This is what I did

AMOMENT · Nov 21, 2011

Yes, I used my daughter but that was because she was the one around when I wanted to try something. I took these outside around 4pm in the shade. I used a flash but diffused it with toilet paper. My subject was not backlit at all so I decided to try center weighed and matrix metering. I used af-s and single point auto focusing. For most of these I used either the center focal point which has cross points and or an upper left or right focal point positioned on an eye. I did some work in pp with sharpening. My real problem is that in the original item (not that the pp version is much better) is SO out of focus. I tried closing my aperture and stepping back to increase my DOF and have more in focus. I don't think I did well even when doing that. My shutter was no slower than 1/200. Any suggestions to improve focus clarity? I took them with my 50mm f/1.8

Before

after

AMOMENT · Nov 21, 2011

I apologize for the additional post, but here are two more.

before

1.

after

MTVision · Nov 21, 2011

I'm on my phone but they don't look horribly out of focus.

MTVision · Nov 21, 2011

MTVision said:
I'm on my phone but they don't look horribly out of focus.

Am

AMOMENT · Nov 21, 2011

thanks =)

MTVision · Nov 21, 2011

MTVision said:
Am

Sorry about that ^^^ my kid grabbed the phone. I think you might overstressing this. None of the pictures you have posted look like the focusing is bad. They might look a little soft SOOC because there is an anti aliasing filter (?) on cameras. Do you zoom in 100% on the eyes in elements to see if they are sharp?

Steve01 · Nov 21, 2011

Probably to shallow a depth of field and depending on you're camera a 50 probably isn't the best portrait lens.
I think you need a much smaller aperture or you need to back up and put on a longer lens.

Also make sure you lock focus on her eyes.

AMOMENT · Nov 21, 2011

I'll try backing up more...=) If I use a center focus point than I can't lock it on her eyes. If I use one somewhat to the left or right, I can, but those auto focus points don't have cross points and I tend to get a more blurred pic. What type of lens would you recommend?

Thanks, meg! =) lol....I might be overthinking it. I tend to do that

hahha....maybe your daughter wants a go at photog.!

Derrel · Nov 21, 2011

What do you mean, "closing your aperture"? The first picture looks like it was shot at something kind of large; in other words a "wide" or "open" aperture, like say maybe f/3.5 or so--because there is NOT all that much depth of field in either the first pose, or in the second pose. I mean, what f/stop are you using??? Whatever you are doing, these two poses are getting pretty close to being good, informal kid portraits. Just a tiny bit of tweaking and these would look quite good, and the expressions you've captured are both good.

MTVision · Nov 21, 2011

Steve01 said:
Probably to shallow a depth of field and depending on you're camera a 50 probably isn't the best portrait lens.
I think you need a much smaller aperture or you need to back up and put on a longer lens.

Also make sure you lock focus on her eyes.

A 50 is fine for a portrait lens.

Amoment - it takes time and practice. Maybe when you are pressing the shutter button down to take the picture you are moving the camera slightly or maybe it's the DOF. Next time you try this do different things - raise your ISO so you get a faster shutter speed. Try shooting at f/8. Just try different settings then upload them and zoom in 100% on the eyes and see what it looks like. When you use the center point are you still focusing on one of the eyes?

AMOMENT · Nov 21, 2011

Wow! Thanks, Derrel! Omg, you really made me smile! I'm so happy! Yeak, I meant close because it was around a 3.5 (if not exactly that) which is pretty "open." Are my using the wrong terminology?

MTVision · Nov 21, 2011

AMOMENT said:
I'll try backing up more...=) If I use a center focus point than I can't lock it on her eyes. If I use one somewhat to the left or right, I can, but those auto focus points don't have cross points and I tend to get a more blurred pic. What type of lens would you recommend?

Thanks, meg! =) lol....I might be overthinking it. I tend to do that hahha....maybe your daughter wants a go at photog.!

You should still be able to focus on the eyes with he center point. You might have to step back a little. If you don't focus on the eyes in a portrait with a wide aperture then it's going to look OOF. That's probably one of the issues.

cgipson1 · Nov 21, 2011

yes.. try any aperture above F4.. as we have mentioned few times...... like maybe F5.6... or maybe even F8. You say you have a Psych degree, right.. so that intimates some intelligence on your part. Why don't you understand that your DOF is inadequate... and this is such an easy problem to fix.

I have posted several times trying to help.. this is the last one!!!!