Achieving correct portrait placement for no cropping later

[gsxturbo]

I have a D7000 and I'm going to be taking 600+ Portraits in a few weeks for a sports team. All the photos are going to be 5x7, my question is is there a way to adjust the camera so that it knows I'm just going to be using 5x7s? For example if I just take a photo and I have someones head almost touching the top and bottom of the view finder that photo is going to be larger than a 8 x 10 if I don't take the photo correctly.

My uncle owns a business and he lays a overlay matrix on his live view so that he know right where the subject should be lined up. By doing this he is saving time and money by not having to spend hours upon hours cropping or cloning.

Any ideas would be great!

 

[TCampbell]

The sensor has a 2x3 ratio. If you multiply that up to 5x7 it doesn't quite fit, but it is close. For example... multiply both dimensions by 2.5 and you get 2x2.5=5 and 3x2.5=7.5. An image could printed as a 5x7.5 with no cropping at all. That means you're going to shave off 1/4" of the left & right sides in horizontal (aka "landscape" orientation) or off the top & bottom in vertical (aka "portrait" orientation).

If you plan to use the camera vertical (portrait orientation) just leave a bit of extra space. You could purchase an extra focusing screen and mark it so that you visually see the crop marks if you're worried.

I wouldn't want to use live-view for 600+ images. Live view forces the sensor to run continuously and it's not designed for that. Running continuously generates heat and heat generates image noise.

If you've got Lightroom or Aperture you can bulk-crop the whole shoot -- no need to crop each photo one at a time. Not just the cropping... but any adjustment you want to apply to a "whole" image (e.g. white balance, curves & levels, highlights & shadows, saturation, etc.) can be applied to all the images in bulk. The only thing you can't apply in bulk (technically you can... you just shouldn't) are brushed on adjustments (e.g. blemish removal, dodge & burn, etc.)

 

[cgipson1]

I find it hard to believe you would even ask that question... especially since it would appear that you are going to be shooting professionally! Just masking the live view might help with placement, but is not going to automatically "CROP" an image.. it will still need to be resized in post. The only real advantage to masking like that is that you would have consistent subject placement, and you could probably setup a script to automatically re-size, which is probably what you are talking about. I know of no commercially made guides or masks for live view.

I think I would worry more about the lighting, if I were you!

 

[tirediron]

It's all about aspect ratio. Read this, and then look at page 252 of your manual. Unfortunately your camera doesn't have a built-in aspect ratio for 5x7, so it looks like you're going to need a mask as well.

 

[gsxturbo]

Thanks for the tips guys. I never mentioned anything about doing it professionally, I'm doing it as a favor and a learning tool. Isn't that what posting in the beginners forum is about? Posting something without the fear of criticism?

 

[tirediron]

Thanks for the tips guys. I never mentioned anything about doing it professionally, I'm doing it as a favor and a learning tool. Isn't that what posting in the beginners forum is about? Posting something without the fear of criticism?

You're right, it is. It did sound like the sort of question that gets asked a lot, that is the "I don't know how to use my camera, but I'm going to start a business". There's nothing wrong with doing something like that as a favour, and yes, the Beginner's Forum is the appropriate place for the question. One caution however: Make sure everyone involved knows that you're there in a non-professional capacity. People tend to assume that anyone doing something like that is a professinal, and the degree of expectation changes significantly.

Good luck!

 

[cgipson1]

Thanks for the tips guys. I never mentioned anything about doing it professionally, I'm doing it as a favor and a learning tool. Isn't that what posting in the beginners forum is about? Posting something without the fear of criticism?

You never said it was just for practice either! We get "wanna be professional stupid question posts" in the beginners section all the time. I apologize if that is not the case here.

Taking portraits for a sports team.. especially 600+, could and should be a well-paid endeavor, if done properly. If you are the only one shooting.. what if you screw up, the Teams will not be happy with you. If you are just shooting alongside your uncle for practice, then no problem... but you should have said so.

 

[KmH]

Are you planning on using the camera in the 'portrait orientation? Do you have a decent tripod? Are you going to rent a quality lens. The AF-S 35mm 1.8G, and AF 50mm 1.8D are consumer grade lenses.

Fortunately the D7000 viewfinder is 100%. I would not recommend using the rear LCD.

