New to the forum, would love C&C

[twoboysnmygirl]

I've had my D40 for a couple years and my love and knowledge of photography has grown, but I'm still learning, as most photographers do. Recently I got a portable studio setup and shot a friend of mine yesterday. WOW...even MORE to learn!

First off, my white backdrop looked horrid. Even after fixing it in PS, I'm not willing to post it, it was grey, not white, which means I need more light on it, right? AND, it had barely any bokeh even though I was using f1.8. AND, my 35mm lens was not what I wanted to use b/c I find it can be unflattering and it's hard to get more than one small area sharp. I had my friend (and her kids) about 4 feet in front of the backdrop, but still you could see it clearly, so I'm not sure what was going on there. so...I switched to black.

Black was better, BUT, it's dark and even though it was a learning experience, I was frustrated b/c I couldn't get the lighting to do what I wanted. I had 2 umbrella lights and another smaller light but failed at using them b/c most of my shots were not sharp, I couldn't use my 55-200mm at all, when I thought that would be the best to use. The shots were blurry. Any C&C would help, but be gentle please, I'm already pretty hard on myself!

I dream of the day I can get a D90 b/c focusing is difficult with the D40 and I don't think my shots are as sharp as they could be.
Here's one of the shots:

 

[eccs19]

Hard to tell from that size of a picture, but from what I can see, it looks sharp. Are you manually focusing or using automatic? If your having trouble with focus, try switching to the one your not using, and see if it makes any difference. The photo you posted, her hair blends into the background. Did you have any light on the background? This may have helped somewhat.

 

[twoboysnmygirl]

Oh no, not manual focusing, but with the D40, there are only 3 focus areas (instead of 9-12 like newer camera's) and they are dead center in the camera. It frustrates me to no end b/c I'll go to focus on someone's eyes and there is a massive space above their head that I have to crop. I don't know anyway around this.

No, I didn't have light on the black background, in this situation it wasn't a big deal b/c she hates her hair and kind of wanted it to fade away, but in the future I will need more lighting I think. When you put light on a black background, does it make it stand out more though and show the fabric? That is what happened with the white, so I'm going to have to mess around with it more.

 

[NikonNewbie]

Im in your shoes! I must say, I like the pic...and it looks to me like it's in focus, but I'm curious as well about a lighting set up...when you use a backdrop should a light be pointing at it? I keep seeing people talking about posterboard or reflectors and I'm anxious to know how to position them in settings like yours...but my .02 Cents is ...good job (but my .02c ain't worth jack..lol)

 

[twoboysnmygirl]

Im in your shoes! I must say, I like the pic...and it looks to me like it's in focus, but I'm curious as well about a lighting set up...when you use a backdrop should a light be pointing at it? I keep seeing people talking about posterboard or reflectors and I'm anxious to know how to position them in settings like yours...but my .02 Cents is ...good job (but my .02c ain't worth jack..lol)

 

[NikonNewbie]

oh yeah...and I have a D40 also, and I dont know how I did it...but those 3 focus areas...when you play around with the modes (obviously I did this by accident or I could tell you more) you will find that the other two focus boxes...I dont know the tech term...I'd call it a frame and sure I'd get reamed by someone...(woot..just did it...lol) it changes which one you use..it will blink red, so you know that is the one the camera is focusing on...and I found this out while trying to take pics of xmas lights...it's a never ending battle for me. I'm back to my book for dummies and also Blake.Oney put up a totally useful link with youtube videos on "how to" with DSLR.
:thumbup: Good luck!

 

[twoboysnmygirl]

oh yeah...and I have a D40 also, and I dont know how I did it...but those 3 focus areas...when you play around with the modes (obviously I did this by accident or I could tell you more) you will find that the other two focus boxes...I dont know the tech term...I'd call it a frame and sure I'd get reamed by someone...(woot..just did it...lol) it changes which one you use..it will blink red, so you know that is the one the camera is focusing on...and I found this out while trying to take pics of xmas lights...it's a never ending battle for me. I'm back to my book for dummies and also Blake.Oney put up a totally useful link with youtube videos on "how to" with DSLR.
:thumbup: Good luck!

