Aimee

[Fujidave]

This young lady is Aimee, a very good singer singing on the beach yesterday. X-T2 + XF 35mm f2
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2

 

[Jeff1547 47]

Nice images...

 

[Fujidave]

Nice images...

Thank you

 

[Derrel]

So glad to see that high-waisted "mom jeans" are back in style!!! Shades of the days of my youth!

 

[Fujidave]

So glad to see that high-waisted "mom jeans" are back in style!!! Shades of the days of my youth!

Some of the young ladies can have some good style when they come to sing, this is something I really want to get in to, so any tips for photographing them would be great.

 

[chuasam]

So glad to see that high-waisted "mom jeans" are back in style!!! Shades of the days of my youth!

Some of the young ladies can have some good style when they come to sing, this is something I really want to get in to, so any tips for photographing them would be great.

Photograph from the front, use a fast lens wide open
Go in close and crop tighter

 

[Fujidave]

So glad to see that high-waisted "mom jeans" are back in style!!! Shades of the days of my youth!

Some of the young ladies can have some good style when they come to sing, this is something I really want to get in to, so any tips for photographing them would be great.

Photograph from the front, use a fast lens wide open
Go in close and crop tighter

Thank you for the tip, will try that.

 

[Dean_Gretsch]

Is this natural lighting only? Looks really great.

 

[Fujidave]

Is this natural lighting only? Looks really great.

Hi Dean, yes all natural light on all my shots of the singers and thank you too.

 

[vintagesnaps]

I'd see what you can do with the vantage points and backgrounds. See if you can move around more. I found it took practice and it became second nature to notice poles and posts and trash cans and electric outlets and extension cords, etc. etc. I like to frame to keep that stuff out of my shots as much as possible. If something doesn't add anything to the image, I want it out! of my frame! out of my picture! lol

I'd try to get away from that door propped open and that green thing behind her. Now there are interesting shadows on the steps over there, that I might try to work into the composition. Sometimes you can crop down a little but with the second one that'd whack off half her ponytail! Not much you can do when stuff is that close to the subject, walk around more and see what you can get. I learned to 'move' things out of my frame by changing my vantage point.

 

[Fujidave]

I'd see what you can do with the vantage points and backgrounds. See if you can move around more. I found it took practice and it became second nature to notice poles and posts and trash cans and electric outlets and extension cords, etc. etc. I like to frame to keep that stuff out of my shots as much as possible. If something doesn't add anything to the image, I want it out! of my frame! out of my picture! lol

I'd try to get away from that door propped open and that green thing behind her. Now there are interesting shadows on the steps over there, that I might try to work into the composition. Sometimes you can crop down a little but with the second one that'd whack off half her ponytail! Not much you can do when stuff is that close to the subject, walk around more and see what you can get. I learned to 'move' things out of my frame by changing my vantage point.

Thank you for the great advice/tips Sharon, I do try to keep the messy bits out but find it hard as the background is really bad.

 

[vintagesnaps]

Yes, it is! lol I mentioned a few more thoughts in the other thread. If you're doing this regularly ask if you or they can give some of it a bit of a shove... a few feet can make a world of difference.

And Derrel nobody needs those paperbag waist jeans to come back in style, I might have flashbacks!! lol Although this style I sort of remember and they aren't the paper bag style exactly, and not the worst of what I remember wearing...

 

[Derrel]

So glad to see that high-waisted "mom jeans" are back in style!!! Shades of the days of my youth!

Some of the young ladies can have some good style when they come to sing, this is something I really want to get in to, so any tips for photographing them would be great.

My biggest tips would be as follows...first off, background sublimation/background control; this is the biggest issue I see with that area in the Brighton area...lots of distractions in the background, which as one poster mentioned, could be eliminated bu either speaking to management or to the performer(s), and asking if perhaps some of the unneeded stuff in the singing/performing area might be moved off to the sides a bit. Specifically, that green device; not sure what it is, some type of food service equipment I suppose, but it's distracting. Same with the table umbrella shafts...distracting. Or, the second way to eliminate the background "stuff" is by carefully moving around to avoid it showing in the backgrounds, by as vintagesnaps (Sharon) mentioned, changing your vantage point. And my overriding, primary recommendation, as was already stated above by chuasam, is simple: change your camera settings. Ditch the 35mm lens length on your APS-C camera, and switch to a faster-aperture,short telephoto lens. On a half-body high shot, like a singer at a microphone, a 35mm lens shot at 1/500 second at f/8 pretty much guarantees that there will be plenty of depth of field, and plenty of background width. The lens is too short, and the angle of view _behind_ the subject at the distance it takes to get a half-body shot of a standing person...that all leads up to deep DOF, and a wide backdrop angle of view. Move to a longer lens and move back a bit, and shoot at low ISO in that bright sun, maybe even slap on a polarizer or a 2-stop neutral density filter, and try to get the aperture _wide_, to f/4 or wider, like f/3.2, or f/3.5, or even f/2.8, and then you'll have 1)a shallower depth of field, 2)less background recognizability and 3) a narrower angle of view behind the subject plane...all of those things will make it easier to have backdrops that are more out of focus, narrower and less-likely to be cluttered with 'stuff', and easier to sublimate or control.

