Why You should use a 100mm macro lens for beauty portraits
Have you ever wondered why when you try to take beauty portraits they might appear a bit odd? Maybe the shots never seem close enough or detailed enough? Or maybe the features of your subject just don’t look right?
This may be due to the fact that you don’t use a macro lens or your lens length isn’t long enough.
I personally use a 100mm f2.8 macro lens for my beauty portraits and there are a few reasons why I do so. Keep in mind though there is not necessarily a right or wrong lens to use, and it will absolutely depend on your own style of photography.
There are a few reasons however why you may consider using this type if lens for your own beauty portraits, and they are as follows.
Less distortion on facial features
The wider the lens you have and the closer you are to a subject, the more distorted the facial features will become.
At 100mm focal length, the features will be much more “flattened out” and can appear to be more flattering overall. You can see for example in the first image here that the model’s nose is the main viewpoint and appears larger/more stand-out than the 100mm image.
2. You can get in really close!
Obviously being a macro lens, it’s going to allow you to get in really close, which is what you quite often have to do with beauty photography. It will pick up more texture and detail which is definitely what you need when shooting beauty.
3. Allows you to single out features
And for the final point, it allows you to single out features from the face and really hone in on those features that you want an entire photograph of, (for example, the lips or the eyes.) Especially having that combination of both a longer focal length and macro aspect will easily allow you to take a shot of a single facial feature.
Keep in mind that not every brand will offer a 100mm macro in their lens line-up, but you can choose a focal length that is around that number. For example it may be 90mm or 105mm, this is not necessarily a bad thing, just remember that the lower the number the more facial distortion that will occur.
Hopefully these points will help you the next time you consider purchasing a new lens!
Until next time,
Kayleigh x