Oh yes, I use all three, but they are all in the middle! One on the right, one dead center, and one on the left. Very often when I'm composing a shot, I want to focus somewhere else and I find it VERY limiting to just have the 3, especially in a portrait with more than 1 person. I have to back WAY up to focus on their eyes and then crop the shot so there isn't a bunch of dead space above them.

 

[VujayPrabhakaran]

wow welcome to this forum

 

[kundalini]

First off, my white backdrop looked horrid. Even after fixing it in PS, I'm not willing to post it, it was grey, not white, which means I need more light on it, right?

Correct. You'll want to light the background ~1 stop brighter than the subject. If you're using a fabric background, it will be better to light it from both sides to cancel out the shadows. Depending on your light modifiers, placing a flag or gobo on the subjects side will limit light spill onto your subject.

AND, it had barely any bokeh even though I was using f1.8. AND, my 35mm lens was not what I wanted to use b/c I find it can be unflattering and it's hard to get more than one small area sharp. I had my friend (and her kids) about 4 feet in front of the backdrop, but still you could see it clearly, so I'm not sure what was going on there. so...I switched to black.

In your studio situation, bokeh should not be a concern because you have a solid background, there is nothing to render out of focus. Unless you're going for a stylized closeup, f/1.8 is not I would use for portraits for a number of reasons. 1) wide open will not be your sharpest aperture, that will likely be around f/8 and most lenses will be sharper when stopped down a stop or two 2) it will be sharp only around your focal point 3) hitting your focal point will be more challenging 4) your DoF will be razor thin.

Black was better, BUT, it's dark and even though it was a learning experience, I was frustrated b/c I couldn't get the lighting to do what I wanted. I had 2 umbrella lights and another smaller light but failed at using them b/c most of my shots were not sharp, I couldn't use my 55-200mm at all, when I thought that would be the best to use. The shots were blurry. Any C&C would help, but be gentle please, I'm already pretty hard on myself!

Likely due to your shutter speed being too slow. A SS around 1/160s to x-synch (1/500s in your case... see page 101 in your manual) will help you avoid camera shake and subject movement.

I dream of the day I can get a D90 b/c focusing is difficult with the D40 and I don't think my shots are as sharp as they could be.

Not necessary unless there are other reasons to upgrade. Double check which AF mode you're using. Set it to AF-S mode for stationary subjects (page 23 in your manual). This allows you to hit and lock focus with a half press of the shutter release and while holding it down, recompose your shot. You also have Autoexposure lock (AE-L/AF-L) at your disposal (see page 46 & 77 in your manual).


To create separation of your subject from a black background, use your third light as a hair light. Place it nearly opposite your main light, up high and angled down on your subject. Drop the power output a stop or two less than the main. Add a snoot to narrow the light spread. I found all sorts of issues afterwards, but here is an example.

Hope some of this helps.

 

[twoboysnmygirl]

First off, my white backdrop looked horrid. Even after fixing it in PS, I'm not willing to post it, it was grey, not white, which means I need more light on it, right?

Correct. You'll want to light the background ~1 stop brighter than the subject. If you're using a fabric background, it will be better to light it from both sides to cancel out the shadows. Depending on your light modifiers, placing a flag or gobo on the subjects side will limit light spill onto your subject.

AND, it had barely any bokeh even though I was using f1.8. AND, my 35mm lens was not what I wanted to use b/c I find it can be unflattering and it's hard to get more than one small area sharp. I had my friend (and her kids) about 4 feet in front of the backdrop, but still you could see it clearly, so I'm not sure what was going on there. so...I switched to black.

In your studio situation, bokeh should not be a concern because you have a solid background, there is nothing to render out of focus. Unless you're going for a stylized closeup, f/1.8 is not I would use for portraits for a number of reasons. 1) wide open will not be your sharpest aperture, that will likely be around f/8 and most lenses will be sharper when stopped down a stop or two 2) it will be sharp only around your focal point 3) hitting your focal point will be more challenging 4) your DoF will be razor thin.

