Here's a random of one of my boys!
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Thanks useful information: 3
Here's a random of one of my boys!
Threadstarter
Nice depth of field there nature and well focused on your young fella. There is just way to much background stuff. It makes as look away from your son and see what is in the room. Always consider what else is visible in the viewfinder as well as your subject and try to get rid of all the distracting elements.
"It is one thing to make a picture of what a person looks like, it is another thing to make a portrait of who they are" - Paul Caponigro
Constructive Critique of my photographs is always appreciated
Nikon, etc!
RICK
My Photography
Thanks Rick,
Is there any way to make the background blurrier if you're already at the lowest aperture? This one was f/4.5. I do need to start planning some photos I think instead of just snapping away.
Cheers.
Threadstarter
In camera, the further your subject is from the background objects the blurrier they will be. So for example if you took photos of your son outside in front of some shrubbery using f4.5 again, If he was 1 metre away from the bush, it would probably not be very blurry at all, but if he was 5 metres from it, it would be a lot more blurred.
You can increase the blurriness in post processing in your editing software but this has to be done well or it will look 'edited'.
Most of my practicing with the camera has been either indoors in our small house or outside in our small backyard, so I'm having the same trouble with most of my photos being too in focus and not getting that blurry effect. I'm still learning heaps and at the moment all are for our own photo albums anyway.
Thanks for your help.
Longer focal length will help you achieve this too Andrea ... as long you as you have the room to use it.Originally Posted by nature
Hi Im Darren
www.darrengrayphotography.com
SONY A850 (FF)] + GRIP | SONY A350 (APS-C) + GRIP | SONY NEX-5 +16 2.8 + 18-55 E-MOUNT LENSES | CZ 85 1.4 | 50 1.4 | 28-75 2.8 | 70-200 2.8 | 2 x 42AMs | 24" imac | LR | CS4 | + loads of other junk
Here's an attempt with my youngest daughter ... was also looking for an excuse to try out my new flash
Threadstarter
She smiles with her eyes and you have captured that well. There appears to be a distinct colour cast on this photo giving it a slight yellowing, which is evident in her hair and under her chin on the right. Did you shoot Raw or JPG? If Raw a white balance adjustment on the Raw file could really help here. I also think the crop is a little tight and would have liked to see more of her hair etc
Heres my first try!
Not the most willing participant but my brother will have to do for now.
1.4 @ 1/30 with iso200.
Is white balance setting important when using black & white? Or should I just use auto?
Thanks for your comments
Yes it was shot in Raw with AWB, I'll try white balance adjustment.
The reason for the tight crop here was that I was trying to imitate a 'pro' shot of my eldest daughter when she was this age so that 1) I could compare my shot and 2) I could prove to everyone I have identical twin daughters that were born two years apart
Mt first attempt at portraits taken using the new 50D and the 50mm f/1.8 in Fremantle, Perth, of my youngest sister. We were just mucking around, I wasnt trying for anything, all I did was crop it slightly.
Any CC warmly welcomed as I am very new to this, got 4.5 months to get ready for the new bubs / my reason for buying the 50D
f/1.8 (prob where i've gone wrong here I think)
1/2000 shutter
ISO 100 (think I should have gone the next step down)
looking at it from a more critical perspective I guess the colour of the dress has blown out, because of the apeture I'm guessing?
Arg photo stuffed up for some reason, repost
I noticed today at work this picture looks fairly washed out on my work screen, any tips on cheaply calibrating your monitor?
Here is one of my boy, we were playing with light painting and then we moved onto remote flashes and snoots. Over sharpened I know but I like the eyes, look into my eyes not around the eyes : -)
C&C are welcome on everything I post
If you always do, What you have always done, You will always have, What you have always had
Canon 400D - Canon 5D Mark II - 70-200 2.8L - 100 -400L - 1.4 Extender - 100mm 2.8 Macro - Kit Rubbish - 580EXII - and the machine that goes "PING"
Marcus - good attempt for your first try! What you have here is a little on the soft side - as evidenced by the slow shutter speed - 1/30 is a bit too slow for what I presume is hand held? Generally, for beginners, anything less than 1/60 is going to result in a bit of blur or "softness".
