X-Mas Card Pics....C&C / need some help w/ edits

[benny420]

Been lurking on here for a bit and just created my account a week ago, these are the 1st couple pics I've ever posted.

I'm attempting to create a good X-Mas Card with a few pics of my 18 month old daughter.....I've been shooting for about 1 year now but am definitely a n00b, especially when it comes to shooting a pic in such low light like I just did tonight. I'm posting these pics just as I shot them without any edits/crops as I am hoping you guys can give me some pointers on how to correct them? I have Aperture 3 and access to CS5, tho I'm really not really familar with editing photos.....I'm hoping for a good result as I've got the wife constantly complaining that I should do them with a point&shoot as she hates me having to adjust the settings and thinks there is nothing to photography other than pressing a button.....drives me nuts, so I want to show her what can be accomplished!! Hopefully....

These were all shot hand-held on a 7D with a Canon 50mm 1.4 with no flash and in RAW format (Is there anyway to post a RAW file that could really be edited??).....I've got a 430 exII that I can remote trigger but like I said I'm a n00b with lighting and didnt want to listen to the wife complain about me playing around with it (I took a couple real quick shots of the layout of my office, which is where these were taken, in hopes someone could point me in the right direction in terms of where to place the flash?? Anyone interested??)

Also curious if anyone has any good recommendations for books or vids on potrait photog as this is what I shoot the most and I need to improve my technique?

Settings: ISO 3200 f/2.2 1/30sec AWB

IMG_0479 by BennyHogan, on Flickr

Settings: ISO 3200 f/2.2 1/25sec AWB

IMG_0482 by BennyHogan, on Flickr

Settings: ISO 5000 f/2.2 1/40sec Tungsten WB

IMG_0542 by BennyHogan, on Flickr

First Pic I took before firing a shot of my daughter just messin around:
Settings: ISO 640 f/2.0 1/80sec AWB

Mini X-Mas Tree w/ Bokeh from Real X-Mas Tree by BennyHogan, on Flickr

Was hoping to bokeh out the tree a whole more in the photos of my daugther, but due to the constraints of the 50mm on a crop factor and the layout of my house I couldn't do it.....


Thanks in advance for any edits and constructive comments.....really hoping to improve my skills over this next year so next years card is a lot better!

 

[ChadHillPhoto]

I love #4 as the Christmas card. #2 for the one of your daughter, both are great shots!

 

[Emilymarie]

Your WB was off which was pretty much the only problem

 

[kundalini]

......These were all shot hand-held on a 7D with a Canon 50mm 1.4 with no flash and in RAW format (Is there anyway to post a RAW file that could really be edited??).....I've got a 430 exII that I can remote trigger but like I said I'm a n00b with lighting and didnt want to listen to the wife complain about me playing around with it ......

Obviously the 7D handles high ISO well, but stop making excuses and use that flash man! I would underexpose the background slightly and hit your daughter with some flash, gridded or snooted to spotlight her. You can make a snoot using black construction paper, a cereal box or anything on hand that can be rolled/folded to fit around your flash head to narrow the beam of your flash. Poor Example.

Noob or not, you have a good eye. Thanks for sharing.

 

[benny420]

Your WB was off which was pretty much the only problem

Thanks for the suggestion, I def agree the WB is off but it seems to me that you've over done it a bit?? Could just be my monitor (20in Apple Cinema Display that I've never calibrated)......maybe somewhere between my original and your edit is where I think it should be.....but I'm a n00b, just how my eye sees it!!
Really appreciate you taking the time to edit it!! Take Care

 

[Emilymarie]

well it still looks a little reddish but I am calibrated.

 

[benny420]

......These were all shot hand-held on a 7D with a Canon 50mm 1.4 with no flash and in RAW format (Is there anyway to post a RAW file that could really be edited??).....I've got a 430 exII that I can remote trigger but like I said I'm a n00b with lighting and didnt want to listen to the wife complain about me playing around with it ......

Obviously the 7D handles high ISO well, but stop making excuses and use that flash man! I would underexpose the background slightly and hit your daughter with some flash, gridded or snooted to spotlight her. You can make a snoot using black construction paper, a cereal box or anything on hand that can be rolled/folded to fit around your flash head to narrow the beam of your flash. Poor Example.

Noob or not, you have a good eye. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for your input, but being a n00b I don't really understand your advice completely.....to underexpose the background does that mean meter on the background and drop it down a stop?? Don't think that could be what you're saying as it would result in my daughter being out of focus....so maybe meter my daughters face and drop it down?
I agree tho that I need more experience using my flash, but with my wife there it wasn't the opportunity to experiment! What official product would you recommend to narrow the beam?? If I throw a cereal box on there my crazy wife is going to think I'm the crazy one!!

