how do you use reference photos correctly?

Lucaus

my main issue with using reference photos for portraits is matching the measurements between photos.
one of the problems i have is finding the head length when the model has hair, this throws me off because i have to guess where the head stops.
also a lot of studio photos the front and side view don't seem to match, it feels like the camera is higher in the side view or it has something to do with the focal length.
i tried to match the photos by tilt them and resizing them but it still don't match.

my question is how do i get a better estimate of the measurements? am i using the reference incorrectly?

JohannesAg

I don´t think you´ll ever get photos that match exactly one to one. You will just have to approximate

Lucaus

JohannesAg said:

I don´t think you´ll ever get photos that match exactly one to one. You will just have to approximate

i know that, but my approximations are off most of the time. everyone head is a bit different so i'm not sure how to evaluate each one.

Alex_J

I think you are using the reference incorrectly in that you are not using it as reference, you are using it as a blueprint.

As said, you have to approximate. You also have to understand the many variables that can change the way a person appears. If you wanted to match this image precisely, you'd have to have the exact same lighting setup, and so on.

So what you have to do is work iteratively, and make many imperfect characters. You train your eye that way. Look at the guys like Hossein Dibba ( i think that's one) who make likeness sculpts. Everybody can tell when they got the likeness, but none of us need to line it up with a reference.