Sharpness Question

[LaurieBeth]

Okay... I have a question. I recently purchased an 85 mm 1.8 (and shoot with a 60D). Sometimes I seem to get great photos and sometimes I don't seem to get them very sharp. I'm posting two examples. The first one looks sharp to me (please ignore the cut off ear)... my little girl's eyes look brighter and there's just more dimension or something... obviously I'm VERY VERY new to this and lack the proper terminology. I'm just looking for a little input on what would help more of my photos look as sharp as the first. I've been reading about using a higher shutter speed with the 85 mm and I've given that a try. I may have adjusted the contrast a tiny bit in the second photo but the first is SOOC.

Thanks so much for any advice you all may have to offer I'm just a mommy who wants to take good photos of her kiddos.


for photo forum by lauriebeth85, on Flickr

for photo forum by lauriebeth85, on Flickr

 

[matthewo]

what shutter speed do you usually run? usually the higher the better when shooting people or anything that moves. obviously there becomes a time where increasing shutter wont help. I would say start around 1/200 - 1/320 if possible with the amount of light and aperture you want to use. if you focus is correct and shutter speed is high enough, and you downsize your photos for web, or any other reason, you can add a little bit of sharping in your photo editing program, this will work best if your iso is low, as you don't want to add noise.

 

[salalone]

Can you post your settings for those photos?

Also, you're not just a Mommy that wants to take nice photos... that's just where you're starting. You have NO idea where you might end up.

 

[LaurieBeth]

1/320 f/4 ISO 320 85mm



1/320 f/4 ISO 320 85mm

 

[jjphotos]

I'm on my phone, but they look equally sharp (might be my phone quality).

It may be that the subject isn't looking into the camera in the second shot.

Also, what is your metering set to? Spot metering or evaluative metering?
If it is on evaluative metering then you may have focused on the toy in front of her by accident.

 

[matthewo]

looking closer at the 100% of the toy one, it looks that the focus is a little behind her eyes, like the ear is sharper then then the front of the face.

 

[raaskohx10]

Set the apperture to f8 and take the shot by focussing on the eye. Most probably you will get the whole face equally sharp. Try AV mode on your camera. Btw, the above photos are also brilliant.

 

[cgipson1]

Part of it is probably the distance you are shooting at... F4 when close to the subject is going to have a much shallower DOF than when the subject is farther away... you can check that here:

Online Depth of Field Calculator

60D 85mm F4 at 2 ft (DOF is .02 feet)

[TABLE="class: resultsTable, width: 100%"]
[TR]
[TD="class: textClassResults, width: 55%, align: left"]Subject distance[/TD]
[TD="class: textClassResults, align: left"]2 ft[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="colspan: 2"][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: textClassResults, colspan: 2, align: left"]Depth of field[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: textClassResults"] Near limit[/TD]
[TD="class: textClassResults, align: left"]1.99 ft[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: textClassResults"] Far limit[/TD]
[TD="class: textClassResults, align: left"]2.01 ft[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: textClassResults"] Total[/TD]
[TD="class: textClassResults, align: left"]0.02 ft[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="colspan: 2"][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: textClassResults"] In front of subject[/TD]
[TD="class: textClassResults, align: left"]0.01 ft (50%)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: textClassResults"] Behind subject[/TD]
[TD="class: textClassResults, align: left"]0.01 ft (50%)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="colspan: 2"][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: textClassResults"]Hyperfocal distance[/TD]
[TD="class: textClassResults, align: left"]312.2 ft[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: textClassResults"]Circle of confusion[/TD]
[TD="class: textClassResults, align: left"]0.019 mm[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]




60D 85mm F4 at 10 ft (DOF is .62 feet)

[TABLE="class: resultsTable, width: 100%"]
[TR]
[TD="class: textClassResults, width: 55%, align: left"]Subject distance[/TD]
[TD="class: textClassResults, align: left"]10 ft[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="colspan: 2"][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: textClassResults, colspan: 2, align: left"]Depth of field[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: textClassResults"] Near limit[/TD]
[TD="class: textClassResults, align: left"]9.7 ft[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: textClassResults"] Far limit[/TD]
[TD="class: textClassResults, align: left"]10.3 ft[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: textClassResults"] Total[/TD]
[TD="class: textClassResults, align: left"]0.62 ft[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="colspan: 2"][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: textClassResults"] In front of subject[/TD]
[TD="class: textClassResults, align: left"]0.3 ft (48%)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: textClassResults"] Behind subject[/TD]
[TD="class: textClassResults, align: left"]0.32 ft (52%)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="colspan: 2"][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: textClassResults"]Hyperfocal distance[/TD]
[TD="class: textClassResults, align: left"]312.2 ft[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: textClassResults"]Circle of confusion[/TD]
[TD="class: textClassResults, align: left"]0.019 mm[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

if you are really close... stop down more.. use flash if needed...