Need an advise on how to improve focus/increase clearness

yana_mae · Nov 21, 2014

Hello everyone, I am fairly new to the world of photography. I recently photographed my friend and acquired a problem which I hope you can give me an advise on how to fix. It seems to me that eyes are not clear enough, even though I thought that I were keeping eyes in focus. I was shooting with Tamron 24-70 2.8. Not sure if the problem is with the lens or myself, either or I will appreciate an advise on how to improve/fix it. Here is an example.
Thank you!

yana_mae · Nov 21, 2014

Images are not able to enlarge here to see better what I am saying... Eyes are not crispy clear. There is another image

Derrel · Nov 21, 2014

I looked at the shot of her sitting on the bench: along the edges of bright areas, I see green color fringing, which is chromatic abnerration. I ALSO see a very slight, overall softness with low contrast, which is what is called veiling glare. This is because this image was shot at f/2.8, and toward some backlighting. That zoom lens cannot handle being shot into strong light like that when wide-open. You are correct: these are not "crispy clear"; I would suggest that that lens needs to be stopped down two more full f/stops to be able to deliver better optical performance, more in line with what you are seeking. While it is not horrible, it is also nowhere near "good" optically: a LOT of strong color fringing, plus veiling glare that gives everything a slight,slight loss of contrast.

This is an issue that it takes a while for some people to be able to see; veiling exists is almost all lenses at maximum aperture, and is often pretty severe on third-party zoom lenses, as well as camera maker lenses that are not in the fully professional price category, and it's found in almost ALL cheap 50mm lenses; the image when shot wide-open has this very slight loss of contrast, and sharpness, but once the lens iris is stopped down one stop, contrast and resolution both go up, and the veiling typically diminishes a lot, and by two full stops down from wide-open, the lens begins hitting its perfect peak of ability; on a lens like a 24-70, expect that f/2.8 WILL BE sub-par, f/4 better, and f/5 to f/5.6 close to optimal; f/8 might be worse theoretically, but in practical terms, the increased DOD f/8 gives can give better overall pictures.

A second issue: the bench shot was f/2.8 at 1/200 second; 1/200 second is marginally safe, and if you had stopped down two stops from f/2.8 to f/5.6, your shutter would be a dangerous 1/50 second; an ISO boost might actually help a lot in shaded lighting like that.

THE SHOT of her in the black tank top was shot at ISO 100 at f/2.8 at 1/800 second in sunlight: the f/2.8 aperture is killing your overall "feeling" of sharpness due to two things: the lens performance itself, from a technical level, AND there's a lack of adequate depth of field...not everything is entirely in-focus as in realllllllllly in-focus; acceptably focused, yes, but a LOT of the scene is ever-so-slighjtly not in the DOF plane, so the overall feeling is "soft", not crispy!

tirediron · Nov 21, 2014

Looks to me like a case of missed focus. Given the focal length and aperture, and estimated distance, your DoF was <12"; her right shoulder seems sharp enough. For work like this, go with single-point AF and place that point on the near eye.

yana_mae · Nov 21, 2014

Derrel said:
I looked at the shot of her sitting on the bench: along the edges of bright areas, I see green color fringing, which is chromatic abnerration. I ALSO see a very slight, overall softness with low contrast, which is what is called veiling glare. This is because this image was shot at f/2.8, and toward some backlighting. That zoom lens cannot handle being shot into strong light like that when wide-open.

It is totally make sense, I have 50mm prime lense and eyes are always come out crystal clear... I am still so new to all of this. I didn't want to jump and get most expensive lenses right the way. First, I want to try and see if I am any good at all. Is this only that Tamron zoom lens or most of the zoom lenses will act like that in the strong light? I appreciate a lot your advise.

yana_mae · Nov 21, 2014

tirediron said:
Looks to me like a case of missed focus. Given the focal length and aperture, and estimated distance, your DoF was <12"; her right shoulder seems sharp enough. For work like this, go with single-point AF and place that point on the near eye.

Thank you! I have to practice and practice

Derrel · Nov 21, 2014

f/6.3 and f/7.1 are the portrait photographer's best friends...sometimes f/8 comes over and they all hang out and drink wine and have a great time!

yana_mae · Nov 21, 2014

Derrel said:
f/6.3 and f/7.1 are the portrait photographer's best friends...sometimes f/8 comes over and they all hang out and drink wine and have a great time!

