My Basic Approach to Focal Length Choice for Portraits

[@luciengrillet]

Hi Dylan, thank you very much for letting us know a little bit more about your creative process. Your gear reviews are great, no doubt about it, but this type of content is so enriching… I hope you’ll find time to make some more!

[@DylanGoldbyPhotographer]

Thanks for stopping by again. I'm working on another couple of videos now. Hopefully they'll be interesting for you, as well.

[@myblackboxrocks]

Great to see your process on this. It’s also refreshing to focus on photography rather than gear - thank you 🙏

[@DylanGoldbyPhotographer]

Glad you enjoyed it! It was refreshing to talk a bit about photography, as well. I'd love to make more of these videos, but they do take a lot more time and have a far narrower reach than simple gear videos. It's all about time! Hopefully, I'll be able to do a few more.

[@JasonLawrenceNoel]

Appreciate you. You always bring a sense of peace while talking about photography ❤

[@DylanGoldbyPhotographer]

Thanks for always stopping by! Looking forward to creating more videos like this one. Hopefully, it was useful, as well!

[@outwithsara70]

Great portraits. Please consider doing other video like this. Thanks for sharing, Rosaria

[@DylanGoldbyPhotographer]

Thanks! It's reassuring to know that people enjoy this sort of video!

[@shy-guy5544]

Very interesting and informative video, along with beautiful photos. Thanks

[@DylanGoldbyPhotographer]

Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching.

[@Langorithm]

Outstanding work, Dylan.

[@DylanGoldbyPhotographer]

Thank you! Glad you like it!

[@marcstaples9930]

Great to see and hear your reasoning behind the lenses and the camera you used. More please.

[@DylanGoldbyPhotographer]

Thanks for watching! Anything in particular you might want to see expanded upon from this video?

[@marcstaples9930]

@@DylanGoldbyPhotographer no just hope to see you continue with the great videos especially about your projects and the same kind of lens explanations also for the XF content. Very intersting as I am also a Fuji (and Nikon) user

[@zvitkovits]

@@DylanGoldbyPhotographer… I’d be interested in your experience with bringing the Godox into the field. How did this lighter & more compact but also ‘weaker’ setup influence your processes and the results?

[@lordmonkey3285]

I really love your videos and photos. Just commenting as I realised I don't like or comment enough compared to how much I enjoy your work

[@DylanGoldbyPhotographer]

I appreciate you taking the time to watch and leaving a comment to let me know you're out there!

[@THUKR]

Beautiful photos as usual Dylan. Please do another video showing your work done in India during the recent trip. :-)

[@DylanGoldbyPhotographer]

Thank you! I'm currently working a video with a deeper look at the process behind a couple of images. Hopefully, that will be interesting for you as well!

[@mauhimauhi2063]

I really love your videos very informative. Would it be possible to do a video where you show how you use hss on the Godox flash to overcome the limitation of 1/125 shutter

[@georges64]

Great Portraits!

[@DylanGoldbyPhotographer]

Thank you! This project has been a long time in the making, but the end is near!

[@Kliffot]

The 110mm and 55mm are really dragging me in the GFX system 😍

[@DylanGoldbyPhotographer]

They a like the slide film of the digital world, for sure.

[@mininowa]

Hi Dylan, Yes, I'm very much interested in such videos, where it's technical, subjective, without being gear oriented. It's a great way to learn, and I suppose you could allow yourself to make even shorter videos this way (I'm not talking about a 30s video!) that would still be very meaningful for learners and curious.

[@DylanGoldbyPhotographer]

Definitely no 30s videos here, but definitely a few bite-sized ones could work! Thanks for watching.

[@ZconN69]

I like your approach on these video's. Would also love to see some video's on your editing approach. from the sample images in this and other videos you've made, I feel like you found a great way to get the most out of some of these fujifilm files, especially the APSC files. Remarkable!

[@DylanGoldbyPhotographer]

The key is really not doing much at all. My editing is so simple it doesn't really need talking about. Exposure, contrast, highlights, shadows, a little vignette at times.

[@heliopolis0]

Dylan, very interesting and well made video. I own the 80mm that I purchased giving in the 110mm. I am planning to purchase the 55mm and your beautiful shots helped me to understand what I can expect. I also own the 120 macro and 20-55. Was nearly thinking to give in the macro but it could still be a kind of choice when I need the angle of view similar to 110mm (not the same results as the 110 is kind of a magical lens with wider aperture). Thanks and congrats for your photographic work!

[@DylanGoldbyPhotographer]

Thanks for watching! I only had the 55mm for a couple of weeks on this trip and wasn't really able to use it as much as I'd like. But, it feels a lot like the 80mm in terms of its rendering and how it feels to use. I look forward to using it a little more in the future and being able to talk about it in greater depth. But, let's just say that if the focal length works for you, you won't be disappointed. On the 110 magic... There's nothing quite like it, eh?

