Can an 85 mm on portraits make larger women look even larger??

While on my holidays (vacation for the none native English of us) ..
I got talking to a woman portrait photographer about lenses and she told me that she does not really like shooting larger women with an 85mm (or at 85mm) as it often makes them look fat(ter)..
Is the true or have you noticed the same thing??

the only thing I can think of that make people appear larger is wide angle distortion. 85 wouldn't seem like a focal length that would distort people.

maybe it's just people don't like to be reminded they are large? must be the lens...

Jerobean wrote in post #16476789
the only thing I can think of that make people appear larger is wide angle distortion. 85 wouldn't seem like a focal length that would distort people.

maybe it's just people don't like to be reminded they are large? must be the lens...

That's what I'm thinking. As long as you aren't shooing wide angle, I'd think the lighting and posing would be more of a factor than the specific focal length used.

Heya,

Wider angle will distort features more.

There's a reason that portraits are often done at 85~135mm. And not at 35mm.

Not quite sure what the person you spoke knew was trying to truly say. Or maybe they have no ability to increase distance between them and their rotund subjects, and it fills the frame out of her comfort zone of framing? Who knows. But their features are not distorted with longer focal lengths.

But really, it's not the focal length at all. It's the distance between and the subject that is causing this.

Very best,

Speaking of 35mm format, I would agree that 85mm is too short if we are talking about tightly framed portraits of just head and shoulders and tighter. For that framing at 85mm you will need to be standing too close.

For a full length portrait of a person 85mm is fine.

Also, for such tight shots you will need to be at a fairly small aperture to gain enough DOF over the subject, and so a longer focal length is also preferable as it will blur the background better. Not that that has anything to with making a person look fatter or thinner.

I've found that the 85 doesn't make folks look fatter, male or female. My 16-35 will do that and so will the 28-75 if you get too close at the short end.

Mostly what makes people look fat is the amount of skin it takes to cover them.

And it's 'vacation' in English speaking countries. Unless you're talking about that little island up along the North Sea....

Yes I've noticed this. Shorter focal lengths are slimming when used correctly.

What is the nickname for the 85L i forget?

Take pics of women like happy days, stay away from the others!

Every time a subject like this comes up, the old mantra of "wide angle distortion" rears its head. The "distortion" is the normal operation of perspective and, while it has everything to do with subject distance, it has nothing at all to do with focal length.

Nick_Reading.UK wrote in post #16476747
I got talking to a woman portrait photographer about lenses and she told me that she does not really like shooting larger women with an 85mm (or at 85mm) as it often makes them look fat(ter)..

Nick, as xarqi said in the previous post, it's the distance (actually the lack of distance) between the camera and the subject that creates the "perspective distortion".

Please read our "sticky" (found in the General Photography Talk forum) tutorial titled Perspective Control in Images - Focal Length or Distance?.

SkipD wrote in post #16477034
Nick, as xarqi said in the previous post, it's the distance (actually the lack of distance) between the camera and the subject that creates the "perspective distortion".

Please read our "sticky" (found in the General Photography Talk forum) tutorial titled Perspective Control in Images - Focal Length or Distance?.

Thanks

Found this on youTube..
http://m.youtube.com …2Fwatch%3Fv%3DH​G-vPzrEONM

Nick_Reading.UK wrote in post #16477130
Found this on youTube..
http://m.youtube.com …2Fwatch%3Fv%3DH​G-vPzrEONM

The fellow in the video didn't explain what's happening very well at all. What he should have showed is how the photographer could actually view the perspective changes with his/her eyes and chosen the ideal position to make the image from. THEN he/she should choose the right focal length to frame the subject.

Experienced photographers often don't think about the perspective, though. They simply know that for a certain type or portrait, for example, they should use a certain focal length because it frames the subject the way they want at a distance that provides a desirable perspective in the final image. They often think the focal length is making the perspective change but it's really the distance.

Nick_Reading.UK wrote in post #16476747
While on my holidays (vacation for the none native English of us) ..
I got talking to a woman portrait photographer about lenses and she told me that she does not really like shooting larger women with an 85mm (or at 85mm) as it often makes them look fat(ter)..
Is the true or have you noticed the same thing??

This can appear to be true...if the "angle of view" for the focal lengths are the same, and not the camera:subject distance

an excellent example
http://stepheneastwood​.com …/lensdistortion​/index.htm