Non-Traditional Portrait ( Buried Treasure )

[PhotoRob]

Been debating another classmate what constitutes a portrait. I think it's whatever you want it to be (and where), and they're taking the position that even art has rules, and without a proper studio setup, one isn't really shooting portraiture.

Purely academic, however would you consider this a portrait? All other comments are welcome, and appreciated.

[jjbacoomba]

I would! She's a lil doll!

[Mark von Kanel]

i would consider it an excellent portrait.

[Donald]

Purely academic, however would you consider this a portrait?

I've never thought about that question before.

That being so, I turned to that great 21st century font of all knowledge, Wikipedia, and this is what it has to say:-

"A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this reason, in photography a portrait is generally not a snapshot, but a composed image of a person in a still position. A portrait often shows a person looking directly at the painter or photographer, in order to most successfully engage the subject with the viewer."

Now, who developed that definition, I do not know. But we could have an interesting thread here debating its merits as a sound working definition ..... or not! Which, of course, is far removed from our primary interest on here - which is to make great images irrespective of what label someone might want to put on them.

[Colin Southern]

I could imagine this printed in canvas - 30" x 20" hanging on a wall.

Yes, I'd call it a portrait.

[PhotoRob]

Thanks for the feedback / contributing to the discussion. Going to toss this into a mini., see how it does.

[MajaMolly]

Absolutely! And a good one, at that.

[Colin Southern]

Thanks for the feedback / contributing to the discussion. Going to toss this into a mini., see how it does.

It just needs a touch of output sharpening (I'd suggest a USM of about 0.3 pixel @ 75% as a good starting point).

[arith]

Portraits follow rules; and I suppose as good as the image is, it would have to be cropped closer to be regarded as a portrait by myself. But it isn't a snap, it is a very fine photo indeed, showing expression and feeling. Cheers