Depth in potraits

morganvw1

morganvw1

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Name
Scott
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Hi all,

I follow Lee Jeffries on 500px but there is no way of contacting him on the site.

Could anyone advise me on how he gets such good detail in the face he takes pictures of?

Like this example...

http://500px.com/photo/18135961

I have a 5d Mkii and I was thinking about using my standard canon 50mm lens.

Regards

Scott.
 
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Looks like a HDR to me, lots of post added definition too I think.

I'm no expert, but thats my initial thoughts.
 
lots of pp, I could type it all out or you could goto youtube and search "dragan effect" which looks like a very similar style of pp. Be advised once you start to mess with your images like that you may find you lose hrs of your life :p
 
Didn't check the site to see if exif is included but the DoF on that shot is fairly narrow. Front of the nose is OOF and the back of the hair is also OOF but eveything in between is pin sharp.

If you tried to replicate this with a 50mm prime then you should be able to get the same kind of result. Shooting fairly close up say 2ft from the person then you'd need to shoot at f10 just to get a DoF of 4 inches which should just about be enough to focus on the eyes and get the nose in focus.

Once you've got the shot it's a case of sharpening and editing appropriately to get the look you are after. There is probably a million different ways of doing the same thing.
 
50mm on a 5D isn't the best for this surely.
something with a longer focal length perhaps?
also looks a bit like a high-pass filter or similar

having had another look, he's got a very distinctive style and his focal length is anything from 24mm to 200mm!
 
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It's a 24mm according to the exif.
 
The EXIF is right next to the photo, 24mm at f/5. Shooting so close to the subject distorts features so you get the enhanced perspective. You could get not too dissimilar with your 50mm, but it won't have the 'in-your-faceness' of framing a headshot at 24mm.

Then as Andrew said, look up Andrzej Dragan (basically a lot of high pass filters and dodging and burning). Then throw as many textures as you like over the top of it.

Usual technique then is to go and find the oldest or most downtrodden homeless person you can to exploit. ;)
 
Just be craetive with angles,locations and clothing!!
Light is very important just keep these things in mind and you will click your best shot!
Best of luck
 
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