Depending on the situation, you can either try for a different position (with more natural light) or up the ISO. If you have a tripod, even better, but it then becomes an issue with the model "staying still"!
Did you shoot in b&w or convert in post processing (pp)? With digital, it's usually much better to shoot in colour and then convert in pp as you still have the original if you choose to print in colour. Auto depends on a number of factors - in particular the camera itself and the conditions. Most cameras these days do a reasonable job on auto wb, but it comes down to the camera and conditions, and you really have to play around with your camera in different conditions to know which is best for you.
If possible, shoot in raw. This gives you the benefit of easy wb adjustments (as well as many others) if you get it wrong on the day, whereas with jpeg, you really have to get it right when shooting.
Cheryl B.
My Stuff... Canon 6D ~ Canon Speedlite 580EXII x 2 ~ Canon 100mm f2.8 Macro ~ Canon 50mm f1.8 ~ Canon 17-85mm f4-5.6 ~ Canon 16-35mm ~ Canon 70-200mm f2.8 ~ Photoshop CC ~ Lightroom Classic CC
This is a great shot! This kid has a future as an enthusiastic presenter of facts, facts, facts! It's all there in the pose.
You have done a great job capturing this moment. What I would like to see though is a little bit more separation between the subject and the background. However, given the already relatively wide aperture, this might be something you need to do in pp - to blur the distracting background from the engaging subject. Obviously, it's not something you can do "in the moment", but maybe something to think about in future shots.
Just one very minor thing about the crop - try to keep both hands fully in the shot. You've chopped off his left little pinkie, so just be mindful of things like this in future crops.
Mt first attempt at portraits taken using the new 50D and the 50mm f/1.8 in Fremantle, Perth, of my youngest sister. We were just mucking around, I wasnt trying for anything, all I did was crop it slightly.
Any CC warmly welcomed as I am very new to this, got 4.5 months to get ready for the new bubs / my reason for buying the 50D
f/1.8 (prob where i've gone wrong here I think)
1/2000 shutter
ISO 100 (think I should have gone the next step down)
looking at it from a more critical perspective I guess the colour of the dress has blown out, because of the apeture I'm guessing?
Craggles, what you have here is a pretty good shot. You have a good separation of subject and background - a good indication of the right aperture! Where I think you may have been let down is it looks like it may have been taken around the middle of the day? I'm guessing this as there's no exif data available with the photo, but going on the shadows it looks like the sun is up on top! That and the fast shutter speed. Earlier morning and later afternoon are the better times for taking shots without the harsh light of the midday sun. The fact your sister is squinting a bit also detracts a little bit from the overall shot.
With regard to the colour - yes, it is a little bit washed out, but that's a consequence of the time of day it was shot. You'll get much warmer tones earlier or later in the day.
I don't know that there is a really "cheap" option to calibration! If you can, find someone who has a screen calibrator that you can borrow to set your monitor up correctly. Once it's set up, even though they annoy you with "it's time to recalibrate ... blah, blah, blah", most of the time, it's still well within the confines of calibrated colour. Longer term, it's well worth investing in a screen calibration unit - once you've calibrated, you'll never go back! I know from my own experience - I honestly thought my screen colours looked good - until I calibrated it!!!
Andrew, I like what you have done with this. The light on your boy's face and on the background really makes him stand out. The only criticism I would have in this, is that because his body is totally black, it makes his face seem a little disembodied - if that makes sense? Just a hint of light on his body may help to alleviate that I think.
With the light on his face, I know you've said look at the eyes, not around them, but I can't help looking around them I'm afraid! The shadows under his eyes help to give an overall impression of a young child with a demeanour of a much older person, and I find that a little bit sad in someone so young. If you can, provide a light source from above so that the shadows aren't so obvious. If not, a little pp might be the way to go with something like this.
Threadstarter
Hey Cyrus,
Very good photo but based on your Flickr account, which you opened in 2007, you are way past the New To Photography stage, which this thread is designed for
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