the 45mm doesn't provide shallow enough DoF... [image + shooting notes]

rkeller wrote:

... or maybe it does.

Shot wide open at f/1.8, I find this head & torso shot to have a plenty shallow depth-of-field while still providing enough background information to place to subject in context. And the in-focus area is deep enough to cover the whole subject (eyes have pin-point focus while ears are slightly fuzzy in 100% view in Lightroom).
A lot of my paid work is on-location and environmental portraiture. This image is a preliminary proof from a session done with a legal scholar and author to be used for his next book (subject: the 'virtual Silk Road" of internet commerce).

Shooting notes:

• Camera: Olympus E-M5
  
• Lens: Olympus M.Zuiko 45mm f/1.8 shot wide open
  
• ISO 200. 1/200 sec. exposure
• Two remote flashes triggered in manual RC mode with the clip-on accessory flash: a FL-50R with shoot-through umbrella at camera right as the key light and a bare FL-36R attached to bridge railing behind and to subject right as an accent light.
• The tiny 45mm is completely non-intimidating for most subjects, and the E-M5 (and other Oly m4/3 cameras with the feature) works great using the near-eye feature of face-detect to nail focus and let me "focus" instead on subject connection and framing. For me, it's a really unbeatable portrait combination.
  

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