a refugee mom seeing her son for the first time after 20 years. I knew him, so I stuck my camera two inches from the kiss. Truly amazing, glad I had that lens that day. Both subjects look great in the photo, and I could not have done it without that lens because I was being pummeled by paparazzi at the time and I could not have backed up.
One more thing I thought of... this is not a focal length effect really, it's solely due to the distance from the subject. If you take your wide angle lens and have the person stand 10 feet away, they will be really small in the photo, but angles and shapes will look normal. If you stick your eyeball two inches from someone's face, and look around, you will see the same effect as the typical 'wide angle portrait' shot.
Here's a great demonstration and explanation: http://petapixel.com/2013/01/11/how-focal-length-affects-your-subjects-apparent-weight-as-seen-with-a-cat/
Originally by user15934. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user15934
12y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
For a given framing, the visual effect is consistent: wider-angle portraits tend to exaggerate nearby features, while longer focal lengths give a more natural-looking perspective that is usually considered more flattering for head-and-shoulders portraits. That optical character doesn’t change based on the subject’s face shape.
What does change is whether that look suits the portrait you want. The common 85–135mm recommendation exists because it generally flatters human faces, but wider-angle portraiture is absolutely a valid creative choice when you want a more exaggerated or stylized result.
So the short answer is: the “flattering” range is broadly applicable, but not mandatory. Some faces or concepts may work well with the distortion of a wider lens—it’s an artistic decision rather than a different rule of optics for different face shapes.
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