C&C Portrait

mwsessom · Dec 12, 2013

Hi,

I've been taking pictures only about 3 months. I was asked to takes pictures of about 10 kids (ages 12 and under) individually in front of a Christmas tree. I did a test shot a few days ago just to get a feel of things. The two pics below I took handheld, but I plan to use a tripod the next time. I'm using a Nikon D7000 with a 50mm f/1.4. I'm guessing that I'll be using aperture-priority mode in order to get the background a little blurred.

My questions & concerns are:
1) does the color (white balance) seem fine?--I plan on using a grey card the next time
2) upon first looking at these photos, what's your reaction? What edits would you have made? (the first pic was edited in camera raw, but the second was not)
3) what's a good f-stop so that the entire face is in perfect focus?
4) what's a good minimum shutter-speed to use while using a tripod to photograph a kid standing?

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

1/50, f/3.5, ISO 800, no flash

1/30, f/2, ISO 100, no flash

Thanks
Matt

OrionsByte · Dec 12, 2013

The first shot looks a little green and the second one looks a little warm. I honestly wouldn't worry about using a grey card, white balance can always be adjusted in post. DO worry about having consistent lighting (i.e., don't mix fluorescent and incandescent bulbs).
Honestly my first reaction to the first one was just that she wasn't looking at the camera, and the composition isn't particularly great in either shot. I don't really have any specific comments about editing on these, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't have edited them differently.
The f-stop to get the entire face in focus is going to depend on your distance to the subject. The farther away from the subject you are, the more depth of field you have at the same f-stop. So when you're closer, use a smaller aperture, and when you're farther back, use a larger aperture.
I wouldn't use anything longer than 1/100, but I usually shoot with flash and go with 1/200.

vintagesnaps · Dec 12, 2013

I think the color/balance does look off in the first one. I think too a 1/50 shutter speed is rather slow which can affect sharpness/quality, I usually use at least 1/125 unless in low light (if I need to use a slower speed I stand so I'm braced enough to keep the camera still).

I'd think about your framing, in the first one her hair/right side isn't completely in the picture; the second one seems in too close and might have worked better vertically.

Try moving around and changing your vantage point a little to make sure you have a nice background (if you use a tripod you'd need to make sure you're set up so the subjects will be in your viewfinder where you need them to be). In the first one the upper right corner seems to make for a distraction so it might have been better to have repositioned her or yourself to keep that out of the photo. In the second one there's more tree as the background which is nice but there's a whitish shape/haziness to her right which might be better not in the photo.

I think it would look better for girls w/long hair to make sure the length of the hair is in the picture, and have the kids and/or parents make sure the hair is combed/arranged just before the picture is taken.

The_Traveler · Dec 12, 2013

1) back off some so that half her torso isn't chopped off.
2) orient the camera vertically and be back far enough so that the face is comfortably in a 4 x 5 aspect ratio frame.
light is too flat, looks better with more sharpening

Use DOFmaster.com to decide on f stop but f4 or f5.6 should be fine.
Shoot raw so that wb can be rescued if necessary.
If kids are intentionally still 1/60th will work.

480sparky · Dec 12, 2013

mwsessom said:
........
1) does the color (white balance) seem fine?--I plan on using a grey card the next time

The first one is a bit cool, the second a bit warm.

mwsessom said:
2) upon first looking at these photos, what's your reaction? .....

They're not portraits... they're snapshots.

mwsessom said:
3) what's a good f-stop so that the entire face is in perfect focus?

Depends entirely on the focal length of the lens used, and your distance from the subject.

mwsessom said:
4) what's a good minimum shutter-speed to use while using a tripod to photograph a kid standing?

I wound never use a tripod to take photos like this. Children move way to fast and too much to get bogged down with a tripod.

mwsessom · Dec 12, 2013

Thanks so very much for the comments!

I also have an SB-600 flash & a 35-200mm f/3.5-5.6. Would you use a flash, given that the pics above did not use a flash? I was wondering whether the flash would alter the background someway, given that the tree has lights. Would it be best to stick with the 50mm or use my zoom lens?
lens.

frommrstomommy · Dec 12, 2013

WB looks off in both to me.. I think for one child at a time 2.8-3.5 range should be fine to go with. Minimum 160 shutter speed for kids for me. I'd only use the flash if you have to get over ISO 800 or 1000, but I really don't like using flash and having a big old heavy camera in my hand with a chunky thing on top of it too. lol