First time I replied I saw only first part of your post somehow. Thanks for the great informative advise! There is so much to learn.

Derrel · Nov 21, 2014

Yana_Mae, the truth is that "most" zoom lenses are not as crisp and clear at f/2.8 as they are at f/4, or at f/5.6. The best zoom lenses are usable at f/2.8-buuuuuut, the depth of field needs to cover the entire person for a picture to look really,really sharp. A Nikon 50mm lens is in most cases, a bit sharper and often has higher contrast, than most zoom lenses. I think your pictures show you have potential! The shot of your friend stepping into the creek in the gown is a beautiful photo!

dannylightning · Nov 21, 2014

They say each lens is different, each lens will have a sweet spot in sharpness and you may need to play with the f stop numbers to find that sweet spot for your lens, the sweet spot for a lens can be different at different focal lengths

on my 150-500mm lens F/8 seems to be the sweet spot for most focal lengths, on my 18-200 I have shot at wide open and all the way up to f/16 and got images that look very good

on my 35mm prime lens, I have got great images at f/1.8 in lower light, in a bright situation it seems I sometimes need to use a smaller aperture to get good images.

when shooting into a really bright area where the sun is in front of me or something along the lines of that it can be quite hard to get a really good image with any lens. its best to try to shoot with the sun to your back and if you can shoot in a shaded area that also seems to help.

yana_mae · Nov 22, 2014

Derrel said:
Yana_Mae, the truth is that "most" zoom lenses are not as crisp and clear at f/2.8 as they are at f/4, or at f/5.6. The best zoom lenses are usable at f/2.8-buuuuuut, the depth of field needs to cover the entire person for a picture to look really,really sharp. A Nikon 50mm lens is in most cases, a bit sharper and often has higher contrast, than most zoom lenses. I think your pictures show you have potential! The shot of your friend stepping into the creek in the gown is a beautiful photo!

Thank you, I hope I will be able to take some great shots and do what I love eventually

. What lenses would you recommend for family/maternity/newborn/children photography?

yana_mae · Nov 22, 2014

dannylightning said:
They say each lens is different, each lens will have a sweet spot in sharpness and you may need to play with the f stop numbers to find that sweet spot for your lens, the sweet spot for a lens can be different at different focal lengths

on my 150-500mm lens F/8 seems to be the sweet spot for most focal lengths, on my 18-200 I have shot at wide open and all the way up to f/16 and got images that look very good

on my 35mm prime lens, I have got great images at f/1.8 in lower light, in a bright situation it seems I sometimes need to use a smaller aperture to get good images.

when shooting into a really bright area where the sun is in front of me or something along the lines of that it can be quite hard to get a really good image with any lens. its best to try to shoot with the sun to your back and if you can shoot in a shaded area that also seems to help.

Thank you. I was trying to shoot with 2.8, because I wanted to achieve nice blurry background. I I will practice with my current lens and will try to find it's "sweet spot". It's better to get a clear nice shots in my opinion.

dannylightning · Nov 22, 2014

I can get a nice blury background at f/8 if the lens is zoomed on on the subject and what ever is in the background is off in the distance.

I snapped a couple of quick shot so you can see what I am talking about. both shots are taken at f/8 only difference is the lens is zoomed right up on the subject in one photo and zoomed far away in the the other photo. the light is very of low in the room so the ISO was cranked up, there not great images but you will get the idea.

Even at f/2.8 that is how it works its just easier to get bokeh at a wider aperture like f/2.8 if you are not zoomed really close to the subject and of course 2.8 will be better in low light situations. If I throw on my 1.8 lens there would be plenty of light to get this shot with out cranking the IOS or using a fast shutter speed.

weepete · Nov 22, 2014

Nicely blurred backgrounds can be achieved by using a narrow depth of field, but you still need to make sure your depth of field is adequate enough to keep your subject in good focus. Blurred backgrounds can also be achieved by increasing the distance between your subject and the background too. The greater the distance the more blur you will get. A depth of field calculator app on your phone can really help.

(Ninja'ed again!)