Help wanted for portrait photos

W00DY

Hi All,

Sometimes I take a good portrait photo of my kids, mostly I don't :cry

I was hoping I may be able to get some tips using the following image as an example.



The details of the photo are as follows:

Camera - Nikon D70
Lens - Nikon 50mm 1.4
Aperture - 2.2
Shutter - 1/50
ISO - 640

Now I know this is a very sharp lens but this image seems very soft, I *think* this is becouse of the shutter speed (is 1/50 too slow?). There was not a lot of light and I tried to direct it onto my son by angling the blinds.

So what should I have done to make this image better "out of the camera"? I know I can probably do a fair bit in PP but I am trying to get the most out of my camera to reduce PP time.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Cheers,
W00DY

Swartzy

A couple suggestions
Despite some who love the wide open aperatures......stop down....you'll find the lens is sharper at f/7.1 than f/2.2 I shoot at f/9.0 doing those candid portraitures. Yes, you'll need more light....fill flash...mess around with manual mode....go for at least 1/60th second. The faster the shutter speed the less ambient light but you'll be amazed what ISO 200, f/9.0 & 1/100 second with ETTL setting (high sync) bounce flash will produce. Experiment but stop down the aperature. I'm not happy with some shots (angle to sensor plane) with f/5.6. Straight on shots are ok.

peterst6906

I agree with Swartzy, although, also having the 50 1.4, I am quite happy with it from f4.

Also, I think you are right about the shutter speed.

Remember the D70 is a DX format sensor so the 50 mm has a 35 mm equivalent field of view of a 75 mm lens.

I have always found that maintaining the old 1/focal length minimum for hand-holding helps to keep shake out of the image.

For digital I try to go twice that value if possible.

As a result, for the 50mm, I always try to use 1/125 as the minimum (next full stop above 1/60).

So if you can find a lighting situation that will give you 1/125 @ f4 as a minimum when hand-holding, I think you'll find the shots to be much sharper.

Also, given the ISO 640, f2.2 and 1/50th, I think you've actually captured this pretty good for such a low light situation. So don't be worry, I think you should actually be proud of drawing that much from a very tough condition.

Regards,

Peter

JimFuglestad

Hi Woody,

It's hard to tell with the small image, but I'm not completely sure your shutter speed is too slow. His two front teeth actually look sharp, no? If anything in your image is sharp then the problem is not your shutter speed, but rather your focus point. Try to shoot a little more straight-on when shooting with a wide aperture.

I would tend to not stop it down. IMO, by stopping it down you lose something from the image visually. I prefer open apertures to isolate subjects or features.

Also, by stopping down you lose so many opportunities to shoot. Shooting wide open allows you to shoot where you otherwise wouldn't be able to. A bad shot is better than not getting any shot.

A flash would alleviate this problem, but generally I prefer not to use a flash, or even look at flash shots much. IMO, flash steals the feel from a photo. Yes, there are exceptions, and ways to use a flash for a natural look... but often achieving that causes the moment to pass.

Generally, I think this image is just suffering from a little mis-focus and poor light. He's looking away from the light so it's not falling nicely on his face. I think if you were on the other side of him the quality of the light would be much better.

When the day is done, however, you still have a picture of your son sporting his wonderful smile.

Jim

LiquidAir

I am with Jim. To me it looks like the major issue with softness is that the focus plane is a little bit in front of his face. When you are shooting tight crops with wide apertures you need to be very deliberate about what part of the face you want in focus because you can't have it all. If your choice is clear and decisive then then shot will look sharp even if parts of the face are soft. Getting accurate focus for shots like this one is not easy. Do lots of expriments with your AF system and practice, practice, practice.

There might be some motion blur in this shot too either due to camera motion or subject motion, but I think that is a secondary issue in this shot. 1/50s is slow enough that you shouldn't expect 100% of your shots to be sharp, but with careful technique and some luck you will get some sharp shots.

As for the light, I think the biggest issue is that it is on the left side of his face while the focus is on the right side. The result is a conflict for the center of interest which I think makes the focus look softer than it is.

As for shooting a 50/1.4 at f/2.2: I don't have any experience with the Nikon 50/1.4, but when shooting with the Cannon 50/1.4 f/2.2 is plenty sharp. Even wide open the softness in the Cannon 50/1.4 is not visible at web resolutions. Your shots will get sharper at f/4, but that is the least of your worries.

saurora

I love shooting wide open, too. I think the shallow depth of field and the selective focus makes for very intimate and interesting portraits. Shooting kids is tough, as they don't hold a position very long and constantly seem to be fidgiting. I have resorted to using the burst mode on my camera when shooting children. This gives me a chance to get at least one decent shot if the subject should move. Also, kids have such great expressive faces, and will unexpectedly change their smile to a frown, etc. The burst helps capture those little unplanned moments. Happy shooting! :saurora

JimFuglestad

saurora wrote:

I have resorted to using the burst mode on my camera when shooting children. This gives me a chance to get at least one decent shot if the subject should move. Also, kids have such great expressive faces, and will unexpectedly change their smile to a frown, etc.

Excellent point. It not only helps capture just the right moment, but in the event the shutter speed is borderline too slow the 2nd and 3rd shots or usually held more steady.

Jim

W00DY

Thanks for all the replies, appreciate all your help. I think there are a few very valid comments.

1. my focal point could have been off, I always try and focus on the eyes but as someone mentioned kids move so fast he could have moved his head out of the focal point area. Which leads me to my next theory.. when shooting very wide open shoots is it possible (especially with small kids) that once you focus on their eyes they could shift their head ever so slightly which will move the focal point on their face?) - This would explain Jim and LiquidAir's comments about the focal point being in front of his face, maybe he moved back a little bit.

2. Swartzy mentioned fill flash but as LiquidAir said I was trying to avoid using flash, I was trying to get the most out of the natural light.

So taking in all your comments I tried again on my little niece, I changed the settings to the follow:

Camera - Nikon D70
Lens - Nikon 50mm 1.4
Aperture - 3.2
Shutter - 1/125
ISO - 200



Once again this is not the greatest photo and I would improve this photo in PP but for the purpose of this thread I think it is a lot better than the first one (in regards to sharpness, exposure etc...). It is still not as good as i think I could get "straight out of the camera" but maybe I am just wanting to much from the limited natural light I had? Would upping the exposure in this situation help?

Again, thanks for all the help, really appreciate it.

Cheers,
W00DY