First time to use a lightmeter and go manual

[VayCayMom]

Some advice you pick up from self made online photo gurus needs to be unlearned and can cause confusion.
Trying to blend what this non professional person recommended with what I was now trying to do did not work. But I must add that I did learn alot of really good stuff from his site, I still consult it REGARDING EQUIPMENT,but now I need to separate the wheat from the chaff in order to move forward and lose some bad habits.
I had been using A priority and it seemed to be working ok, so I just stayed there, but I was struggling to figure out how some photos were done, something I wanted to copy. And I always point out I am kinda backwards, began in Photoshop, used point and shoot, then tried to learn how to use a "real" camera. I almost dropped out of the class, my skill level was 0, I had no business with the Nikon d 70 I bought. That was 2 years ago and I now have moved up 2 more cameras to the d 700

So as I continue to learn everyone says you need a light meter, got one months ago and finally began to understand how to use it. Gheesh, it took me weeks to figure out you had to be in M first of all! I was already using off camera flash. reflectors etc.

So here are my first attempts!!

This 4 yr old's Mom wanted a headshot for a children's "pageant" not the glam stuff you see on TV, but a great program where kids were required to be just that, kids!
In my "studio" I have a large north facing window, a floor lamp, speedlight w/ umbrella. I wanted the background to be white ,I learned from an earlier post to light the backdrop. I only had a floor lamp so there is a yellow cast to that one light source.
These have only been edited with levels and sharpening and some WB.

I only want to show the lighting and color. I really like the look of pale, bright skin with vivid colors elsewhere. Please ignore posing, cropping etc.


1.



2.


her older sister was along, and she looked so cute in her hat, I had to get a quick shot. I added a Lightroom preset to get this warm washed look.
3.


4.
I was babysitting my grandson and while I cleaned up my studio I caught a few quick shots. Only available lighting here, no editing other than levels sharpening and WB correction.He is learning how to crawl....



5.

[Wil Davis]

Congrats on all the light meter stuff (acquiring, learning to use, realization etc. etc…)

#1 cute
#2 cute
#3 focus on the eyes
#4 focus on the eyes
#5 focus on the eyes

Perhaps you use auto-focus? When taking portraits, I'd try to use manual focus whenever possible (I only use auto when things are happening so quickly that I don't have time, and even then if I have a problem, I'd anticipate…)

Thanks for sharing! (BTW, great colours!)



- Wil

[VayCayMom]

Originally Posted by Wil Davis

Congrats on all the light meter stuff (acquiring, learning to use, realization etc. etc…)

#1 cute
#2 cute
#3 focus on the eyes
#4 focus on the eyes
#5 focus on the eyes

Perhaps you use auto-focus? When taking portraits, I'd try to use manual focus whenever possible (I only use auto when things are happening so quickly that I don't have time, and even then if I have a problem, I'd anticipate…)

Thanks for sharing! (BTW, great colours!)



- Wil

Yes I do use autofocus, is that another bad habit I need to unlearn?

[Wil Davis]

Originally Posted by VayCayMom

Yes I do use autofocus, is that another bad habit I need to unlearn?

Auto-focus is very useful, but is easily confused.

In your #3, the band of the hat is beautifully in focus as can be seen by the detail in each individual stitch. The stitch plane is very near the plane where the eyes are, and in the case of your picture, perhaps the AF was confused, as it might be where the subject is low-contrast (many AF systems use contrast to determine focus).

When taking close-ups and portraits, especially with wide apertures (small depth-of-field), I always use manual focus.



- Wil

[WingsOfLovePhoto]

Very nice crisp photos! I don't think the focus looks bad at all. With kids I always use autofocus. They just move too much and too fast. I use single focus but make sure I put the box between the eyes to make them be the part of the picture that will be most in focus. You did a good job with lighting the background. If you want to fix the color cast you can do that in photoshop. Ie if yellow cast just desaturate yellows and history brush back any other parts of the picture that might have been desat'd in the process... Exposures look good too! Lighting in general is a bit flat, mostly on the first one there is no shadow at all...and not sure what the orange cast in parts of her hair? or maybe she has colored hair I lit this way when I first started too... just now figuring out the ratio/shadow thing. It has made quite a difference! Keep up the good work!

[VayCayMom]

Originally Posted by WingsOfLovePhoto

Very nice crisp photos! I don't think the focus looks bad at all. With kids I always use autofocus. They just move too much and too fast. I use single focus but make sure I put the box between the eyes to make them be the part of the picture that will be most in focus. You did a good job with lighting the background. If you want to fix the color cast you can do that in photoshop. Ie if yellow cast just desaturate yellows and history brush back any other parts of the picture that might have been desat'd in the process... Exposures look good too! Lighting in general is a bit flat, mostly on the first one there is no shadow at all...and not sure what the orange cast in parts of her hair? or maybe she has colored hair I lit this way when I first started too... just not figuring out the ratio/shadow thing. It has made quite a difference! Keep up the good work!

Thanks for your comments. There is supposed to be shadows?? !! So many things to remember all at one time!
She does not have any orange hair, you might be seeing the yellow on the top of her head fro the floor lamp ( incadescent bulb) or a combo of that and too much hair spray/gel from her Auntie!!
I am just soo happy to get a handle on the bright skin tones without RED and vivid colors!

Ratio? hmm I will be googling that. And thanks for the GREAT tip on focusing with kids. That will be a huge help.

[anonymouscuban]

I agree. I think these are great and I also don't see a problem with the focus. The eyes seem sharp in all pics.

Great job. Makes me jealous... I want a light meter. That's my next purchase.

[0bscura]

Originally Posted by WingsOfLovePhoto

I use single focus but make sure I put the box between the eyes to make them be the part of the picture that will be most in focus.

