Most people believe that outdoor portrait photographs can only be taken using natural light for a couple of hours each day. Now Bobbi Lane, a master portrait photographer who has taken creative portraits for major clients and stock for the past 30 years, dispels this myth and sheds some light on the subject of taking stunning portraits without the aid of flash at any time of day. Lane answers 7 of the biggest questions about natural light portraits on this week’s free “7 Photography Questions” podcast with host Dr. Audri Lanford.

“In natural light I find myself continually amazed at what can happen,” Lane says. “The possibilities are truly endless. A lot of photography classes only talk about light in terms of what’s your exposure, as opposed to the direction, the quality, and the depth of the light. Those are the things that are going to determine what your viewer feels about your subject.”

During this week’s free “7 Photography Questions” podcast, Lane reveals:

You might be surprised to know that having the absolute best Canon portrait lens is not the most vital part of getting a perfect portrait. But a first-class lens will unquestionably go a long way toward getting you to that great image.

Being a portrait photographer can truly be a pretty glamorous career. If you are good and make the right connections, you could be in the company of some very well known people. It would be a much better way than the paparazzi, who are not very highly regarded in the photography business. What they do in not portraits, anyway.

While the most visible portraits are of famous people, by far, most photographers are not hobnobbing with the rich and famous. There is plenty of work in portraits that does not include actors, singers, and other glitzy individuals.

Other portrait niches include individuals, family photos (Olan Mills does not have a monopoly here), high school senior photos, babies, and even pet portraits. And sports portraits is a huge opportunity, too. You can truly find a unique niche in portrait photography.

The camera is important, but the portrait lens is just as important. Since the subject, or model, is where you want the viewer’s eye to go the instant they look at the photo, there are certain techniques to accomplish that. The first thing you want is a narrow depth of field. This means that the plane of focus is shallow, putting the other objects in the photograph out of focus. That sharp area of focus unconsciously draws the eye of the viewer.

Great portrait lenses accomplish this shallow depth of field by allowing the picture to be taken with a very quick shutter speed. This fast shutter is a function of the aperture (or lens opening). A good aperture for portraits is f/2.8 or wider. The smaller the number, the wider the aperture. In fact, the better lenses have apertures as wide as f/1.2. (And as the number gets smaller, the price tag gets bigger.) Using a wide aperture is one of the keys that will get you the sleek and sexy depth of field that you are looking for. Your subject will love their picture (and you). Plus, the feeling of accomplishment for you, the photographer, is exhilarating.

Portrait photographers should be very aware of the focal length. Photographers who do only portraiture use what is know as prime lenses only. A prime lens has a single focal length, no zoom capability. If choosing a prime lens, 50mm would be the shortest length to choose. You definitely don’t want to go any shorter, because you will have to get too close to your model. A better focal length is somewhere between 75mm and 150mm. This gives the photographer a better combination of depth of field, distance from the subject, and flexibility in choosing the perspective.

If the lens does not have a long enough focal length, it could cause facial features that are out of proportion. Everyone has seen those images of the cows where the cow’s nose looks way out of proportion when compared to the rest of the animal. This technique is cute, and done purposefully, employing a wide angle lens and getting right up next to the subject. It’s a humorous shot, but not one that a high school senior would appreciate in their final yearbook.

There are also lots of photographers who use zoom lenses for portraits. One of the most popular is the Canon 70-200 f/2.8 zoom lens. Flexibility is the key to using a lens with so much diversity in choice of focal lengths.

The good news is that just about any lens can double as a portrait lens. Taking great portraits does not really take great equipment. The right photographer can do it with a cell phone.

The blur of the background, as mentioned, is the key to an exceptional portrait. Try putting more distance between the model and the background. In other words, put as much distance as you can between the model and the background. This will put the background out of focus and compensate for the lack of a wide aperture.

When you own a digital SLR, your family and friends automatically take it for granted that you can take good portrait images. In fact, you do have the ability to do this. But the job can be done so much easier with the right lens, a portrait lens.

I have some exciting news. As of May 2, I will be the executive director of the Museum of Art & History at McPherson Center in Santa Cruz, CA (here’s the press release). This is a big change for me–professionally and personally–and I’m thrilled and humbled by the opportunity to take on this position in the city I call home. I hope you’ll forgive a self-oriented post explaining why I’m doing this.

