Getting Desparate

[Phyllis]

I'm trying to photograph clothing on a model for my daughters new on line boutique. I bought a set of continuous cool lights (have read continuous are easier to learn with). I have a Canon Digital Rebel XT 350 and a Sigma 28-80 lens, and a white paper backdrop.

The problem I'm having is consistent clear images. I have tried different f stops and adjusted the exposure comp and ISO. I have found that 400 ISO and about a +1 exposure comp gets the color right. I just can't seem to get the whole image in focus, the clothes look good but her face is very soft (full length)

I don't know how to attach a photo?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Phyllis

 

[JamesD]

When photographing people, you should (in general) focus on the eyes. From there, stop down the aperture until the rest of the key details of the subject are acceptably sharp. If your shutter speed is too low, you will either have to increase the amount of light on the subject (preferred) or increase the ISO setting. Also, you might try shooting from a greater distance with your lens set at or near 80mm, which should make it a bit easier to get the whole subject in focus and also flatten the perspective.

If your shutter speed is slower than 1/focal length (ie, for 80mm, if the shutter speed is slower than 1/90 second), then use a tripod. Actually, you should use a tripod anyway... it's just good practice.

Someone will probably advise you to shoot in RAW; I'm a film photographer, so I can't say much about this, but from what I understand, you can adjust the white balance in Photoshop.

To include a photograph in your post, you will have to upload it to a webserver, then include the image address in your post.

 

[The_Traveler]

I don't know how to attach a photo?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Phyllis

I suggest you read the Sticky at the head of this forum. The process of attaching a photo is described in there.

 

[250Gimp]

Get yourself a neutral grey card and have the model hold it for a test shot to set the whitebalance with. This should really help you with the colour aspect of your photos.

The tripod, as James D suggests, is a good idea as well if your lighting is low.

Hope this helps.

 

[Kingpatzer]

Get the light bright enough that you can drop the f-stop down to 16 or so. Use an 18% grey card to set your exposure.

As was mentioned above: shoot in RAW format and fix the color temperature in software as a batch process using the grey card test shots to set the parameters.

This is one of the biggest reasons to use digital -- you don't have to get the lighting color perfect in the shot -- just focus on the composition and exposure.

 

[Phyllis]

Thank you. This is all so new to me and this info is very helpful. I'm going to try shooting further back try to figure out the gray card and shoot in Raw.

Thank you all.

 

[JamesD]

This is one of the biggest reasons to use digital -- you don't have to get the lighting color perfect in the shot -- just focus on the composition and exposure.

Keep in mind, this is not unique to digital workflow. It's part of any color printing process.

 

[Boden]

I've learned that in situations like this, it's almost best to just ignore white balance all together and shoot RAW images. You can then correct white balance in software, saving you from the trouble of taking white balance readings while shooting, or monkeying with the camera's white balance presets. Perhaps someone will correct me on this, but I've found it's best to reduce the number of variables you have to contend with to as few as possible. Just pick a white balance preset on the camera so that your previews don't come out completely goofy, and shoot RAW.

 

[Phyllis]

The white balance is usually fine it is the exposure compensation I'm having difficulty with???????

Rebel XT 530d
1/100 @ f:9
Exposure Comp +.33
Aperture Priority
ISO 400
70mm