Little Man (Help/Advice through C&C Please!)

KelSS90 · Dec 30, 2013

I have been asked by a friend to take some six months pictures of her little girl later in January. Luckily, my nephew just turned 6 months and I just got a 50mm prime for Christmas, so I figured I would try my hand with him first so I could be better prepared for later this month.

All of the images came out soft and somewhat blurry. I assume that this is because I had the aperture opened up too much, but I have noticed that the auto focus is really finnicky with the new lens as well.

Absolutely any light that can be shed here is so appreciated. I'm watching my nephew again for a few hours tonight, so I'll have the opportunity to reshoot and make whatever changes are suggested.

(I messaged this picture to my SIL on Facebook, so it has been compressed and the quality is probably further lacking because of it. I'm at work and posting from my phone, but I can post more from last night/full size images this evening when I get home).

This was taken at ISO 400, shutter speed was somewhere within the range of 125-160, f/2.8

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Edit: After sending this to her, I did go back into Lightroom and bring up the exposure a bit more.

paigew · Dec 30, 2013

Cute pose and nice angle of shooting. The lighting is not good though. I'm guessing by the harsh shadows you use a flash? When I had this lens I mainly shot at f3.2 to insure sharpness.

As far as the lighting goes. I prefer natural light, so I would recommend setting up your shoot in nice light (i.e. large window)

KelSS90 · Dec 30, 2013

I did not use a flash but I did have all the lights on in the room in order to bump down my ISO. Unfortunately it was dark out so I didn't have the natural light I would have liked. I had on the over head light as well as a bright lamp 45 degrees to his right. I think that was probably the one causing the shadows. (I really don't like to go up to 800 because the noise starts coming through in the pictures).

I will try to adjust the aperture tonight and try moving the lamp to hopefully lessen the shadows. Thanks for the feedback!

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paigew · Dec 30, 2013

The closer the light the softer the shadows. Yes turn off the overhead light. I'm sure you have enough natural light for a decent photo in your house. You really don't need much, open up the blinds/door/etc.. And don't be afraid to up your iso. Noise shows when images are underexposed. So you will have less noise if you expose properly. And while we are at it...watch your shutter speed. 1/250 is the minimum speed for kids (unless they are sleeping) or you can/will get motion blur.

KelSS90 · Dec 30, 2013

Thanks!

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wyogirl · Dec 30, 2013

I use this lens with babies and I use a speedlight pointed at the ceiling when I need extra light. But everything said above, I agree with.

wyogirl · Dec 30, 2013

Also, with the window light, I like to position the kid facing the window at about a 30-45 degree angle. It gives you some defining shadow, but not harsh shadow.

KelSS90 · Dec 30, 2013

Thanks for the input! I'll try my hand at it again tonight and see if I can improve. Unfortunately, it will be 630 or so and dark. However when I take pictures of the little girl later this month it will be during the day, so I'll be sure to find a nice big window in their house.

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vintagesnaps · Dec 30, 2013

Your nephew looks like he was having fun! You might think about how the quilt/blanket will look in the picture and how you'd want to try arranging it, since it's white on one side and the colorful side is over him (only shows in the background out of focus).

To use existing light try bringing more light into the room, maybe another lamp or two that you can bring from another room and plug in temporarily to brighten up the room you're in. It may seem brighter to your eyes than what the camera will read. Use your meter to tell you if you're getting the proper amount of light.

Maybe try not quite such a large aperture to make sure his face (nose, eyes) are in focus (I usually focus manually but that may not work for you) and then raise your ISO as needed. I usually don't go too much slower than about 1/125 shutter speed (maybe to 1/80 in lower light if I need to) but it depends on what works for you to keep the camera still enough to prevent blur. It's a matter of finding a good balance between the aperture and shutter speed and ISO to get a proper exposure and a good quality picture.

LShooter · Dec 30, 2013

Try to do the same post near a window or outside. Use a reflector to bounce a little fill in. You don't need a flash. Also maybe crop a bit more of the background out or get in a little closer on the shot.

KelSS90 · Dec 30, 2013

Thanks for all the helpful replies and pointers. I will definitely post after I shoot some tonight and see if there is any improvement!

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KelSS90 · Dec 30, 2013

The little guy was pretty unhappy all night tonight so no pictures

Maybe I'll steal him away for a bit on Wednesday and try with some day light.

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KelSS90 · Jan 1, 2014

Thought I would post a couple from re-shooting with my nephew today in hopes that someone has some feedback for me. I took them in our dining room near our sliding glass doors, with all the lights on and blinds open in the surrounding rooms. I also moved in a couple of lamps to try to balance out the shadow that the strong light from the doors was creating, but wasn't very successful with that overall. These were shot with my 50mm prime, ISO 800, f/4, 160 shutter speed.

The first is my favorite because it captures his personality really well, but rookie mistake is cropping his left side off

And the strand of drool

(although wiping drool in between each shot was hard to keep up with but it's teething time!).

Any and all C&C is very appreciated.

And somewhat unrelated, does anyone have any good book suggestions for better understanding lighting and the use of it in photography? My issues with this little guy in particular has highlighted a HUGE weak area of mine that I would like to improve.