how to get a whole picture clear?

[maruffner]

just my experience with baby's you want to use a manual focus because they move too much for auto to keep up if the baby moves just the slightest and your using auto focus your not going to get anything but blur where it should be focused ( this also goes for ppl like me with shaky hands) Also try focusing in on you subjects eyes it makes a portrait more personal and lets be honest eyes make alot of pictures

 

[Edsport]

To get everything to appear to be in focus (clear as you call it) you need a higher F number. F8 or a little higher should do the job. You don't want to go too high or you won't get real sharp photos. Your shutter speed is a bit slow also to get sharp photos...

 

[djacobox372]

Two issues:

F4 is nearly wide open on a f3.5 lens, so sharpness will suffer, stop down to f5.6 or f8

1/60th is too slow, increase your shutter speed

 

[Derrel]

Shooting that close at f/4 is using too large of a lens opening. A smaller aperture, something that's around f/8, will ensure more depth of field. Even f/8 is not "too small"....you could close the lens down even more, to say f/11.

One other thing: the 85mm f/3.5 is a macro lens....at the distance you took that mother and baby photo at, that lens has absolutely HAIR-trigger focusing!!!! A macro lens can easily focus two,three,or four inches "off" at those distances, and if the camera is in AF-C mode, and you press the shutter release button fully, the camera will fire. Alternately, if you are in AF-S mode, and the camera gets a solid focus lock, but the AF area that is active (lighted up in the viewfinder) happens to be a little bit behind or in front of the "best place to focus":, your photos at f/4 are GOING TO BE SLIGHTLY out of focus except on the exact distance you were focused at.

 

[thatfornoobs]

Next time shoot manual. Pic is out of focus a lot actually, try manual focusing. Also, trey a shutter speed of 100-200 and an iso of 200-400. Thats according to what you've said. ;P

 

[RockstarPhotography]

this may sound silly, but practice with stationary objects first, they don't move. stuffed animals, dolls, etc. one good thing is to put a few cereal boxes at different lengths. They are easy to spot when out of focus because of the words and you can easily tell where the focal point is. put the camera on a tripod and dial in your focus so you know thats correct. then you can experiment with settings and not have to worry about it being out of focus because your subjects moved.

 

[stev]

but is there a way to get the whole picture in focus? i see plenty of shots online where EVERYTHING is in focus...or seem to be. how is that accomplished

wide angle lens is an easy way.

 

[Sw1tchFX]

If you want everything in focus, generally a shorter lens <50mm and a tight aperture like f/22 is the way to do it. However at f/22 you have diffraction so the whole image will be slightly soft when seen at 100%.

For your 85, set it to f/8 and shoot that way. Any softness will either be from bokeh or camera shake. You won't have EVERYTHING in focus, but what will be in focus will be sharp as f***.

If you want seemingly infinite DOF for portraits, than SLR's is not the way to go. It's much easier to get big DOF on a point and shoot.

 

[itf]

I think that you should try using your 50mm. Afterall it IS a portrait lens. There are also a number of factors affecting how your overall picture is turning out.

1. You missed focus.
2. You should try messing with picture controls to get more vivid colors, if that's what you're looking for.
3. Lighting. Your pictures look really dull.
4. Post processing. I personally don't use it quite that often, but I know most portrait photographers do.

I'm still a noob at this and rarely ever take portraits, so there might be some information that might not be correct, but these are things that I would personally try.

 

[bumpylemon]

thanks for all the info. i have a girl coming over at 11 today. i will try everything listed here!!!

 

[bumpylemon]

wow that made all the difference! much better now.. why do some pics when i was messing around with higher Shutter speeds it makes the picture half black?

in this pic you can see that its getting dark on the bottom...why is this? should i turn up the monolights and flash higher?

 

[Infidel]

When using flash, shutter speed selectively controls ambient light exposure, while aperture controls flash exposure. Shutter speed does not effect flash exposure because the duration of the flash is much shorter than the max flash synchronization speed.

 

[vtf]

As you increase shutter speed it reduces light entering the camera and darkens the picture. IMO Yes, increase your lighting, the more lighting you have the easier it is to control your camera settings. Start with a small aperature (f8+), a shutter speed around 160, iso at 400 and lots of light then taper back to get what you want. Its all about light. :thumbup:

 

[dxqcanada]

Understanding the Flash Sync Speed - Digital Photography Tips and Techniques

 

[KmH]

...Shutter speeds it makes the picture half black?...

The black is one of the shutter curtains.

Your D3100 has a maximum flash sync speed of 1/200. At 1/250 and shorter the shutter is never fully open. The rear shutter curtain starts closing before the first shutter curtain has fully opened.



To do high quality photography, you have to understand how your tools (camera/lens/light) work.