On full-frame 24x36, the my old-school choice was the 180mm f/2.8 Ai-S Nikkor, or a 135mm f/2.8, from 20 to 30 feet back. Both those lenses, one expensive (the big 180/2.8), the other these days very affordable used (the 135mm f/3.5 or f/2.8), can create a nice, shallow DOF, a greatly-defocused background, and a narrow-view background.

I might look into adapting a fast 85mm f/1.8 Canon or Minolta focus manual-focus lens, or perhaps one of my favorites, the Asahi Super-Takumar 135mm f/3.5 thread-mount lens: gorgeous bokeh on the 135/3.5 Super-Takumar, and incredible sharpness, and probably 30 Pounds Sterling used. There are also a LOT (millions) of older, used, 135mm store-branded f/2.8 manual focus lenses for 10 Pounds or so, but make sure such a lens is not fungus-filled or hazed-up inside.

My general tip would be to strive for a shallow depth of field, with an uncluttered background. if you stick with the 35mm lens, by all means, jack the shutter speed wayyyyyyy up, and shoot at the widest-possible f/stop you can...like f/2.2, or f/2.5 or f/2.8. And try to keep the background as simple and uncluttered as possible.

 

[Fujidave]

So glad to see that high-waisted "mom jeans" are back in style!!! Shades of the days of my youth!

Some of the young ladies can have some good style when they come to sing, this is something I really want to get in to, so any tips for photographing them would be great.

My biggest tips would be as follows...first off, background sublimation/background control; this is the biggest issue I see with that area in the Brighton area...lots of distractions in the background, which as one poster mentioned, could be eliminated bu either speaking to management or to the performer(s), and asking if perhaps some of the unneeded stuff in the singing/performing area might be moved off to the sides a bit. Specifically, that green device; not sure what it is, some type of food service equipment I suppose, but it's distracting. Same with the table umbrella shafts...distracting. Or, the second way to eliminate the background "stuff" is by carefully moving around to avoid it showing in the backgrounds, by as vintagesnaps (Sharon) mentioned, changing your vantage point. And my overriding, primary recommendation, as was already stated above by chuasam, is simple: change your camera settings. Ditch the 35mm lens length on your APS-C camera, and switch to a faster-aperture,short telephoto lens. On a half-body high shot, like a singer at a microphone, a 35mm lens shot at 1/500 second at f/8 pretty much guarantees that there will be plenty of depth of field, and plenty of background width. The lens is too short, and the angle of view _behind_ the subject at the distance it takes to get a half-body shot of a standing person...that all leads up to deep DOF, and a wide backdrop angle of view. Move to a longer lens and move back a bit, and shoot at low ISO in that bright sun, maybe even slap on a polarizer or a 2-stop neutral density filter, and try to get the aperture _wide_, to f/4 or wider, like f/3.2, or f/3.5, or even f/2.8, and then you'll have 1)a shallower depth of field, 2)less background recognizability and 3) a narrower angle of view behind the subject plane...all of those things will make it easier to have backdrops that are more out of focus, narrower and less-likely to be cluttered with 'stuff', and easier to sublimate or control.

On full-frame 24x36, the my old-school choice was the 180mm f/2.8 Ai-S Nikkor, or a 135mm f/2.8, from 20 to 30 feet back. Both those lenses, one expensive (the big 180/2.8), the other these days very affordable used (the 135mm f/3.5 or f/2.8), can create a nice, shallow DOF, a greatly-defocused background, and a narrow-view background.

I might look into adapting a fast 85mm f/1.8 Canon or Minolta focus manual-focus lens, or perhaps one of my favorites, the Asahi Super-Takumar 135mm f/3.5 thread-mount lens: gorgeous bokeh on the 135/3.5 Super-Takumar, and incredible sharpness, and probably 30 Pounds Sterling used. There are also a LOT (millions) of older, used, 135mm store-branded f/2.8 manual focus lenses for 10 Pounds or so, but make sure such a lens is not fungus-filled or hazed-up inside.

My general tip would be to strive for a shallow depth of field, with an uncluttered background. if you stick with the 35mm lens, by all means, jack the shutter speed wayyyyyyy up, and shoot at the widest-possible f/stop you can...like f/2.2, or f/2.5 or f/2.8. And try to keep the background as simple and uncluttered as possible.

WOW!! Thank you very much for the great tips/advice @Derrel I will take my XF 18-55mm today too, it is so messy on the BG that they won`t move any of it so like as been said I need a lot of practice.

 

[Fujidave]

@Derrel @vintagesnaps this is how it all looks when faced right on.