Christmas Family Snapshots

pathfinder

Christmas is a time for pictures of family - Frequently shot candid with available tungsten lighting and no time to control the back ground. Still, sometimes you get lucky. My granddaughter at age 1.
f2.0 1/50th



f3,2 1/13th converted to B&W


Bounce flash helps sometimes...f5.6 1/125

Steve Cavigliano

PF,

I can't see your pics Just 3 red X's

Steve

pathfinder

Steve Cavigliano wrote:

PF,

I can't see your pics Just 3 red X's

Steve

I did not have external links ok'd I think - Worked oK for me, but now I've ok'd external links - should be ok now I think.

Dee

What beautiful eyes!
And she sits still for you too? Wow!

pathfinder

Dee wrote:

And she sits still for you too? Wow!

Certainly not!!! She was in constant hyperdrive for hours. That's why the bow in her hair is gone in the later shots. Note her neatly combed hair too!!

Steve Cavigliano

Man is she a cutie You should be extremely proud and I've got a feeling that we'll be seeing more shots of this little lady, in the future.

As Dee wrote, those eyes. Just beautiful Her Daddy is going to have to keep her locked in her bedroom til she's 21

I like her looks in the 2nd and 3rd pics. The 2nd one looks like she has the devil in her eyes and in the 3rd one she looks like a little angel. A typical 1 year old. A devil one minute, an angel the next. I guess that's why they're so loveable

You got 3 real keepers here, I hope you have a spot on the wall already picked out :lol



Steve

Thiago Sigrist

Hey PF!
Cool snapshots! I think they look far better than the ones I got during my family's Christmas celebration! Your granddaughter's lovely eyes surely catch the viewer! :-)

Now, let me ask you something: what kind of lens were you using for those pictures. I very much like the look of your f/2 picture, the background is strongly blurred and the subject is well-defined. If I had to guess, it would be 85mm f/1.8 or 135mm f/2 L. Am I right?

Thanks so much for sharing!
Take care!

-- thiago

pathfinder

Thiago Sigrist wrote:

Cool snapshots! I think they look far better than the ones I got during my family's Christmas celebration! Your granddaughter's lovely eyes surely catch the viewer! :-)

Now, let me ask you something: what kind of lens were you using for those pictures. I very much like the look of your f/2 picture, the background is strongly blurred and the subject is well-defined. If I had to guess, it would be 85mm f/1.8 or 135mm f/2 L. Am I right?

Thanks so much for sharing!
Take care!

-- thiago

Thank you so much for your kind words Thiago. I shot that with the 85 f1.2 L. I expressly bought it for low light candid shooting and night shooting and I have enjoyed it, although it is a highly specialized tool.

Shooting Christmas candids for me usually involves very low tungsten and or mixed lighting and absolutely no control of backgrounds. Kids running everywhere. You know what I am talking about; so this time I went into the fray armed with serious weaponry.:D Focusing precisely on the eyes was critical so I put my AF points right there for each shot.

I think the 85f1.8 would also work very nicely although it may not be quite as crisp at f2.0 But the 85 f1.8 is much faster focusing and significantly less expensive and MUCH smaller and lighter. Andy chose the 85 f1.8 recently. 85mm has always been a great head shot lens for 35mm as you obviously already know.

The close up with fill flash was shot with a 70-200f2.8 IS as was the B&W.

I have publicly admitted that I AM an L glass addict and I am trying to reform. But shots like these are not making it easy.

pathfinder

A few more snapshots from the Holidays....

PeekBoo - Kids can be so helpful some times A great nephew of mine - a male f1.4 1/250


f1.4 1/400



f1.4 1/1000

snapapple

Oh Wow!
Pathfinder, these are wonderful. I love the eyes. You did an excelent job. The focus is right on. The backgrounds are sufficiently blurred. I wish, whish, wish, I could do so well. Congratulations on a beautiful grandchild and some great candid portraits.

gus

She has incredible eyes PF...what a cutie !

Thiago Sigrist

Oooooo...

pathfinder wrote:

Thank you so much for your kind words Thiago. I shot that with the 85 f1.2 L. I expressly bought it for low light candid shooting and night shooting and I have enjoyed it, although it is a highly specialized tool.

Shooting Christmas candids for me usually involves very low tungsten and or mixed lighting and absolutely no control of backgrounds. Kids running everywhere. You know what I am talking about; so this time I went into the fray armed with serious weaponry.:D Focusing precisely on the eyes was critical so I put my AF points right there for each shot.

I think the 85f1.8 would also work very nicely although it may not be quite as crisp at f2.0 But the 85 f1.8 is much faster focusing and significantly less expensive and MUCH smaller and lighter. Andy chose the 85 f1.8 recently. 85mm has always been a great head shot lens for 35mm as you obviously already know.

The close up with fill flash was shot with a 70-200f2.8 IS as was the B&W.

I have publicly admitted that I AM an L glass addict and I am trying to reform. But shots like these are not making it easy.

that's beautiful glass, PF! I didn't say the 85mm f/1.2L because it's expensive and rare, so people don't usually get that one (at least, not as much as the f/1.8 or the 135L).

Lens addiction is really a bad thing for our pockets, but I like to think that my subjects deserve to be photographed with great equipment. And this is clearly the case here!

Thanks for your attention!
Take care!

-- thiago