natural light, what settings should i have used?

jerseygirl · Mar 16, 2007

You don't really have a choice then you need a higher ISO setting.

Be selective when shooting rather than just hitting and hoping.

that's exactly what i do at this point...hitting and hoping... :lol:

No matter the setting I think you'll need to use a large aperture - unless you use flash. Add some light inside the room - brighter bulb or something.

the flash does the trick, but the natural light is the look i'm shooting for...

I love the shallow dof when shooting portraits of kids.

i like the face in focus with sharp eyes, too soft doesn't "do it" for me, just a personal general preference...those eyes in that picture are amazing...

Another option is get your girl close to a window in daylight hours.

i did some furniture moving today to experiment :banghead:

castrol · Mar 16, 2007

jerseygirl said:
if it only were that simple

Okay, just making sure. Sometimes the simplest things can be overlooked.
I know I do that all the time.

jerseygirl · Mar 16, 2007

castrol said:
Okay, just making sure. Sometimes the simplest things can be overlooked.
I know I do that all the time.

totally understand, i honestly don't know if it's me, or the shooting conditions combined with my equiment, that will never let me get the photos i want. the lack of light in my house irks me til no end, i gave in today and moved some furniture to experiment. can't tell a 9 month old to go stand by the window :lol:

castrol · Mar 16, 2007

Do you have a flash? You would be amazed at how natural the results can be
with a bounced flash and the right white balance...

jerseygirl · Mar 16, 2007

castrol said:
Do you have a flash? You would be amazed at how natural the results can be
with a bounced flash and the right white balance...

yup, i haven't figured that out yet...i don't know how to sync the camera settings with the flash and how far to bounce. this was something i tried a while ago (flash was bounced off a cabinet to the right), but can't consistently duplicate because i know not what i am doing...

castrol · Mar 16, 2007

Very nice. Looks like there is some light coming in through the window. Great
shot. If you haven't read up on this Strobist guy... it is a good read.

www.strobist.blogspot.com

OmlessWanderer · Mar 18, 2007

If your flash has an adjustable head, one trick I like is to point it straight up and take a white piece of paper and rubber band it to the side of the flash. When the flash fires, the light will reflect off the paper in the general direction of your subject. This can help get rid of some of the unnatural look and long shadows from a direct flash by diffusing the light a bit. There are also diffuser flash filters that are basically a piece of translucent white plastic that caps the flash.

Toying with where you bounce the light is heading in the right direction. You can also try turning the camera upside down and aiming the flash a bit down towards the ground...

jerseygirl · Mar 19, 2007

castrol said:
Very nice. Looks like there is some light coming in through the window. Great
shot. If you haven't read up on this Strobist guy... it is a good read.

www.strobist.blogspot.com

thanks, i have it bookmarked