 

[benny420]

well it still looks a little reddish but I am calibrated.

What would you have had the WB set to on the cam?? Tungsten??

Sun had just set behind the mountains so I was getting some faint reflections of the sun bouncing off the backs of the mountains along with a tungsten lamp on my reading desk and led X-Mas lights so I really didn't know what to do.....just decided to leave it on AWB. Is there someway to analyze it in post production other than just by how you're eyes see it??

Thanks again for your help, I really appreciate you chiming in!!

 

[kundalini]

Thanks for your input, but being a n00b I don't really understand your advice completely.....to underexpose the background does that mean meter on the background and drop it down a stop?? Don't think that could be what you're saying as it would result in my daughter being out of focus....so maybe meter my daughters face and drop it down?
I agree tho that I need more experience using my flash, but with my wife there it wasn't the opportunity to experiment! What official product would you recommend to narrow the beam?? If I throw a cereal box on there my crazy wife is going to think I'm the crazy one!!

First off, I forgot to add the smilie after the 'stop making excuses' comment. It was just for a laugh.

If you were to use your flash you could 1) drop your ISO to reduce noise, 2) increase your shutter speed. A good rule of thumb is to have your shutter speed equal to your focal length. So if you are shooting a 50mm lens, your shutter speed should not be less than 1/50s. This is to reduce camera shake and subject motion blur. I'd also suggest to stop down the lens to an f/4 or so and still get the out of focus background. The larger the aperture, the more critical focus will be. Although you seem to have nailed it pretty good anyway, stopping down the lens will likely result in getting both eyes in sharp focus.

Metering for the background and underexposing slightly has nothing to do with focus.

I'm sure there are many other options out there, but I bought a light modifying kit for hotshoe flashes from David Honl. I like them and will use quite often, particularly the snoots and grids.

 

[lildlege1]

Your WB was off which was pretty much the only problem

Wow this is nice!!!!!

 

[bazooka]

I like the poses and the light on her has a good quality, but the problem is that the tree is over powering her. As mentioned, the flash would fix this, giving you control over the ratio between her and the tree. Meter the tree, drop it down a stop or two, then use a flash to bring her back up.

 

[benny420]

Thanks for your input, but being a n00b I don't really understand your advice completely.....to underexpose the background does that mean meter on the background and drop it down a stop?? Don't think that could be what you're saying as it would result in my daughter being out of focus....so maybe meter my daughters face and drop it down?
I agree tho that I need more experience using my flash, but with my wife there it wasn't the opportunity to experiment! What official product would you recommend to narrow the beam?? If I throw a cereal box on there my crazy wife is going to think I'm the crazy one!!

First off, I forgot to add the smilie after the 'stop making excuses' comment. It was just for a laugh.

If you were to use your flash you could 1) drop your ISO to reduce noise, 2) increase your shutter speed. A good rule of thumb is to have your shutter speed equal to your focal length. So if you are shooting a 50mm lens, your shutter speed should not be less than 1/50s. This is to reduce camera shake and subject motion blur. I'd also suggest to stop down the lens to an f/4 or so and still get the out of focus background. The larger the aperture, the more critical focus will be. Although you seem to have nailed it pretty good anyway, stopping down the lens will likely result in getting both eyes in sharp focus.

Metering for the background and underexposing slightly has nothing to do with focus.

I'm sure there are many other options out there, but I bought a light modifying kit for hotshoe flashes from David Honl. I like them and will use quite often, particularly the snoots and grids.

So let me see if I understand what you're saying.....put it in manual mode and focus on the tree to "meter" it and have it about 1 stop underexposed then re-focus on my daughter?? Sorry, I'm a noob and don't know a way to meter something without focusing on it first. What am I missing?? Should I flash her directly or bounce it off my ceiling/wall?

BTW, I understand every other point you make.....I know about camera shake using such a slow shutter speed and the noise going up as the ISO value increases.....I used such a slow shutter speed in order to use a lower ISO. Chose 2.2 as the aperture because I felt I could keep her entire face in focus and didn't want to go to 4.0 because I felt the tree would seem too in focus because she was sitting pretty close to it.

Thanks for all the help, really trying to improve my technique! Curious what sort of light setup you would recommend for a beginner who wants to shoot some really good portraits? Any other accessories you would recommend for my flash??

 

[kundalini]

All my lighting gear is at my girlfriends house. I suspect I'll be taking some Xmas photos this coming weekend and will try to remember to post some examples for you. That's, of course, if I get any keepers.

Basically, you expose for the background and flash for the subject.