sigma 10-20mm for portraits?

[keystervr6]

my wife tagged along with me while i took some pics of an old building today...had the wide angle lens on and was too lazy to switch so i took one of her with it...not bad imo

 

[thebeginning]

lighting and location look good, but I'm not sure if that was the lens for the job. You may have been going for this, but wide angle lenses (especially ultrawides) distort the image like there's no tomorrow, and her face is obviously stretched in this photo.

Don't get me wrong, ultrawides can be used to make some awesome portraits, but typically headshots (unless the shot is taken with a purposeful lean towards awkwardness) aren't in that group.

With that said, I do kind of like the distortion here (although I'm one to break the rules )

 

[tirediron]

Not bad. Definitely not a typical portrait, but an interesting capture.

 

[rubbertree]

the ultrawide can give some interesting portraits, that is for sure. They have their place IMO. My absolute favourite portrait of my 5 year old was taken with the sigma 10-20. He is making a funny face and the distortion totally makes the picture.

 

[keystervr6]

thanks for the C&C everyone...

its at 20mm so there really isn't that much distortion imo...i really love this lens, i just need to relearn how to frame shots with it

 

[thebeginning]

thanks for the C&C everyone...

its at 20mm so there really isn't that much distortion imo...i really love this lens, i just need to relearn how to frame shots with it

yep, we all do


although I disagree, there's plenty of distortion at 20mm. There is noticeable distortion (at least to me) at anything below 40mm.

 

[keystervr6]

yep, we all do


although I disagree, there's plenty of distortion at 20mm. There is noticeable distortion (at least to me) at anything below 40mm.

maybe there is, i really don't see anything noticeable, but then again, i don't know what i'd be looking for i do like how it turned out though


here's a typical portrait that i also took later that afternoon....

 

[Dubious Drewski]

The shot from the 10-20 is considerably more interesting. A little distortion isn't so bad, in my opinion, especially when your number one objective is to create some energy in your composition.

The only thing that bugs ME about the original shot is that it looks like there was some Gaussian blurring applied to the surfaces of her face. Besides that, it's a great fun shot. The distortion works well with her strong jaw line.

 

[keystervr6]

The shot from the 10-20 is considerably more interesting. A little distortion isn't so bad, in my opinion, especially when your number one objective is to create some energy in your composition.

The only thing that bugs ME about the original shot is that it looks like there was some Gaussian blurring applied to the surfaces of her face. Besides that, it's a great fun shot. The distortion works well with her strong jaw line.

thanks, i think i like the 10-20 shot more as well...the second is just a typical portrait, but not a typical stuffy studio portrait