Same here. I'll call it simi-automatic focus. I'm focusing on the eyes and then holding the focus as I re-compose for the shot.

[zoomer]

Well you are definitely doing it the hard way...but on the flip side you are learning a lot.
You just need some tweaking, you are almost there.

[VayCayMom]

Originally Posted by 0bscura

Same here. I'll call it simi-automatic focus. I'm focusing on the eyes and then holding the focus as I re-compose for the shot.

I am using that now when applicable, GREAT TIP!!

[VayCayMom]

Originally Posted by zoomer

Well you are definitely doing it the hard way...but on the flip side you are learning a lot.
You just need some tweaking, you are almost there.

Thanks for commenting Zoomer, yeah I do a lot the hard way, but once I get it down it stay with me !! This forum has helped provide about 30 % of what I now know. Thanks everyone!

[Darren Troy C]

4 and 5 are simply devine!

[Scott_Quier]

Originally Posted by VayCayMom

Thanks for your comments. There is supposed to be shadows?? !! So many things to remember all at one time!
She does not have any orange hair, you might be seeing the yellow on the top of her head fro the floor lamp ( incadescent bulb) or a combo of that and too much hair spray/gel from her Auntie!!
I am just soo happy to get a handle on the bright skin tones without RED and vivid colors!

Ratio? hmm I will be googling that. And thanks for the GREAT tip on focusing with kids. That will be a huge help.

"Supposed to be shadows" - sounds like a "rule". Rules are meant to be broken. Do you have to have shadows? No. But, shadows are there for a reason. They help define for the viewer the contours and depth of the subject.

Ratio - this is the "brightness" difference between the key light and the fill. The key (main) light creates your shadows. Your fill usually softens these shadows (lowers the contract between the shadowed and the "lit" portions of the subject. A ration of 1:2 (the key light is 1 stop brighter than the fill, twice as bright) is a good starting point when making portraits of children and ladies. When working with men, the photography has a bit more "appropriate" range to work with.

Originally Posted by VayCayMom

I am using that now when applicable, GREAT TIP!!

Ummmm ... Opinions on this vary. IMNSHO, depending on your camera to subject distance and aperture, this is a pretty good way to NOT attain the critical focus you should be looking for.

If you focus on an eye and then re-compose, moving the camera POV down, you have just moved the plane of crical focus beyond the subject's eye(s).

Here's a link to a blog post and another link describing what is happening when one employs the "focus and recompose" technique.

[anonymouscuban]

Originally Posted by Scott_Quier

Ummmm ... Opinions on this vary. IMNSHO, depending on your camera to subject distance and aperture, this is a pretty good way to NOT attain the critical focus you should be looking for.

If you focus on an eye and then re-compose, moving the camera POV down, you have just moved the plane of crical focus beyond the subject's eye(s).

Here's a link to a blog post and another link describing what is happening when one employs the "focus and recompose" technique.

I completely agree with Scott here. I was struggling with getting focus tack sharp on the eyes while doing my recent portrait work. I would get so frustrated because it would take me several shots to get one properly focused capture. I would focus on the eyes, hold the shutter release, recompose and fire. Chimp and find that the focus was off.

After fussing with my autofocus fine tuning to no avail, I decided to do a quick search on dgrin. Found the posts referenced by Scott and my question was answered. I now compose my shot, move my focus point where I want it, focus and immediately fire. I like shooting wide open a lot so this is even more critical. This technique has greatly reduced my frustration and also the time it takes me to get a nicely focused shot.

[VayCayMom]

Darren, thank you for the compliment. 4 is my favorite and possibly my favorite portrait type photo i have ever taken. My daughter is entering it in a cute baby contest.

[VayCayMom]

Scott, thank you for your thoughtful input. I am now off to that direction to learn the difference in focus techniques, my eyes are constantly being opened to new things that I not heard of yet, but that 6 months ago I would have ignored as too far over my head. thanks for keeping us all along the path forward !!!
My very first online camera class I only knew 2 things... what shutter speed and aperture meant! My oh my!!

[Scott_Quier]

Originally Posted by VayCayMom

Scott, thank you for your thoughtful input. I am now off to that direction to learn the difference in focus techniques, my eyes are constantly being opened to new things that I not heard of yet, but that 6 months ago I would have ignored as too far over my head. thanks for keeping us all along the path forward !!!
My very first online camera class I only knew 2 things... what shutter speed and aperture meant! My oh my!!

That's pretty good.

I'm a contributor to the mentorship program in the camera club to which I belong. As one of the "mentors" (which means I know a bit more than someone else there) I get the opportunity to "teach" others. The last two or three "students" started out NOT knowing the difference between shutter speed and aperture - and that's where we started! Lots of fun!

[kris10jo]

Thanks for sharing your photos and how you did it. So very helpful! I really like the almost high-key lighting like that, especially for children. So bright and cheerful!

[0bscura]

Originally Posted by Scott_Quier

If you focus on an eye and then re-compose, moving the camera POV down, you have just moved the plane of crical focus beyond the subject's eye(s).

Here's a link to a blog post and another link describing what is happening when one employs the "focus and recompose" technique.

Great stuff. I'll have to become re-acquainted with my camera's ability to move the autofocus sight around the frame.

I've been shooting at f/8 and f/11 a lot lately so depth of field has been taking care of the error.

I grew up before auto-focus and I would use manual more if my camera had a decent focusing screen. Actually, I was still using the same focus and recompose technique back in the day because the focusing aid was always in the center of the screen.

All this talk of critical focusing is making me miss the view camera and crawling around under the dark cloth with a magnification loupe pressed to the ground glass.