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DPChallenge Forums >> Photography Discussion >> Define PORTRAIT
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 05/21/2008 04:56:46 PM · #1
I posted this in the designated Current Challenge thread, but it got lost in the banter. That's okay; I think a discussion can stand on its own (even if there were no challenge).

What is your definiton of a portrait? Is it necessarily posed? Can it be candid? Must it be a headshot? Environmental? Emotional? I'm trying to gauge the bondaries of "portrait" versus something else -- and, of course, what voters are expecting.
05/21/2008 05:08:03 PM · #2
I know it can be an environment portrait as well

for instance
you can have a headshot of a doctor
or
you can have a shot of the doctor doing what he does best, showing him in all his 'glory'

not sure if that makes sense
 05/21/2008 05:13:45 PM · #3
Ah...environmental portraits count too. Was wondering about that. Glad to hear that then.
 05/21/2008 05:16:52 PM · #4
If you do find out what voters are expecting, for this or any other challenge, please, pretty please let the rest of us in on the secret! :-)
 05/21/2008 05:17:01 PM · #5
I think a portrait will be any "posed" shot of a person. I think to tick all the DNMC-proof boxes, it must be just one person, definitely posed (not at all candid)

This isn't my interpretation of the challenge (I'm much more lenient), I'm just saying what might get dinged by some.
 05/21/2008 05:21:45 PM · #6
Could a self portrait be submitted as a portrait?
 05/21/2008 05:24:00 PM · #7
IMHO a portrait is a likeness of a person or animal but it is my experience that many voters interpret portrait to mean person unless otherwise specified.

Take this lovely bulldog shot from Natural Light Portrait:

it got voted â1â ten times!

Traditional portraits would be posed, but I prefer a more natural, candid or environmental look, does not have to be a head shot. I find the best portraits convey something about the person or their personality

Just my $0.02
--dm

Edit for spelling

Message edited by author 2008-05-21 17:24:52.
 05/21/2008 05:25:33 PM · #8
Wikipedia

//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portrait#Self-portraiture

I also like this
//www.picturecorrect.com/photographytips/portraits.htm

Now I am not saying this is EXACTLY what a portrait is, I think I can help however for those that have questions (at least I hope so)

I don't know about it being just a one person portrait. A family of six for example, with say three daughters, a nice portrait for me would be the women of the family, or the men.
 05/21/2008 05:25:40 PM · #9
Originally posted by lucozadejack:
Could a self portrait be submitted as a portrait?


Don't see why not. Again, you might get the odd ding.
 05/21/2008 05:29:21 PM · #10
Ive consulted my handy dandy digital field guide!

"the goal of a portrait is to reveal an individuals personality and spirit...one that makes the subject look both relaxed and natural"
I like this :)
 05/21/2008 05:41:42 PM · #11
Are we speaking of the current Camera Portrait Challenge?
 05/21/2008 05:47:01 PM · #12
Originally posted by wehrmacher:
Are we speaking of the current Camera Portrait Challenge?


No, the new "male portrait" and "female portrait" challenges, posted today :-)
 05/21/2008 07:48:47 PM · #13
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary:

Portrait
Por"trait\, n. [F., originally p. p. of portraire to portray. See Portray.]

1. The likeness of a person, painted, drawn, or engraved; commonly, a representation of the human face painted from real life.

In portraits, the grace, and, we may add, the likeness, consists more in the general air than in the exact similitude of every feature. --Sir J. Reynolds.

Note: The meaning of the word is sometimes extended so as to include a photographic likeness.

I like this better, not near as confining.
 05/21/2008 07:54:04 PM · #14
So a full length (or even a 3/4?) shot is not a portrait?
 05/21/2008 08:00:16 PM · #15


Message edited by author 2008-05-21 20:01:04.
 05/21/2008 08:01:58 PM · #16
If your goal is to maximize your DPC score (which is a very different goal from simply taking a good portrait), then take a posed shot that's about waist-up or even a little less of the torso, clearly showing the face, with nice catchlights, and that's well-lit and sharp. Everything you do differently from that description is likely to reduce your score.

This really isn't hard to define in terms of what DPC likes. Just go to the challenge history page and search for previous portrait challenges. There are zillions of them.

Message edited by author 2008-05-21 20:03:44.
 05/21/2008 08:07:57 PM · #17
Sure it is, "The likeness of a person..." goes on to say ",commonly,... the human face...".

If you want the maximum score, DO Not use this definition. But that's why I score in the high 4's.
 05/21/2008 09:19:58 PM · #18
I'm starting to get it. Here are four portraits of my son -- all very different, but all posed in some sense. I wonder how each of them would do. Only the first one was a challenge entry, but I admittedly missed the mark (it was the "Eye" challenge; I offered up the whole face).

05/25/2008 01:57:22 PM · #19
Bump!

Thoughts or comments on the portraits below? Looking for feedback before I shoot and submit. Thanks!
05/25/2008 02:04:46 PM · #20
There are no boundaries. I can't see voters voting any image down as long as there is a photo of a person in it. Any animal portaits I can definately see being voted down.
 05/25/2008 02:13:48 PM · #21
Originally posted by bvy:

What is your definition of a portrait?


Not landscape.
 05/25/2008 02:19:05 PM · #22
Mine is not a posed shot, and may not be considered a traditional portrait. I'm expecting to get seriously DNMC'd but I'm entering it anyway, because I like it and if I don't enter it I'll never know.
 05/25/2008 02:36:52 PM · #23
Originally posted by Man_Called_Horse:
Originally posted by bvy:

What is your definition of a portrait?


Not landscape.


I wish I'd thought of that comeback :)
 05/25/2008 02:48:32 PM · #24
Originally posted by bvy:
I'm starting to get it. Here are four portraits of my son -- all very different, but all posed in some sense. I wonder how each of them would do. Only the first one was a challenge entry, but I admittedly missed the mark (it was the "Eye" challenge; I offered up the whole face).


imo the

tell us a lot more for the kid and that is idea of a portrait. The other two shots are more or less on something that happened even if the kid is the main subject.


05/25/2008 04:50:51 PM · #25
I am going to be creamed on this challenge, but to me a Portrait does not just have to show a face. A whole person can be a portrait, a portrait of hands, a portrait an animal.

Mind you what do I know, like I said, brown here I come
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