New lens! First shots

[beaminge36]

Hey guys, i just recieved my 50mm f1.4 lens today. I have a tiffen haze-1 filter on it. I haven't gone out to take any real photos yet, i plan on doing so this weekend. I did however snap a few of the gf on the computer and the light bright light from the monitor was driving me nuts so I decided to use it as my only source of light and underexposed my shots a bit. Here are two that I thought turned out not too bad for random test shots. Let me know what you think. Thanks in advance,

Nick

1. f/2, 1/50sec, ISO 1600, 50mm

2. f/2, 1/60sec, ISO 400, 50mm

PS, I only desaturated as my method for b&w conversion. Not much else was done in pp.

 

[potownrob]

I like the shots, despite what the low light demons have done to them. On the second shot what might work better is f/4 for 1/30 second at ISO 800. I think that works out to about the same exposure. That should look sharper, though more would be in focus (which could be good or bad). If I had a tripod, I might up the exposure a little by using a slightly slower shutter speed like 1/20 or 1/25. Otherwise, you can up the ISO, but keep in mind that there is going to be noticeable noise at ISO 1600.

 

[beaminge36]

Thanks for the input. I've never tried any of these kinds of pictures. I varied alot of the parameters to experiment but alot came out crappy and I only had time while she was checking her mail. Next time i'll bring out the tripod and just have her do her thing until i feel i have taken enough decent shots. I like the higher contrast, her expression and I actually like the noise as well in the first as compared to the second but the focus was a little off. This is my first time using a fast lens so I really need to figure out when its appropriate to take advantage of the shallow dof and what kind of dof various different pictures/styles/objets require.

 

[tirediron]

I very much like the second image. I'm not fussed with the first one, but that's just a personal taste thing.

 

[potownrob]

I like the higher contrast, her expression and I actually like the noise as well in the first as compared to the second but the focus was a little off.

It's what you like that matters most. I kind of like the noise in both shots, to be honest. Stopping down the aperture would allow you more leeway in the focus; the bigger the aperture (the lower the f/ number) the more precise you have to be with the focus due to the narrower DOF. Also keep in mind how close you are shooting her from and how this affects the focus and dof (it's hard to control this too much with a fixed lens of course).

This is my first time using a fast lens so I really need to figure out when its appropriate to take advantage of the shallow dof and what kind of dof various different pictures/styles/objets require.

I think you picked a good f/ number for both shots. I personally would try to stop down to 3.5 or 4 to get a little sharper and help with the focus a little. When it comes down to getting the shot though, if you need to keep the aperture wide open or close to it to get the shot, or if you want to focus on one very certain area, you have to keep the aperture open . I recommend the book Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson for more insights about dof and exposure in general. With my 50mm f/1.8 lens I try to keep the aperture at f/2.8 or above. I find myself shooting between 2.2 for low-light to f/4 for portraits (of friends and such) and better-lit stuff.

 

[beaminge36]

thanks again for the comments guys. I keep seeing that book coming up in numerous threads, i guess amazon is getting my business later. I didnt want to shoot wide open for fear of softness and just too shallow dof so i stopped it down a bit. I have yet to learn how to gauge dof based on f-stop and distance so maybe 2 stops was not enough. It also doesnt help that I got the cheek in focus rather then her eye in the first one. The more I look at them and read all the comments, the more I can spot all the flaws so I appreciate them very much. plus, its not 4am anymore.