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Thread: face to face, and still the subject looks in the lens?

  1. #1

    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Posts
    206

    face to face, and still the subject looks in the lens?

    Hi,

    strange question, I know. But I was wondering if people ever tried this.
    I am going to do a photoshoot soon where it would be most usefull to
    have a possibility to get as much beside the camera as possible, to
    face the person I'm taking pictures of as much face to face as possible.
    I feel that would make some movement mandatory, (pointing the camera
    to the right, and swing/shift the camera horizontal.

    But can one have the subject look in a horizontal line towards me, and
    capture the look as if she is looking inside the lens?

    I know, this is probably crazy, and impossible, but I was wondering if
    people ever felt like trying something like this. What would come the
    closest?

    regards

    stefan

  2. #2
    mandoman7's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Sonoma County, Calif.
    Posts
    1,037

    Re: face to face, and still the subject looks in the lens?

    Its a good question, and it addresses an aspect of portraiture that probably would benefit from more thought by young portrait artists. The importance of engaging the sitter and not leaving them sitting there with their own thoughts. For most people, staring into a lens is intimidating, not to mention sitting in front of a camera on a tripod. After doing thousand of kid's portraits with and without use of a tripod, to me its clear that you don't get the same expressions when you stay behind a ground glass.

    The direct answer to your question is, yes, you can position yourself near the lens axis and when the subject looks at you, it will appear like they are looking into the lens in the image. But you'll also get the benefit of an expression on the part of your subject of being engaged rather than bored or grumpy, particularly if you're actually talking with them.
    John Youngblood
    www.jyoungblood.com

  3. #3

    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    Texas
    Posts
    628

    Re: face to face, and still the subject looks in the lens?

    Hi, Stefan:

    I'm not really sure I understand the question, but perhaps I have something to offer.

    I use an 8x10 view camera to photograph hundreds of people every year.

    When I make the exposure, I am standing right next to the bellows. If I want my subject to look directly into the lens (which is close to 100 percent of the time), I simply tell them to do so.

    There is running conversation throughout the photo session.

    I love the fact that I'm not peering into a viewfinder at the moment of exposure, that we are, as you say, face to face.

  4. #4

    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    Southern California
    Posts
    226

    Re: face to face, and still the subject looks in the lens?

    Here's something I did with my kids and their friends, in order not to have these blank stares into the lens. I placed a small sticker of a bird on the lens board as close to the lens as possible. I then put my face right next to the front standard, point to the sticker, and say "Watch the birdie!" I know it's cliche, but it elicits a connection between myself and the subject, not the subject and the camera. Though their eyes focus on the camera, their attention is focused on me.

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