First try with 50mm F2. Lens

Coney_Island_Gary

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marikris

How interesting! My eyes keep straying to her right arm, however, because of the focus and it's the poppiest color on the pic, but overall, I really like the play of light on her face from the brim of her hat.

Coney_Island_Gary

Thanks for the comments. I am new at this and have lots to learn. I just looked at your work and I guess you have been at this for awhile as your images are very good.

Sam

OK, here is my take on this shot.

it's really hard to get a good shot in bright sunlight. The hat just adds to the problem.

I would try to move the subject into the shade. If you can't do this use fill flash. Also be very careful with dappled shade. While this can look nice to our eyes, cameras see the shadow and light differently, and it normally won't look great.

Sam

Coney_Island_Gary

Sam wrote:

OK, here is my take on this shot.

it's really hard to get a good shot in bright sunlight. The hat just adds to the problem.

Sam

I thought that the bright sunlight at high-noon was ideal. Boy was I wrong. I am trying again later today in the afternoon.

Qarik

Coney_Island_Gary wrote:

I thought that the bright sunlight at high-noon was ideal. Boy was I wrong. I am trying again later today in the afternoon.

that is exactly wrong. that is typically the worst time to take shots..unless it is overcast. 1 hour after sunrise or before sunset are known are really best for direct natural light shots FYI. Or find some shade

du8die

...
Welcome to the forum.

Looks like you have a nice lens there. Keep practicing! Don't you just love the shallow DOF - how the background just disappears!

As for shooting at high noon in bright sun, it's good for estimating exposure (Sunny 16 rule - basically at high noon, you can shoot 1/ISO at f/16). So, if you're shooting at ISO 100 - set your camera to manual, 1/100 @ f/16 and fire away.

One of the reasons they tell you to find shade is we want to eliminate as many shadows as possible. Direct sunlight tends to give you shadow, not eliminate it. If you go into shade, harsh shadows disappear - and you get a much more even image.

Case in point. Here, you have a very nice shot of the top of this person's hat, and their right arm. But, I'm sure you would much rather see her face. It's probably sharp, but we can't tell because the hat has totally blocked off the light to her face. Had you been in the shade, there would have been hardly any impact, and the whole shot would be very even.

It might also be helpful to know that most (if not all) lenses tend to be a little soft wide open (lower f number). Just something to be aware of.

Thanks for posting. Don't get discouraged. It's a lot of information to take in. In a way, all of us are learning (with the exception of a few, I guess... you know who you are. )

d8

Coney_Island_Gary

This is my second attempt. No hat and no shadows.

JulieLawsonPhotography

much better.

looks good

VayCayMom

That makes a big difference, your subject has even tones and she is nicely contrasted with the background. Love her earrings!
This is a wonderful place to learn and to be encouraged.

I didn't know lenses tend to be soft when wide open, thanks D8 !

du8die

Much better.

Re: soft lenses - I'm just parroting what I've heard from others who claim to know more than me. They probably do.

Tim Kamppinen

HUGE improvement between these two shots. Also a great example of how crucial light is to a photograph... after all photography is literally "light-writing".

All lenses are less sharp when shot wide open, and almost all lenses are sharp enough when stopped down, but the better lenses are sharper to begin with and loose less sharpness as you open them up.

Coney_Island_Gary

Tim Kamppinen wrote:

All lenses are less sharp when shot wide open, and almost all lenses are sharp enough when stopped down, but the better lenses are sharper to begin with and loose less sharpness as you open them up.

So a 50mm F2.0 lens set at F2.8 will be sharper than a 50mm F2.8 lens as the latter will be wide open?

Stopped down?

Sorry for the basic questions but I am soooooo confused.

Tim Kamppinen

Coney_Island_Gary wrote:

So a 50mm F2.0 lens set at F2.8 will be sharper than a 50mm F2.8 lens as the latter will be wide open?

Stopped down?

Sorry for the basic questions but I am soooooo confused.

Most likely, if they are both good quality lenses, this will be the case. If the 50 f/2 is an inferior lens to begin with then the 2.8 might be sharper, but all other things being equal I would expect the wide open lens to be softer. But then again I'm no expert at this, and every lens is different so the best thing to do would be to compare the two if you have them, and if not find some good professional reviews online that have sample shots at different apertures for each lens.