"When I grow up." photo shoot of my girls playind dress up. CC?? Color version

AMOMENT · Aug 5, 2012

What is a diopter?

I look throguh the viewfinder, have my camera set on focus release, and also wait for the focus lock sound. Not that it matter because it won't allow me to take the photo anyway unless it has acheved focus. I posted these photos, which look a lot worse on this site, because I liked the theme. I had taken them inside and bumped up my iso really high so I could use a faster shutter speed. (That was suggested) I also didn't use a flash because everyone said don't even bother introducing other light sources/eqipment til' you master what you have. I had no choice but to bump the ISO up that high, to have that fast of a shutter speed. I could have also closed down my aperture a bit to allow for greater DOF, but again, I was barely getting enough light with an f-stop of f-4, needed fast shutter speed of 1/200, and ISO of 6400. Furthermore, this really was a spontanteous shoot. My girls were playing together and I thought it was precious. Mt daughter, the older one, put her fancy dress on because my husband and I had just explained what it meant to get married and showed her our wedding pics =) She was mimicing me and it was endearing. We were in a bedroom and there wasn't much space I could put between us. Can you tell me what you wuld have done differently?

Shot with my 18-55mm f/2.8 lens..

Bumped ISO up to 6400 so I didn't have to use a flash and could use a fast shutter speed of 1/200

My aperture of about f4 would create for a narrow DOF but, I was having trouble getting enough light, using a fast shutter speed, and not using a flash?

I distanced myself from them as much as I could in a bedroom.

I also wanted to blur out the baseboards behind them so I didn't want too deep of a DOF. I spot metered because, behind them was a window and had I matricx metered, they would have been underexposed. I metered off of their skin to expose right for it.

AMOMENT · Aug 5, 2012

How would you compensate for lack of light without using a flash or exgternal light source? How would you do this while still remaining at such a fast shutter speed? I just don't see how it is possible..please help =)

rexbobcat · Aug 5, 2012

Sometimes you can't. If you've maxed out your ISO and aperture then you've gotta work with whatever shutter speed you can get.

MLeeK · Aug 5, 2012

AMOMENT said:
What is a diopter?

I look throguh the viewfinder, have my camera set on focus release, and also wait for the focus lock sound. Not that it matter because it won't allow me to take the photo anyway unless it has acheved focus. I posted these photos, which look a lot worse on this site, because I liked the theme. I had taken them inside and bumped up my iso really high so I could use a faster shutter speed. (That was suggested) I also didn't use a flash because everyone said don't even bother introducing other light sources/eqipment til' you master what you have. I had no choice but to bump the ISO up that high, to have that fast of a shutter speed. I could have also closed down my aperture a bit to allow for greater DOF, but again, I was barely getting enough light with an f-stop of f-4, needed fast shutter speed of 1/200, and ISO of 6400. Furthermore, this really was a spontanteous shoot. My girls were playing together and I thought it was precious. Mt daughter, the older one, put her fancy dress on because my husband and I had just explained what it meant to get married and showed her our wedding pics =) She was mimicing me and it was endearing. We were in a bedroom and there wasn't much space I could put between us. Can you tell me what you wuld have done differently?

Shot with my 18-55mm f/2.8 lens..

Bumped ISO up to 6400 so I didn't have to use a flash and could use a fast shutter speed of 1/200

My aperture of about f4 would create for a narrow DOF but, I was having trouble getting enough light, using a fast shutter speed, and not using a flash?

I distanced myself from them as much as I could in a bedroom.

I also wanted to blur out the baseboards behind them so I didn't want too deep of a DOF. I spot metered because, behind them was a window and had I matricx metered, they would have been underexposed. I metered off of their skin to expose right for it.

Reduce your aperture.
At some point you just can't shoot without adding light.

vtf · Aug 5, 2012

AMOMENT said:
What is a diopter?

The focus through the viewfinder can be adjusted, this is called the diopter, if it should be slightly out of focus then the camera may indicate a focused shot and you may believe its not and/or you think it's focused and it's not. This is based off eyesight and may need to be adjusted occasionally especially if you wear glasses/contacts.

It's has been mentioned to shoot objects outdoors so you have ample lighting, your images outdoors on you website are much stronger than those indoors. Might be a clue to where to begin.

dxqcanada · Aug 5, 2012

Yes, as Forrest would say ... "sometimes there just aren't enough rocks".

