Examples of usable photographs

In this example the detail is superb. Any picture with as much detail as this is perfect for a portrait. Note the eye detail. A fairly close shot from an 7 - 10 megapixel camera will give a sufficient level of detail. This wedding shot was taken on an 8Mp DSLR camera.

This next picture was taken on a 7Mp camera and yields ample detail from a full-body shot. Natural light or daylight is generally best for a portrait, but soft flash-light is perfectly fine, as seen here.

One final example of a superbly detailed picture. This was taken with a 10.2Mp DSLR camera without flash in sunlight. Because the face fills the frame, it is vastly detailed and could yield a very intricate painting.

This next photograph is only just about passable. If it had any less detail around the eye it would be unusable. Although I could do a portrait from this shot, it would be suitable only for pastels or other broad/soft medium where detail is less of a concern.

This example is very similar to the one above. There is even less detail here, as the resolution is lower (it was taken on a 3Mp camera and is only part of the whole picture). Again it would only be suitable for pastels or a soft, impressionistic painting.