CRYSTAL clear eyes!

[sarah_19_nz]

[h=2]CRYSTAL clear eyes![/h]

Right how do I consistently get CRYSTAL clear eyes?!?!?!? Is is all about the light?!?!?! ...I have a brand spanking new studio set up for gawds sake! and I STILL can't get my childs eyes 100% crystal clear!!!!! It's driving me titty! I'm using a 50mm prime lens, 2 big assed softboxes, selecting my focus point on the eyes, about f5, shutter 200 and unless im half a metre away from the kiddo the eyes are not FULLY crystal clear, don't even get me started on when she is moving around! Help!!??!?!?!?!?

Cheers! ​

 

[TATTRAT]

Are they for head shots, or just looking for eye shots?

 

[tirediron]

Examples?

 

[sarah_19_nz]

just portrait shots, ya know... cute kid in front of a backdrop, leaning on a chair, maybe looking up and a bubble floating by... I'll see if I can upload an example

 

[sarah_19_nz]

O.K so this is a shocking photo but I took it just now, for arguments sake.... why are the eyes not good?

 

[TATTRAT]

The child is a ginger.




J/k
Maybe more light, f/8-10ish?, closer?

 

[sarah_19_nz]

The child is a ginger.




J/k
Maybe more light, f/8-10ish?, closer?

HEY watch it! that's my girl your talking about... she is a beautiful ginger (dunno where it came from either!)

ok to change aperture you reckon... I don't want to get closer because I want full body shots AND clear eyes?! is this just an unrealistic expectation???

 

[TATTRAT]

It's not unrealistic, and honestly, with the sample you posted it's kinda hard to tell. I would go for more light, manual focus, dial in the f/stop and experiment. You have a willing subject.

I am 100000006% sure someone will chime in to explain things in great detail, so just hang on a bit.

You have a LOVELY ging, errr, girl there!!


Oh, and GO ALL BLACKS!!!!!!!!

 

[sarah_19_nz]

It's not unrealistic, and honestly, with the sample you posted it's kinda hard to tell. I would go for more light, manual focus, dial in the f/stop and experiment. You have a willing subject.

I am 100000006% sure someone will chime in to explain things in great detail, so just hang on a bit.

You have a LOVELY ging, errr, girl there!!


Oh, and GO ALL BLACKS!!!!!!!!

sweet! thanks for your time! I'll have a play...

Here's another image for arguments sake... no editing of course, i guess i could sharpen them up in pp but I want them awesome BEFORE pp!

 

[bratkinson]

Since this is posted in the beginners forum, I'll make the assumption that you are not well experienced in photography. And since I don't have access to a computer that can get the EXIF information from the photograph, I'll go a step further and take a wild shot that you are new to photography and have an entry level DSLR with a kit lens on it.

Given those assumptions, there's a good chance you have a 'protection' filter of some kind on your lens. If so, take it off. It is useless junk that only degrades the images. If you want protection for your lens, use a lens hood, which also reduces lens flare, rather than increases it like a filter would.

Also, being new to the DSLR world, I'm going to further assume that you are letting the camera choose the point to focus on rather than you make that choice. Not knowing what camera you have, I can't provide any specific details of how to do it, but what needs to be done is to select only the center focus point, and put that on the eyes when taking the picture. When given a number of focus points to choose from, most cameras will simply focus on the closest object, which looks like your daughters' hand in the first picture, and her right shoulder in the second one.

Lastly, again with the new camera and lens assumption, I'll say that the 50mm f1.8 lens you probably have can't be expected to produce the same quality of images a $1500 (US) 50mm f1.2 will produce. While there's nothing wrong with the f1.8 lens, it won't produce the razor-sharp image detail you are seeking.

 

[Derrel]

I think the overall degree of contrast is just a bit low...the second photo for example...I can see in the expanded section that her eyes DO have nice catchlights in them. To get the whole image to "Pop!", you will need to increase the contrast of the image a little bit. Not sure what software you have available to you, but there are multiple ways to enhance contrast: using the old-school and totally awesome "curves" adjustment; the 'clarity' slider; the brightness/contrast sliders [usually not the best way to go but...any pot in a storm...].

MOST digital SLR cameras at default settings tend to produce somewhat "flat", slightly low-contrast images, which can then easily be "goosed" or "boosted" or "juiced" in post-processing software. Perhaps that's what's going on here?

 

[sarah_19_nz]

O.K... I am somewhere between beginner and intermediate photographer I guess. (new to studio set up) Shooting in Manual mode. I chose the focus point to be ON her eyes, I also use back button focusing, using a 50mm 1.8 lens. (no certainly not a $1500 one!) No protection filter on this lens. I'm shooting with a nikon d7000. I also have a 18-200mm lens but I figure the prime 50mm would give me a crisper image??

I use photoshop and will have a go at editing this tomorrow. Adjusting the contrast would definitely help! Thank you for your comments so far! I am sooo eager to 'get it right' consistently, I may post a few more pics tomorrow (I am shooting a friends kids for practice) I really would LOVE to get some crisp shots for them!

THank you

 

[David444]

.

 

[Christina416]

I am also a beginner so take what I say with a grain of salt, but I have found that I get better eyes when my son is facing the light, which is a pain with a 12 month old. I will face him toward the window and work with whatever background I have from there.

In his 11 month shot, the sunlight is only on one side, but I can see what a difference it has made in his eyes. In the fat shot, he is directly facing the window.

 

[pixmedic]

I think the overall degree of contrast is just a bit low...the second photo for example...I can see in the expanded section that her eyes DO have nice catchlights in them. To get the whole image to "Pop!", you will need to increase the contrast of the image a little bit. Not sure what software you have available to you, but there are multiple ways to enhance contrast: using the old-school and totally awesome "curves" adjustment; the 'clarity' slider; the brightness/contrast sliders [usually not the best way to go but...any pot in a storm...].

MOST digital SLR cameras at default settings tend to produce somewhat "flat", slightly low-contrast images, which can then easily be "goosed" or "boosted" or "juiced" in post-processing software. Perhaps that's what's going on here?

i dont really have anything new to add on top of whats already been suggested....
I just wanted to say how awesome it is that Derrel managed to work the words "goosed", "boosted", and "Juiced" all into the same post.