Daughter taken w/new lens

chicodawg

November 21, I came home with my new lenses. This was taken with the Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L on the Canon 20D. It was getting dark but I HAD to try this thing out. She had other plans, but this was important!

Shutter: 1/500
Focal: 70mm
Ap: f/2.8
ISO: 400
No flash

PS: I had to brighten it slightly and add color saturation. For some reason (must be me), I seem to need saturation on my images with this lens.

Comments??

IMG007a.jpg

gluwater

chicodawg wrote:

PS: I had to brighten it slightly and add color saturation. For some reason (must be me), I seem to need saturation on my images with this lens.

If the image is underexposed and taken in low light you will have little color to start with. That is why you have had to boost the saturation. Your focus looks off in this image, her eyes are OOF and they should be the focus of the image. Your daughter does not look as thrilled as you about the new lens. Maybe wait till she is in a better mood to take her picture next time . Keep on using the lens, it is awesome and you'll get the hang of it in no time.

chicodawg

Thanks glu!

My concern is, if I put the focus point on the nose, shouldn't the eyes focus even at 2.8 (be within the DOF)? Or is it possible my handholding wasn't steady? I believe in this shot I had the center (selected) dot on the nose.

I've had quite a few images trash-canned due to being OOF.

As for the darkness and saturation, I'm confused. With this being a 2.8, doesn't more light enter the sensor?

Thanks again for taking a look and the response.

Owen

At 2.8 you need to aim for the eyes, especially with this lens. Closer to 200mm it gets really tricky at 2.8.

This image looks sharp in the eyes though... post a bigger version?

chicodawg

Owen wrote:

At 2.8 you need to aim for the eyes, especially with this lens. Closer to 200mm it gets really tricky at 2.8.

This image looks sharp in the eyes though... post a bigger version?

Thanks for the responses everyone. I'm experimenting with several tips from the forums, including something I found on metering with a gray card, locking the values and then snapping the photo and then the "Sunny 16" method.

Also, I'm fixing my focus point issue.

Owen, the photo was at 70mm, but I see (read) what you're saying about being tricky at 200mm and 2.8. I'll have to remember that.

As for her expression of boredom. It appears that way, but she's working on her "model" face as I'm working on my photography skills. In some images she smiles brightly, then others she puts on her runway face. She has no real experience modeling.

Here's a crop and zoom of the eyes/face area.

IMG007a_crop.jpg