Lenses.
The rule of thumb for selecting an adequate portrait focal
length is to choose one that is twice the diagonal of the
format you are using. For instance, with a full-frame sen-
sor (equal to a 35mm film frame), a 75 to 85mm lens is
usually a good choice.
With sensors smaller than 24x36mm, all lenses get ef-
fectively longer in focal length. This is not usually a prob-
lem where telephotos and telephoto zooms are
concerned as the maximum aperture of the lens doesn’t
change, but when your expensive wide-angles or wide-
angle zooms become significantly less wide on the digi-
tal camera body, it can be somewhat frustrating. A 17mm
lens, for example, with a 1.5X lens focal length factor be-
comes a 25mm lens. A 50mm lens on a camera with a
1.6X focal length factor becomes an 80mm lens.M
ost of today’s finest children’s portrait photographers use
35mm-format digital SLRs (DSLRs). The predominance of
medium and large formats has gone away almost entirely, due to the
popularity and flexibility of the DSLR.
1. CAMERA TECHNIQUE.
LEFT—This photo by Judy Host was made with a Fujifilm Finepix
S3 Pro and an 80–200mm f/2.8 Nikkor zoom. The filter factor
converted the 200mm lens to a 300mm lens and the effect resulted
in a softened background because of diminished depth of field.
FACING PAGE—When your subject is a toddler, using a short tele-
photo is helpful because it provides a greater working distance from
camera to subject. Here, Deborah Lynn Ferro used a zoom lens at
90mm to create good perspective and separation from the back-
ground. Deborah’s taking aperture was f/8, providing enough
depth of field to keep the chair, the child, and the outfit all in focus.