My enthusiasm for my 50mm prime knows (almost) no bounds. I use it most of the time with a cropped sensor Nikon body for street photography and most stuff. (My only other lens is my 18-55mm kit lens so I'm not spoiled for choice.) But I find I struggle to compose an environmental protrait (example below). Should I be going closer to the subject but using a wider angle lens, I wonder? Grateful for any recommendations on taking better environmental portraits!
On my cropped sensor I prefer my 35mm for street which is the equivalent of a 50mm on a full frame. Otherwise I feel too disconnected or removed from the scene as I'm always having to back away.
For cropped sensor a fast 35mm is excellent. You can even experiment with wider points of view, the 18mm (~28mm) is also quite cool, lets you be more intimate, or it lets you photograph a person as a part of a scene, rather it will keep the context intact.
@toast@klas thanks Klas. Hi Weng, I guess I mean a portrait which shows a fair amount of the subject's context/environment/where they belong, rather than a tight head and shoulders image.
If you want the flexibility at time of shoot, its hard to go past a good zoom. Which one you choose will depend on how big you want the subject to be, how much compression you want etc.
For example, I shot both these images on wednesday... The first one is using a 24-105f4 closer to the 24 side. The second using a 70-200 f4, at about 85mm. For each one, i'm going a little bit wider to get some more perspective on where they are
I have a Nikon 17-35 that is an amazing lens on my D500. I usually use it for landscapes... it takes filters and runs around $500 on ebay if you wait for it.... vs $2000 new. I think it would get you where you want to go on a crop body... I am a heretic and find little use for a 50mm equivalent though.
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For example, I shot both these images on wednesday... The first one is using a 24-105f4 closer to the 24 side. The second using a 70-200 f4, at about 85mm. For each one, i'm going a little bit wider to get some more perspective on where they are
https://improvephotography.com/1305/101-portrait-photography-tips-to-improve-your-photography/