Black was better, BUT, it's dark and even though it was a learning experience, I was frustrated b/c I couldn't get the lighting to do what I wanted. I had 2 umbrella lights and another smaller light but failed at using them b/c most of my shots were not sharp, I couldn't use my 55-200mm at all, when I thought that would be the best to use. The shots were blurry. Any C&C would help, but be gentle please, I'm already pretty hard on myself!

Likely due to your shutter speed being too slow. A SS around 1/160s to x-synch (1/500s in your case... see page 101 in your manual) will help you avoid camera shake and subject movement.

I dream of the day I can get a D90 b/c focusing is difficult with the D40 and I don't think my shots are as sharp as they could be.

Not necessary unless there are other reasons to upgrade. Double check which AF mode you're using. Set it to AF-S mode for stationary subjects (page 23 in your manual). This allows you to hit and lock focus with a half press of the shutter release and while holding it down, recompose your shot. You also have Autoexposure lock (AE-L/AF-L) at your disposal (see page 46 & 77 in your manual).


To create separation of your subject from a black background, use your third light as a hair light. Place it nearly opposite your main light, up high and angled down on your subject. Drop the power output a stop or two less than the main. Add a snoot to narrow the light spread. I found all sorts of issues afterwards, but here is an example.

Hope some of this helps.

Thank you SO much! This was all very helpful. I set it up again this morning and with the background lit, it was much better. Not perfect, but getting there, I think it will just take some time. I did try to use my 55-200 again and there just isn't enough light or space, I guess. I hate to bump up my ISO so high, but I had to put it up on 800 just to get the shot not to blur, I'm guessing my lighting just isn't bright enough? Won't my shots have tons of noise if I bump up my ISO to compensate for f8 and a fast enough shutter speed? I shoot in Manual, so I guess I could up my exposure a couple notches, but I still think my shutter will be too slow unless I have 800 or 1600 ISO. It SEEMS bright, but my camera doesn't read it that way?

I'll look into the AF-S. I'm pretty sure this is what I have it set on, but I must not be recomposing correctly b/c when I recompose, it never focuses where I wanted it in the first place?

I know I sound like a big noob, but I really do have some knowledge after shooting for a couple years, just sometimes feel like there are little missing pieces in there that have to be filled in! It's the strangest learning curve I think I've ever encountered, every time I think I know a lot, there's more to learn!

 

[Blake.Oney]

What he is saying about af-s is that you you can focus where you want to with one of the 3 points and then while half holding to shutter release button you can recompose the shot the way you want it. The camera will remain focused where you originally had the focus point even though you have moved it.

 

[twoboysnmygirl]

I didn't have it SET to AF-S! I kept trying to hold it down to focus and then recompose and it makes sense why it didn't work now.

 

[twoboysnmygirl]

Just giving this a bump to see if anyone can answer me about my 55-200 issue. If I shoot at f8, my shutter speed is WAY too slow and I'll have to bump my ISO up to 800 or 1600 (it's a D40, so this is as high as I can go). Is this normal for studio shooting? I thought it should be at 200, but I can't have it that low or the shutter speed is too slow. Is this normal or do I not have enough light?

Hope I'm making sense here. I guess the main question would be...what is the norm for ISO in portrait photography? I don't want a bunch of noise in my shots, but I can't seem to find settings to work with my 55-200 and ended up resorting to just using my 35mm.

 

[NikonNewbie]

I didn't have it SET to AF-S! I kept trying to hold it down to focus and then recompose and it makes sense why it didn't work now.

crap! thats what I was doing too!

 

[kundalini]

Are you dead-set on shooting at f/8? I mentioned that apeture earlier as probably the sharpest, but that doesn't mean you have to shoot portraits there. You could stop the lens down some and still be fine.

What shooting mode are you in? If using external lighting, Manual would be the prefered. Since you're using the lights, the in-camera meter may lie to you or rather you lie to it.

Keep your shutter speed at or above 1/125s. Even though I have cameras that handle high ISO exceedingly well, I try to keep the ISO to it's lowest. If you want f/8, you'll need to adjust power on your lights or bump the ISO if needed, but I can't imagine you needing to go to 800.

Can you post an example with the 55-200mm lens?