Just got my camera! would love some tips!

[skyhandglow]

Hello! I bought my friends Canon Digital Rebel XT a couple of days ago and have begun to play around with it already. I am looking to do close up portraits in the next couple of days,and would like some advice. I have have been reading on the basics, but would like to know, will it take good close CLOSE up shots? (of lips, eyes, just the face, etc.) with the lens it comes with? Any tips of starting settings? (gonna do a mix of indoor, and mostly outdoor)

thanks!!

 

[hyakuhei]

With the standard lens I *think* the innermost focus will be at around 30cm - at that distance (with 28mm) I think your going to get the whole face, if your intending on just picking out facial features, then thank god for your megapixels and fire up photoshop! :thumbup:

 

[Garbz]

Depends on the lens he sold you with it. To get closeup of eyes or lips you will probably need a macro lens. But you should be able to get a full head shot with the lens mentioned above easily.

 

[DeepSpring]

You've pretty much been answered. Good camera tho, I have one

Good luck with it

 

[skyhandglow]

it was sold to me with the same lens that it came with. so basically i would have to take a close up of the face and then perhaps crop to the eyes in photoshop? also, its been a couple of years since my photography class where i learned how to use a manual film camera, any links where i could learn about digital manual cameras? how to focus and get the proper exposure?

any tips of what settings i should use when taking a pic of someone indoors at night? and outdoors (day or night?) please? thanks again

 

[Mad_Gnome]

Manual focusing and exposure work the same for a digital camera as they do for a manual film camera. Autofocus and autoexposure are exactly that. Set them to auto and they do the work for you. As for how to set your digital camera to manual and change settings yourself, your cameras manual will cover that.

Taking a closeup of the face and cropping to the eyes in Photoshop will work, but the more of the image you crop, the more the image quality will deteriorate as you enlarge it.

For shooting indoors at night, I would recommend picking up a fast prime lens, such as a 50mm f/1.8 or f/1.4. Outdoors shooting at night would most likely require a flash, unless you're near a sufficiently bright light source such as a street lamp. For outdoor shooting during the daylight, refer to the Sunny 16 rule for proper exposure.

 

[oldnavy170]

Just one bit of advise. When you focus try to get the focus on the eyes, the rest will follow. Trust me, I learned the hard way.

 

[skyhandglow]

thanks guys. so focus the eyes!! how do u properly set exposure again? and whats the best way to use flash without the picture looking all "flash white"?

any other ideas how to create a good photo/print of the eyes after taking a picture of the entire face?

 

[jeremyboycool]

If you going to shoot outside get some bug repellent!!

*Scratches mosquito bites*