Question about Clarity (possibly lenses or camera settings)

[laraine369]

I'm noticing more and more that my images seem to come out too "clear" for lack of a better term. It's sort of like the difference between the look of a soap opera vs the look of a movie. (is there a term for this in the photography world?) I'm curious if the only way to have soft looking portraits is by editing them post process, or if I need to set my camera in a particular way or have certain lenses.



(example of sharp/snapshot image)

 

[dcbear78]

Are you referring to the out of focus part? I'm confused?

Is that second shot one of your own? If not it would be best to upload one of your own for us to see for ourselves.

The main difference between those two are nice lighting and a narrow depth of field.

 

[astroNikon]

The one on the left was clearly shot with strobes/flashes .. a photo shoot that was set up for that occassion.

whereas the one on the right was just a snapshot taken outside. Kinda looks like her head was moving (jacket is sharp) and thus looks OOF/blurry (compared to the guy in the background). Shutter speed was too low.

FYI .. I'm pretty sure that you are not allowed to post photos that are not yours. You can provide links to them though.

 

[astroNikon]

On your first 2.
The first one looks once again a photoshoot with a camera using a shallow DOF to get the person's body in focus, and the fore and background Out of focus.

The second shot is just a snapshot - no planning or nothing, just a picture.

 

[astroNikon]

I think your question may be alluding to - Depth of Field
Understanding Depth of Field in Photography

where a camera lens aperture is set in order to defocus fore and/or background images in order to only have the subject in focus and sharp/detailed. For simplicity, consumer lenses are not designed for this. Lenses with aperture abilities of f/2.8 and lower such as f/1.8 and f/1.4 can more easily make backgrounds out of focus, etc.

One must use proper depth of field to get the subject object in focus. Many times photographers will use f/1.4 and get one persons eye in focus but not the other .. or an ear .. or nose and the rest of the image is out of focus. One must learn how to use DOF (Depth of Field) properly.

 

[waday]

Prior to clicking the shutter, the difference between professional-looking photos and snapshots is that the professional photos have taken a good number of aspects into consideration before taking a photo including, but not limited to:

• Ambient lighting
• Artificial/external lighting
• Composition
  
• Posing
• Background
• Foreground
• Depth of Field
• Clothing/Makeup
• Time of day

Snapshots typically do not consider all these aspects. They may consider some, not all. Professionals try to get the picture as good as possible in the camera, but the pictures usually do need to be processed to some extent after taking the picture. The processing is especially important if you're going for a certain look (e.g., really vibrant, matte, black and white).

After clicking the shutter, all photos are processed in some way. Professionals and enthusiasts usually shoot in RAW format and do the processing themselves with either paid or free software, depending on the photographer. Phone cameras and point and shoot cameras typically shoot in JPEG and let the camera do the processing for them.

If you're looking for better pictures using your camera (whether it's a P&S, phone, or a DSLR), you'll probably want to learn better composition, the exposure triangle, depth of field, and all about lighting (just to name a few). These items will elevate photos above the snapshot range.

Learning is fun and free after the purchase of the camera itself. With digital cameras you can take a picture, find out you don't like it, and then retake it. You can then process it on your computer using any number of free programs. You can also process photos using your smartphone with any number of free apps.

I agree with @astroNikon, that you're probably trying to describe depth of field, where the subject is clear and the background is blurry. Learning depth of field is important, because it will help you get the look you're going for in your photos.

 

[astroNikon]

^^ totally agree with everything he said.

Have you ever been to a family photo studio? Or a high school photo shoot?
They bring flashes with them and may have set poses, background, or even places to get the shots and lighting just right.

In relation to the bride photo here's something you can read ... it goes over many pages and it is about off camera lighting. Strobist Lighting 101

when you scroll and read you'll see a small "NEXT: Understanding Your Flash" which will take you to the next page, then the next, etc.

This is the basics of learning about lighting and one of the aspects of the set up shoots as mentioned above versus just a snapshot.

 

[dennybeall]

All that waday and others said is true and important if you're looking to do more professional photography.
I think in the specific examples you showed it's lighting that is the main difference you see. The main subject is lighted to make the subject stand out. You can do that with natural light, reflectors/light boxes or just a flash.

 

[laraine369]

Thank you all for your insight. Though I know nothing about the second two photos I posted, the first two I do know neither have professional lighting. The photo with the female on the bed was natural light from the windows.

Also thank you for informing me I can not use photos that are not my own. It was not my intention to use others' work I just had no examples of what I consider good photos since I have yet to take any good ones

 

[astroNikon]

In the very first photo, which doesn't show the ladies face
you can see light from at least 2 directions .. I'm not an expert at this but this is what I think.

one light source on her face/frontal area
and the 2nd is easily seen on the back of her hair that sticks out there. Her left inner elbow area is the darkest, and you can compare from there going out to identify light direction.

So 2 distinct light areas, whether from 2 windows, or a reflector, etc.

If you look at the back wall, there are multiple shadows there which indicate multiple direction lights, or light reflection.

There's also a weird white "V" mark on the back of her hair probably from photo editing leftover.
But either way, a shallow DOF, and of course someone was standing on a chair or something trying to get that specific angle .. or they are really tall.

 

[ronlane]

I would agree with what Wade and Astro have said here.

 

[laraine369]

Yes there are multiple windows. This was a self portrait and the camera was on a tripod. I'm not certain all of the post processing editing that took place with the photo but I do know the raw basics that contributed to the picture, which is why I asked if this look is achievable without photo editing.

 

[astroNikon]

Just curious, what is your camera and lenses ?

 

[waday]

if this look is achievable without photo editing

Probably not. Ask the photographer how they processed the image.

 

[astroNikon]

if this look is achievable without photo editing

Probably not. Ask the photographer how they processed the image.

Yeah. I'm confused by the "self portrait", "my images" and someone else edited them ??