b&w of my son

mysweetbowtique · Sep 29, 2010

i am super super new at this i got my camera (nikon d90) a few days ago and i got a 35mm lens with it

i have been doing lots of research to try to understand how to use it properly but still haev lots to learn here is a shot i got of my son in the back yard today, opinions? Thanks!

MohaimenK · Sep 29, 2010

hey it's just out of focus but a good start

Basically you missed the focus on his face and its on the logo of his shirt

astroskeptic · Sep 29, 2010

There are a number of things that could be pointed out about this shot. I'll mention one and leave it to the other forum denizens to mention the rest. In my opinion (and I think there are many here that would agree) it is best to get down to the level of the child in most cases. The view from above is rarely flattering and often includes the ground which is typically a bad choice of background.

pgriz · Sep 29, 2010

Lesseee... Your focus is on the lower part of his sweatshirt, and it should be on his eyes. You're using an ISO of 800, which is unnecessary in your situation (daylight and indirect sunlight) - use a setting of 200, unless you have a good reason to boost it. The wide-open aperture of f/1.8 is helping blur the background, but you may have been better off shooting at your son's eye level, or even slightly lower, to have the sky or more distant background which would have been blurred nicely with your aperture. Cutting off the top of your son's head may be considered a no-no. What does work is the indirect sunlight bouncing off the ground to the left of your son. That's creating a nice definition to his face.

mysweetbowtique · Sep 29, 2010

Thanks everyone! We are in the backyard and there is a huge tree that creates alot of shade so with the ISO at 200 the pics were really dark so that is why i upped it, should i have just left it or not upped it so much? I didnt even notice that i had the focus on his shirt :lol:

oops! And i will for sure try to come down to his level next time thanks for the tips!

pgriz · Sep 29, 2010

mysweetbowtique said:
Thanks everyone! We are in the backyard and there is a huge tree that creates alot of shade so with the ISO at 200 the pics were really dark so that is why i upped it, should i have just left it or not upped it so much? I didnt even notice that i had the focus on his shirt oops! And i will for sure try to come down to his level next time thanks for the tips!

Don't rely on the appearance of the photo on the LCD screen - that can be deceiving. One setting that you can use to help you is to set the histogram display on, and verify (after taking the picture) whether the majority of the picture is in the middle of the histogram or bunched up at the right (hi-key scene or overexposed), or the left (dark and/or underexposed).

If you had set your ISO at 200 (instead of 800), your shutter speed would have been 1/800 sec instead of 1/3200 sec., more than adequate for stopping any medium to fast action.

You WILL need to increase you ISO if the light conditions are such that you're wide open (f/1.8) and your shutter speed is less than 1/60 sec.(about the limit for blur-free hand-held shots with a 50mm lens on a crop body with no VR).

mysweetbowtique · Sep 29, 2010

so i thought the first pic was ok lol which it wasnt

so here are a few more that i thought were not awful please let me know what i did wrong here it helps me learn!

http://i775.photobucket.com/albums/yy37/mysweetbowtique/kaitlynn117.jpg

JenR · Sep 29, 2010

Congratulations on your new camera. The D90 is a truly awesome camera. The best way to improve is to keep shooting and reading! Do you shoot in manual? Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson is a great resource to understanding exposure (duh!) and really taking control of your images.

pgriz · Sep 29, 2010

You're going to have to work on your focusing. The focus is either in front or behind the face/eyes. Are you relying on autofocus, or are you focusing manually?

mysweetbowtique · Sep 29, 2010

how can you be sure where you are focusing(ie eyes) and you have the right spot in focus? I use my lens to focus by adjusting it but i feel i think i have it then i look at my pictures on the comp and they are always not quite right its drivng me bonkers!

The first few pics i took were on "auto" as i hadnt had a chance to research into how to work it but now i use "P" or "A" or "S" depending on the situation but i am still not getting right

i was also using the lcd screen at first to take the photo not looking through the camera so i have switched that as well ugh this is harder than it seems i tell you!

pgriz said:
You're going to have to work on your focusing. The focus is either in front or behind the face/eyes. Are you relying on autofocus, or are you focusing manually?

pgriz · Sep 29, 2010

Getting the focus right is probably one of the things that distinguishes good photographers from wanna-bees. It's not easy, as you've been finding out. One thing that may help you is to select only one autofocus point (say, the center one), and make sure that one is blinking on your main subject. If that's still not getting you the right focus, you may need to put the camera on a tripod and test it to see if manual focusing (with the magnified live-view) gets you the same focus point as with the autofocus pointed at the same point. It can happen that the camera's auto-focus mechanism needs adjustment. If the two (AF and manual focus) do give you the same focus point, then you'll just have to practice until you start nailing it.

astroskeptic · Sep 29, 2010

Practice focusing on stationary subjects until you can consistently get the focus sharp where you want it. Then move on to moving subjects like kids.

phiya · Sep 29, 2010

If you're using Autofocus you need to know where you camera autofocus point is. Usually it'll be a spot in the middle of the viewfinder (though it's possibly set on multiple areas). When you press the shutter half-way you will hear the camera beep to let you know that it has focused on something. This is cool, however if you are trying to compose your photo with your subject anywhere but the center you need to think about how this works. If you want to use auto focus you could point the camera directly at the subject (usually right between the eyes works for portraits), and then press your shutter button half-way down to get the focus right. You need to have your lens zoomed exactly how you want it at this point. You can then move your shot to compose how you want it without letting up the shutter release button, then depress the rest of the way down to take the picture. This should get your subject into focus no matter where they are placed in the frame when using auto focus.

If you're using manual focus Astroskeptic has already given you some good advice. Also, make sure what you see in the viewfinder looks focused when it actually IS focused. If you are far sighted, there's a chance what is actually focused appears to be blurred in your view finder due to your eyesight. There is an adjustment knob on your viewfinder to compensate for this. Good luck, and keep shooting.