First, a reassurance–I’m not ending the blog. I am closing down my consulting business at the end of April, but the Museum 2.0 blog will continue, and I intend to write as freely and directly as I have in the past. Because of the increased workload I expect in the months to come, as well as the likely possibility that we will start a Museum of Art & History blog, I’m lowering my Museum 2.0 commitment to one post per week. Since 2006, I’ve slowly reduced from three posts weekly to two and now to one. But I will not be going to zero. I promise. I will do what I can to ensure the blog continues to present well-written, diverse projects and ideas, both from me and guest authors.

OK, now on to the interesting part.

Why am I doing this?

There are three reasons that I am absolutely ecstatic about this change.

1. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to serve the community I love in an institution that has a new strategic plan to become a multi-disciplinary hub for community engagement.
2. I have been looking for a way to transition to working in Santa Cruz instead of traveling constantly.
3. I strongly believe that participation is more about operation than development. The best way I can really push my own participatory practice and thinking is to operate an institution and work with a community I care about over time.

I’ve had these personal goals for a long time, but I wouldn’t have guessed a year ago that they would lead me to this job. Throughout 2010, I was deep in planning an experimental cafe/exhibit space to address all three of these desires for a change. By November of 2010, I had a business plan for the cafe and intended to start raising money in 2011. And then I started learning about the situation at the Museum of Art & History (MAH) in downtown Santa Cruz.

Museum 2.0

The Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery has acquired portraits of the Pulitzer prize-winning author Cormac McCarthy and Nobel Prize-winning scientist Murray Gell-Mann, painted by award-winning artist Andrew Tift, from Andreeva Portrait Commissions to add to their permanent collection of famous Americans.

The portraits are part of a series of twenty-three portraits by Andrew Tift, commissioned in 2003 by gallerist/owner Tatiana Andreeva, as a millennial portrait record of northern New Mexicans. This unique, one of a kind collection, New Mexico Faces, represented by Andreeva Artists, includes scientists, activists, artists, musicians, flea market sellers, a Viet Nam veteran, a waitress, and other extraordinary ordinary people, see http://www.andreevagallery.com/main/artists/24-tift/works

The painter of the collection, Andrew Tift, won the prestigious BP Portrait Award Best of Show 2006 at London’s National Portrait Gallery. Tift is represented for commissions by Andreeva and will be teaching in the Andreeva Academy in December (see http://www.AndreevaAcademy.com).

Andreeva represents masters of figurative painting from around the world for portrait commissions and for instruction at the Portrait Academy in Santa Fe, NM and in Salado, Texas.

Contact:

Pam Osborn, Director

Andreeva Portrait Commissions

505-982-7272

http://www.AndreevaCommissions.com

###

Twitter followers – Your Daily Art is now on Twitter. Hope to see you there too!

Happy 2010,
Martha

Your Daily Art

Your Daily Art

Diego Rivera was an active and outspoken Communist who painted these murals (featuring the world of the Aztec people) after the Mexican Revolution as a way to give the Mexican people a sense of identity and pride in their history.

Your Daily Art

When visiting the city of Chiang Mai in the north of Thailand about two years ago, I saw a number of portrait painting galleries where many portraitists worked painting and sketching brilliant portraits. I soon discovered that the persons featuring in most of the stunning portraits were Westerners and I was absolutely convinced these custom portrait paintings would be everlasting treasures.

It is simply amazing how extremely talented the portrait artists in Chiang Mai are. The black and white charcoal pencil drawings as well as the oil colour portraits they create appear lifelike. So this might be a fantastic opportunity to get a great deal getting a high quality artwork that you’ll cherish forever, while bringing the most precious memories back to life!.

So whether it will be a 25th Anniversary picture, a wedding photo, a picture of your favoured rock star or a photograph of the entire family including the dog, all of them can be turned into lifelike charcoal sketches and canvas portraits. The best news is that you don’t have to travel all the way to Thailand. Today, you can order a highly artistic portrait painting easily and safely through the internet.

Early March 2010, the Dutch-managed company was launched, offering portrait commissions online at very affordable prices. Since March the three main Thai portraitists that work for this professional, reliable and efficient online art gallery have created over 70 oil colour portraits and charcoal pencil sketches.

Customers can upload or email photographs, which will be turned into meticulously created portrait art. Creating a portrait will normally take less than five working days while the (free of charge) shipping of the artwork takes around 10 working days.

will be much appreciated gifts that will suit any joyful event or celebration. Three months ago I’ve ordered a magnificent portrait of my son and all my friends and relatives were impressed by the drawing’s artistic brilliance.