Here is how you frame different aspect ratios in the viewfinder:

 

[gsxturbo]

No Problem Cgipson1, I just figured since it was the beginner forum it was just implied. It is a friend of mine and myself who are doing photos. I am good friends with the owner of the league so he asked us to help out. We're getting paid hourly and then just cost on the photos, he's not expecting crazy awesome professional photos, he's just expecting a step up from a point and shoot type photo. I'm hoping to get to the point where I'll pleasantly surprise him. Lens I'll be using the Nikon 24-70 2.8 lens, the camera will probably be in the "Portrait" position most of the time other than team photos which will be switched to a landscape position. It's an indoor league so I'll probably be using some strobes, I have a few White Lightening Ultra 1800's that I will be stealing from my uncle, and then my tripod is a Manfrotto 475.

 

[2WheelPhoto]

I find it hard to believe you would even ask that question... especially since it would appear that you are going to be shooting professionally! Just masking the live view might help with placement, but is not going to automatically "CROP" an image.. it will still need to be resized in post. The only real advantage to masking like that is that you would have consistent subject placement, and you could probably setup a script to automatically re-size, which is probably what you are talking about. I know of no commercially made guides or masks for live view.

I think I would worry more about the lighting, if I were you!

[email protected] FTW =)

 

[gsxturbo]

KmH this is the viewfinder grid, I guess I'm not understanding the photo that you posted.

 

[fjrabon]

I do yearbook photoshoots, for both sports teams and underclassmen. Sometimes I shoot around 1500 kids in a day. I can tell you from experience, for stuff like this, what you need to worry about most is how to get them to quickly and correctly pose. You need to have a foolproof setup and set of instructions. With a good efficient setup you can do 6 shots per minute. If you're not ready, you're looking at like 1-5 minutes per shot. Do the math, that's the difference between a few hours of shooting and several days, not counting any breaks. If you consistently place their heads, a batch crop is probably the easiest part.

a two light reflective umbrella setup toed in, tell them to aim their body at the right umbrella and then look directly at you, sitting (or standing) as straight as possible. Put the crown of their head about 1/8th down from the top of the viewfinder, put their chin at about the mid point. use a two count to get them ready instead of a 3 count.

 

[fjrabon]

KmH this is the viewfinder grid, I guess I'm not understanding the photo that you posted.
View attachment 19247

You want the crown of their head at the very top of the box with the focal points, chin at the midpoint.

edit: actually, you want the chin very slightly below the midpoint, probably around the first row of focal points below the midpoint.

 

[KmH]

KmH this is the viewfinder grid, I guess I'm not understanding the photo that you posted.
View attachment 19247

Oh my! Uh. Rotate the camera 90° CCW to the 'portrait' framing orientation. :thumbup: Notice how all of your focus point now kind of look like a person standing in the middle of the viewfinder?
Though you may only be doing head shots, heads/necks are still higher than they are wide, which is why you turn the camera so the frame is sideways with the long axis vertical.

The illustration I posted shows how 5x7 and 8x10 aspect ratios do not fill the viewfinder frame.
Note that the 5:7 aspect ratio fills the frame more than the 4:5 aspect ratio of an 8x10 (4x5) does.

The difference between the 2:3 native aspect ratio of your camera (8x12, 4x6), and the 5:7 you want to print is what will have to be cropped away from each photo so they can print at 5x7.

The 5:7 space does not have to be centered in the viewfinder. You can shoot so all the extra space is at the top or the bottom of the viewfinder.

You have time to practice how to frame for a 5x7 before you have to shoot the 600+ shots.

 

[fjrabon]

Here's my basic setup:

lights 10 feet apart, 70 inches high, green screen, stool at 22 inches, stool at 11 feet from the lights, lights aimed at the center of where their face will be (well, the opposite way, since I'm using a reflective umbrella). Brand wise we use norman d12 power packs and norman lights (though I can't right off remember which exact model light it is).

tripod set up 54" from the ground. I use a video style manfrotto tripod, and lock everything tight except the up down, which I am very careful to have at just the right tightness such that I can easily move it up and down, but if I let it go, it stays put.

I use a Canon 7D with a 28-135mm kit lens for these types of shots. I usually shoot f/16, ISO 100, Shutter speed 1/125, which with the lights, makes it near impossible to screw up.