Portrait of my daughter #2

[lmlitz]

I have a black and white photo of her on another thread. Just wondering what people think of this one and if it needs to be more in focus. Thanks

 

[ronlane]

Cute girl, but yes, the eyes are soft in this photo as well.

 

[Designer]

Still needs more light on her face as well.

 

[lmlitz]

I think I need to use flash more. I always seemed to shy away from it for some reason.

 

[Designer]

As you can see, when shooting in direct sunlight the parts that are in shade need more light. Use either a reflector or a flash.

If you can convince the children to assist, have one hold the reflector while shooting the other one. Tell him to shine the sunlight right on her face (and hold it there). Ought to be fun.

 

[robbins.photo]

What camera body are you using lmlitz? Generally for portraits (and shots of critters) your best bet is to actually set the camera's autofocus system so you can choose the focus point rather than letting the camera choose it for you, and then set the focus point on one of the subject's eyes. This will usually give you the best results for focus since when people look at other people it's genrally the eyes they look at first.

 

[Designer]

I asked this on the other thread, but I'll ask here too.

What camera? What focusing mode? What lens, and is there a filter on the front?

Never mind the camera and lens question I got that from the EXIF.

You're shooting at aperture f2.8, so when your camera focuses on her sleeve, the eyes will be out of focus.

Select a different focus point and place it on her eyes.

 

[lmlitz]

I'm using a Canon SL1. Its an entry level camera. I use manual focus because I feel the auto focus takes too long to focus on my energetic kids. My daughter is not the most patient little person and hates waiting for the auto focus to do its thing. I know auto focus would be better for me right now so I will have to work with my kids to get them to sit still.

I'm using a 50mm lens. No filter.

 

[bribrius]

sl1 isn't a bad camera at all. Plenty for most people.

 

[Designer]

I use manual focus because I feel the auto focus takes too long to focus on my energetic kids.

The auto focus should take only a split second. If your camera is "hunting" then it is selecting who-knows-what area upon which to focus.

 

[Derrel]

Using manual focus in a situation like this caused you to miss the proper focus area by only a few inches...there just is NOT much depth of field using a 50mm lens at that distance...a 50mm on an APS-C format camera is a short telephoto lens, and at close range, there is NOT much depth of field, even with the lens stopped down to say f/8. I would think that the camera's AF system would have done a better job of focusing. MOST APS-C cameras with small, low-magnification, pentamirror type viewfinder mechanisms are challenging to focus properly in any type of fluid or "fleeting" situation. The viewfinder of many cameras is more of a quick "approximation device" than it is a useful instrument for manual focusing.

Part of the difficulty with modern, d-slr cameras is that the viewfinder screens, on which the aerial image is actually SEEN, are not optimized for focus ascertainment by the human eye; the viewfinder screens are sometimes made artifically BRIGHTER, by a supplementary illumination system (as in Canon's transmissive system), which makes for a really BRIGHT viewfinder image--BUT a viewfinder images that impairs accurate focusing when a human eyeball and brain are used instead of a computer brain that is in total command of an ultra-precise focusing motor. The actual, as-seen-through-the-viewfinder depth of field is often that of about f/4.2 or so, meaning that the SHALLOW depth of field of your 50mm lens's f/1.8 aperture is actually NOT the kind of image your eye sees!!!

Manually focusing an AF lens is also complicated by the really RAPID rate of focus shift the focusing ring of "most" AF lenses have at distances beyond say 3 feet: the lens moves from 3 feet to 7 feet, then BOOM! it is at Infinity within 10 to 15 degrees' worth of turn of the focusing ring...which utterly KILLS the ability to focus precisely when a human is doing the turning and the evaluating.

Simply put, almost ANY Autofocusing normal lens is a bugger to get focused unless all the conditions are perfect. Your SL1 was designed to be used with the camera's autofocus system driving the lens to the exact, right focusing distance.

 

[frommrstomommy]

I shoot a lot of children (fast moving as well! lol like my almost 2 year old) and what I set to is AF-C.. spot focused on the eye closest to camera and shutter speed minimum 160.. more like 250 if they're running around and I'm usually good to go with focus! I shoot at 2.8 most of the time for one child, because I like the look, but that's a personal choice of course.