You just have to know to read light levels and anticipate that.
A wider aperture lens like a f/1.8 would give you an advantage ... but it appears the issue with these images is getting the focus correct.

Bitter Jeweler · Aug 5, 2012

vtf said:
AMOMENT said:

What is a diopter?

Click to expand...

The focus through the viewfinder can be adjusted, this is called the diopter, if it should be slightly out of focus then the camera may indicate a focused shot and you may believe its not and/or you think it's focused and it's not. This is based off eyesight and may need to be adjusted occasionally especially if you wear glasses/contacts.

Specifically, you turn the dial till the focus points are clear and sharp to your eye. This matters for manual focus, but I don't believe it matters one lick for auto focus, since it is not based at all on the viewfinder.

pixmedic · Aug 5, 2012

i would have opened up my aperture loooooong before bumping my iso that high. You've got a fast zoom there. open it up to 2.8 and see if that doesnt let you bring your iso down to a manageable level. OR, for those indoor shots grab a 50mm 1.8 or 1.4 and you need even less ISO. a little wider DOF is better than all that ISO noise.

BlackSheep · Aug 5, 2012

AMOMENT said:
I look throguh the viewfinder, have my camera set on focus release, and also wait for the focus lock sound. Not that it matter because it won't allow me to take the photo anyway unless it has acheved focus.

When you are doing this, are you able to see what the camera is focusing on exactly? If it focus locks on (for example) the floor in front of your subject, then the end result will be an out-of-focus photo.

For what it's worth, I saw your earlier thread with non-mobile subjects http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...till-life-advice-taken-what-do-you-think.html . On those shots, you did a much better job with the focusing. I think you just need to keep practicing with focus - no messing around with aperatures/shutter speeds/etc. to fix your focus...just plain old practice. We all take OOF photos, even after 20 years of shooting. (But most of us don't post the OOF ones for C&C

)

vtf · Aug 5, 2012

Bitter Jeweler said:
vtf said:

AMOMENT said:

What is a diopter?

Click to expand...

The focus through the viewfinder can be adjusted, this is called the diopter, if it should be slightly out of focus then the camera may indicate a focused shot and you may believe its not and/or you think it's focused and it's not. This is based off eyesight and may need to be adjusted occasionally especially if you wear glasses/contacts.

Click to expand...

Specifically, you turn the dial till the focus points are clear and sharp to your eye. This matters for manual focus, but I don't believe it matters one lick for auto focus, since it is not based at all on the viewfinder.

It had me cussing up the lens all day, then I realized I accidentally turned the dial earlier in the day, duh!
On my Canon it actually brings the viewfinder focus in and out, not the focus points.

o hey tyler · Aug 5, 2012

There is no such thing as an 18-55 f/2.8.

SCraig · Aug 5, 2012

Well, I've stayed out of this latest round because I'm tired. I don't think I have any further advice to give. It seems like every time you stabilize one problem you find another one to forget. We had you focusing properly a month ago and that has obviously gone down the tubes once again.

Two recommendations and I'm going to move on to others:

First, when you post an image and state that it was shot with specific criteria, make certain that it truly was. Your last round of shots a few weeks ago you swore up and down that they were shot in aperture priority or shutter priority (I don't remember which) and at ISO 640 when the EXIF data clearly showed they were shot in manual mode at ISO 6400. You lose a lot of credibility when you can't even keep things straight. The CD That came with your camera has Nikon ViewNX2 on it and it will display the EXIF data of any photograph (if you don't have the CD it can be downloaded from Here. There are many other EXIF Readers available. I personally prefer EXIFTool GUI in combination with EXIFTool. Both can be downloaded from [utl=http://freeweb.siol.net/hrastni3/foto/exif/exiftoolgui.htm]This Site[/url].

Second, after thinking about your focus issues I think you may be stabbing the shutter release. I think you press it halfway to get an autofocus lock and then stab it the rest of the way causing the camera to move. I'm pretty sure you'll deny this but it is my opinion based on the fact that EVERYTHING else has been eliminated. Your camera and lens focus properly based on the focus tests that you ran. If you have it set so that it will not shoot without a focus lock then the only thing left is that you are causing camera movement or that you are not paying attention to what it is focusing on. Either way it's something you have to handle.

OK, I'm done. Best of luck with your photography. I hope you find some answers to your issues, and I'll keep an eye on your posts in the hope that they improve.