Hi Mark,
Recently I've started reading up on how to do portraits, unfortunately my
girlfriend is currently still in Venezuela, so it'll be some 2 more months
before I can start putting the theory to practice again.
However, I hope I can give you some suggestions.
First off, try to find a book about doing portraits, this will give you some
ideas about the type of portraits you want to do, the lighting set-ups,
usage of natural light, choice of lenses + flashes, etc. Also, by looking at
someone else's pictures, you can get some inspiration for specific shots.
Over here in The Netherlands, such books can easily be had for some $5 -
$15, so I assume the same to be the case for your whereabouts.
> I would like to know if a 135 mm Zuik would be a good choice?
Yes, it's a very good choice. Often people say that the 85mm and/or the
100mm are the ideal focal lengths for portraits, but the 135 is fine too. As
a matter of fact, you can even go to further extremes: Giles e.g. shoots
some lovely portraits with a 180/2, and another list member (of whom I
wopn't disclose the name yet) showed with his ADITL3 entry that you can even
get nice portraits with a 28mm! Nevertheless, I personally would indeed try
to stick to the 85-135 range, but that's just personal preference.
I can't personally attest to the F3.5 version of the 135mm lens, as I've
never used it. However, I do have the F2.8 version and that's a great
portrait lens! After the 100/2, it would be my pick for doing portraits.
Both of these lenses are very sharp, are fast, have excellent contrast and
resolution, and are amongst the finest "good-bokeh" lenses.
> Also as I do not have a studio etc, I thought we would do the shots at
> outdoor locations, do I need any special filters
Filters: when shooting female models, many people use diffusers to create a
soft tone. I personally like the hard tones better. Besides, since your
model will be male, I would stay away from diffusers. You might consider
using an 81 series warming filter (81A or 81B should be fine) for giving a
slight warm tone to the skin, this can be particularly useful if you use a
flash when taking the pictures.
> or reflectors for the lighting?
Depends. If you want to get very even lighting all over your model,
reflectors would be ideal. Definitely consider using them to eliminate
unwanted shadows. Also, consider the colour of the reflectors you want to
use. A golden colour reflector e.g. will yield warmer results than a
silver/white one. It seems to me that golden reflectors are almost standard
equipment of Playboy photographers, so looking at any of those pictures
(only after reading the "good interviews" of course ;))) ) should give you
an idea of the effect caused by these reflectors.
Also, consider using a fill flash for clearing up dark eyes if necessary.
> What's the best time of day?
Take the "golden hours" (i.e. early in the morning, or later in the
afternoon), avoid midday as that has very direct sunlight that tends to
cause harsh shadows.
> And last of all but not least, which films are recommended for portrait
> work?
Again a matter of taste. Do you want grainy/soft pictures? - stick with
800-1600 ASA. Do you want sharp pictures? - go for 25-200 ASA. Personally
I'm a big fan of Kodakcolor Gold 100-200 ASA, and I have no slide experience
yet.
> Any advice would go a long way as I have never tried this before and have
> only just started some reading.
Ah, good! I see you've already got the "reading bit" covered. That should
give you some good ideas. If you want to discuss some more about it, please
reply (either on-list or off-list)...
Cheers!
Olafo
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