My suggestion, if you're already leaning for Portra, is to shoot one roll at box speed and one with 2/3 to / stop over exposure and see what you prefer. If you have the time, add one roll of Ektar, just to fell the difference.
All good advice. I set the meter on my F6 to +2/3 on portra much of the time, but... there are reasons. I do high contrast scenes and the shadows scan better that way while portra is remarkably kind on highlights.
So from what i understand, overexposing will reduce contrast and saturation. Is that right? If so that makes alot of sense that you say. Thanks
For op, I'm going to suggest that all this discussion may be interesting and fun, but you need to take it all with a grain of salt. There is absolutely nothing to replace going out, shooting some film, and evaluating it all for yourself. You need to establish much more context before you can start worrying about nuances.
Your process should be something like this. Get some Portra 160 and Portra 400 (to start with, as Portra is generifilm, it works for almost anything) Shoot a roll of each at box speed getting used to your equipment and shooting easy naturally lit scenes. These films are slightly different, you can see that in those pics.
Then plan on shooting several rolls of each. Shoot the scenes you think you'll want to photograph and bracket your shots. See what happens when you shoot at box speed compared to a stop over, for example, and -- this is important -- do it ON THE SAME SUBJECT. If you have two cameras, shoot 160 and 400 right after each other in the same light if possible, but if not try to use a similar scene in similar light.
Then make your own decisions. Assume we're all full of crap and let YOUR preferences guide you on which you like where.This is the most important thing, your personal judgement is paramount.
Then, shift your mindset back to know that there are some damned great people here with decades of knowledge and they're not full of crap you will understand a lot more of what people say here. I mean, I could just tell you "Shoot Portra 160" and it won't be wrong. Either of your example photos are scenes it would work wonderfully for. But Portra 400 and 800 are each different in character, both more grain AND more saturated colors, and I'm a fan of Fuji Pro160ns for people (another film you can't count on for the future, alas), and even the cheaper stuff works for people sometimes. It's your art, so it has to be you images viewed through your eyes to know what is best.