[@Imagesbymaddy]

Deep dive and more of such content please

[@DylanGoldbyPhotographer]

Thanks for watching! Anything specific you'd like covered in a deep dive? I'd like it to be as helpful to everyone as possible!

[@tTLM823]

Thanks for sharing... amazing shots!

[@DylanGoldbyPhotographer]

Thanks for watching, as always!

[@kiwikea2002]

Thank you for leading us through your line of thinking and demonstrating it. I am sometimes taken aback by today's trend to photograph portraits with short focal lengths. Environmental portraits with plenty of subject distance - I am okay with that. But close in? With "bulb nose distortion"? More often than not, I think, it doesn't do the person justice. Hence - 110mm (on GFX): Yay.

[@DylanGoldbyPhotographer]

It can be a little jarring at first if you're used to "traditional" portraiture, for sure. The way I look at it is that not all portraits are meant to flatter. It's all about what you're trying to say, which is why you'll see musicians photographed with extremely wide lenses, etc. If flattery is the goal, 110, for sure.

[@stephanweiskorn6760]

Excellent video 😊!

[@DylanGoldbyPhotographer]

Thank you very much! Appreciate you watching!

[@raytbrown2]

@2:20 "And not one of the other full frame systems that are on the market" . . . HUH? The GFX is a Medium Format System.

[@DylanGoldbyPhotographer]

A slip of the tongue, sir. Relax. :)

[@fellowcitizen]

Thanks!💎🦘

[@DylanGoldbyPhotographer]

You’re welcome 😊

[@fellowcitizen]

@@DylanGoldbyPhotographer Top shelf channel ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

[@nevvanclarke9225]

I've been really torn Dylan and thanks for your video. I'm invested in the GFX system now but maintaining my XT5 as well which I really love. I have the 50 S2 and I know people will say you can't do portraits with that camera because it's slower focus I said that's rubbish because I did film photography with No autofocus and did portraits but I love your work and I'm just wondering about the 80 versus the 55 ....my gosh I can't make up my mind I can only probably afford one at this stage and I'm really looking to do some candid photography of indigenous people in Australia as I'm based here. I know it's kind of simple the 80 is lo and the 55 isn't and it can seem like that, but I'm kinda just wondering what they render like as well. Any advice you can give me would be great and like I said I'm not a full-time professional portrait photographer. I actually am a professional landscape photographer who doubles in Portrait to make a little bit of extra money on the side. Thanks for any advice and love your videos.

[@DylanGoldbyPhotographer]

Cheers for watching and thanks for all the detail about what you're after! Here's what I'll say about my time with the two... They render in a really similar way. If you've ever used the XF 35mm f/1.4, you'll know what I mean. It's a kind of dirty, imperfect rendering that gives a lovely texture to the images. The bokeh, the vignette, the tack sharp but slightly unsharp look to the in focus areas. What I'll say is it really depends how much environment you want to show. The 80mm is a bit longer and thus produces shallower depth of field while cutting out a lot of background clutter with it's field of view. The 55 is the opposite. It's great for bringing in the background and a little more detail outside of the in focus areas. I felt a lot like I did when I used to walk around with a kit of the 35mm f/1.4 and 50mm f/1.4 on my old Nikon FM. The two lenses are close enough together that they share some roles, but the difference really is in the field of view and depth of field. Hopefully, this will help!

[@simon359]

I was told by somebody who has the larger format camera, that the focal lengths are calculated backwards instead of forward like with the XT5. I noticed you didn’t discuss this.

[@DylanGoldbyPhotographer]

I didn't discuss it because it's really not important. If you're a full frame user and want to know rough equivalent focal lengths, multiply the GFX focal length by 0.79. That will tell you roughly what lens would give a similar field of view on a full frame system. However, when only using one system, it's a moot point and doesn't really contribute anything to a discussion like this except confusion with all the numbers flying around.

[@simon359]

@@DylanGoldbyPhotographer I think it’s only really important when first learning or buying a lens!

[@DylanGoldbyPhotographer]

If it helps you to understand what you're buying, then sure. However, you don't want to be thinking numbers when you're making pictures. I much prefer to focus on what each lens is good for and what I use it for, which is why I didn't speak numbers here.

[@outwithsara70]

I'm wondering if you use the flash for all these portraits, even in good light? thanks, Rosaria

[@DylanGoldbyPhotographer]

At the times when I'm able to meet people, there's really never any light that I want to use. That was part of the reason I started working with flash for this project. I'll actually cover this in depth in a deep dive later on, if you'd be interested in hearing more?

[@zvitkovits]

@@DylanGoldbyPhotographer… I am very much interested in learning more about that! Also, what is your take regarding best balance of practicability vs best flash/light option?