The first part of this article offers a user's observations on shooting outdoor portraits [meaning formal and causal portraits with a human model posing for the shots, and candid streetshot portraits] with a serious compact [meaning any digital camera with a 1/1.7” sensor (or approximate size) like GX200, G10 and LX3]. The second part published in the next post gives some tips from experience for doing such portraits.
(Circles, Squares and You Are There: The children's playground has a lot of forms and shapes for doing composition. I took this by climbing up the monkey bars, calling the girl for attention, and shot. It would be much less convenient to do with a bulky DSLR/ SLR)
If you have not done any portraits with a serious compact or have actually dropped the idea, read on.
I did some portraits with the GX200 last week, partly for the November Ricohforum photo contest but mostly for fun. In fact, I have been doing formal and casual portraits for some 20 years with my Minolta SLRs. Outdoor portrait, which is my favourite, is considered by many a non-starter for compacts. There is some truth in it. So let's start from this viewpoint
Bright Day, Blind Display
Take for example the LCD display on a bright, sunny day when the sunlight will blind it, hence the photographer. The same can be said of a (tiny) built-in optical viewfinder or, worse still, an electronic one. That was exactly what I experienced when doing outdoor portraits under the autumn sun hanging on a low attitude last week. Composing with the LCD display was virtually impossible. The workflow became cumbersome: second guess the composition, take a number of shots to be sure and check them out in the shade afterwards. If the composition was not in order, the model had to pose again for the same shot. This workflow works exactly against the model, who will flat out sooner. Bad for portraits.
Restrictive Reach
Apart from the LCD display, the long-end of a compact can be restrictive too. Using zoom lens for portraits will yield several benefits, one being the ability for photographers to tailor a scene and compose in a unique long-end prospective. The GX200 zooms to a mere 72mm which has put me in tricky positions for some streetshot portraits. For portraits taken with my Minolta Dynax 7 film camera, I used a 75mm-300mm lens along with a 50mm lens.
(The Green and the Old: The GX200 zoomed to the maximum 72mm for this shot. I wished it could zoom to 105mm.)
Sunny 16 Rule
In the film era, people move ahead along the proven old tracks. One of them is the sunny 16 rule, which dictates that the basic exposure for an average scene taken on a bright, sunny day is f/16 at a shutter speed equivalent to 1 over the ISO value. So, at ISO100, the exposure combo should be f/16 at 1/100 sec (by the way, it should be f/22 at the beach and f/11 on a bright but cloudy day). The f-stop of a serious compact is funny for this sunny 16 rule. I don't know about the other compacts but, oops, there is no f/16 on the GX200. The closest stop is f/15.8. Surely, you may wish to put the subject in highlight or contrast. And no one is going to do photography with a fixed rule. So, f/16 may not be necessary. But a rule is what a rule is for: it gives a reference for expectable results with different exposure combos. Thanks to the digital technology (notably, the anti-shake mode), rules become more disposable because photographers can see instant experimental results on the LCD display. But, alas, the LCD display on a bright, sunny day.
The Good News
But a bright, sunny day is in no way guaranteed. So on an average day, with creativity given full play without rules and overhead costs (films, prints and so on), photographers can experiment more. This gives them a higher chance of getting unprecedented good results. With the GX200, for example, shots can be taken in colour, B&W and tinted monochrome at the same time, and in different dimensions.
(to be continued tomorrow)
Comments
(If you're interested, the discussion thread is here: http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1013&message=30196587)
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"Thank you for the interesting and gentleman-like discussion. I am glad that the Ricoh section doesn’t really have the fighting-style discussions which I came across in the neighbourhood of dpreview forums.
TO MITCH:
-LCD Display is Great for Composition
Now, composing with the LCD display is, for most of the time, great. Unfortunately,on a bright, sunny day the LCD display was difficult to use for composition. The LCD display is great otherwise but if one day compacts feature a bright, comfortable optical viewfinder, I think most of us wouldn't disagree on the addition/ benefit of such a viewfinder.
- Zoom Lens Not Needed for Portraits
For one thing, as you know it very well after taking so many portraits, it is not always possible to move closer to the subjects. Some situations that obliged me to use the 75mm-300mm lens with the Minolta SLRs sprang up to mind. I asked a lady to pose near the edge of a balcony, and it was only possible for me to take the picture by standing on a parapet which was 4 metres away.
Second, it is a point that should not require making to experienced photographers like ourselves: different lens give very different perspectives. The 75mm of my GX200 is restrictive in this sense. What say you?
- Manual Focus not AF
Very well said and I totally agree with you. Except for some quick candid snapshot done in the snapshot mode, manual focus is (or pre-focusing) what I use with the GX200 and what I am going to write for the second part of my post on compacts for portraits.
TO RICH SIMPSON & APSCRIBBLE:
- Advantage of Compacts for Portraits
I have found that the models are less tensed, more spontaneous and give more natural smiles. This is very important for portraits IMHO.
And experimenting the marco mode for portraits is a new thing to me which is fun.
TO ALEX66 & APSCRIBBLE:
- Good and Bad of Extensive DOF
This is great for razor sharpness of the eyes. But the extensive DOF makes it more challenging than otherwise to keep the background relevant in a portrait composition as ALEX66 pointed out. Fortunately, yes, PP works can blur the background.
Shed light guys. I have to get ready for the part two post.
Nevin"