Camera Labs

I am new to the site and just purchased my first D-SLR.

Thought I would put up a fist attempt with no image manipulation just straight off the Camera.

Any views are much appreciated.


http://www.markkehoemassage.com/Sweet_Innocent.html

http://www.markkehoemassage.com/Dont_Take_My_Pic.html


Thanks
Mark

Good composition & lighting. Looks like you just missed the focus on the eyes in #1 (tough with playful kids) but very nice pics.

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Nikon D700 & D7100 bodies + Nikkor 300mm F2.8 VR11, 1.7TC, 50mm F1.4G, 16-35mm f/4G VR, 105 F2.8 VR macro, 70-300mm lenses. A couple of filters, Giotto tripod & ballhead. Lowepro Slingshot 302 AW

http://www.flickr.com/photos/oldcarlos/

Is #1 a crop of a larger image?
It's clear that the focal point is about collar/ear level. Was he moving/leaning forward as the shot was taken?

I was reading earlier about this issue and as soon as I saw the pic it took my mind back to this post.

Baby / Child photography - tips and equipment paradox

I'm not saying the pic is wrong...I am trying to learn from what I am reading and from what I see others doing. I'm also looking at pics to see if I can see how it could have been done differently...(not better). I can see that sometimes we make choices in our pics that others would not have chosen.
Personally I like the slight focus miss...but I would have drawn the focal point forward so that nothing was in focus.

I see a nice image that I like. Just wondered how you got to it.

SUNR15E

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D300s - MB-D10 - 18-200mm f3.5-5.6 - 50 mm f1.8 - 360AFD - bottle of water - and a kebab...


Find me SUNR15E, on Flickr.

Or find me on facebook SUNR15E PHOTOGRAPHIC

Thanks for the comments gents...


SUNR15E:

It's of my little nephew that doesn't ever stop moving, I was just testing out my new toy and thought the pics were a little more interesting than the 140 others ha ha.

To answer your question, he was moving and then shoving his hand out at the same time telling me not to take his pic.

I was using the Canon 50mm Lens which seems to be my favourite in this short space of time I have been using it. The only thing I have noticed at the minute that it is very close when shooting in say a living room where this was, so how would you focus in front for instance?

Thanks again for the comments, it is really helpful.
Mark

First off i'd like to say I really like the focus on the hand in #2, it emphasises what he is saying. I like the pic!

50mm in a small space can be challenging (on a cropped sensor) so if you shoot a lot of pics like this you may want a wider lens?

Re focusing on his eye, or anything else that's a bit more critical & unforgiving, try changing the focus points setting on your camera. (i'm not familiar with Canon though)

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Nikon D700 & D7100 bodies + Nikkor 300mm F2.8 VR11, 1.7TC, 50mm F1.4G, 16-35mm f/4G VR, 105 F2.8 VR macro, 70-300mm lenses. A couple of filters, Giotto tripod & ballhead. Lowepro Slingshot 302 AW

http://www.flickr.com/photos/oldcarlos/

A simple way I have found to focus just in front of the subject is to focus on the closes part ie. Nose... And then move back a small amount. This then throws the nose slightly out of focus thus giving the fully out of focus image I was talking about.

Here I started by letting the camera do it's job. Letting it pick all the settings that it wanted, while focusing on the chair back.
Then I turned the focus to manual. Leaving everything as it was.
Then slowly moved back a little for each shot.
At first glance they are all pretty much the same shot...(special thanks to my model for sitting still for so long).
And they could have been cropped so that they all matched the first pic.
Yes I could have simply left it on Full Auto and simply focused on the bit I wanted but that would not have shown what I wanted to show.

I'm not talking about large movement each was less than 6inches For the first shot I believe the camera picked 3.5feet

This also helped me understand the exact point where the lens is actually focused.

1. Focus on Chair by SUNR15E, on Flickr

2. Focus on Ear by SUNR15E, on Flickr

3. Focus on Cheek by SUNR15E, on Flickr

4. Focus on Nose by SUNR15E, on Flickr

5. Focus In Front of Face by SUNR15E, on Flickr

Sorry Boring I know. But I think it shows what I meant. Simply leaving the camera set to one point of focus and moving back controls that small degree which the eye sometimes missed. And As stated in the thread I made reference to, children don't tend to sit still for us to take loads of pics. Setting the camera to focus on the one point you need helps keep those images sharp. Sometimes it's simply down to pot luck.

But it is fun to try.

SUNR15E

As a footnote..No the background had NO planning or thought.

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D300s - MB-D10 - 18-200mm f3.5-5.6 - 50 mm f1.8 - 360AFD - bottle of water - and a kebab...


Find me SUNR15E, on Flickr.

Or find me on facebook SUNR15E PHOTOGRAPHIC

Hi All,

oldCarlos:
Thanks for your comments again.... I was reading things about a wide lens but was getting confused with which wide lens I should go for?

I can see they range in price and quality, any views would be much appreciated??



SUNR15E:
Not boring at all and extremely helpful...

I will play about with that and as you mentioned in your earlier post I had messed around with the focus points and forgot about changing them.
Whether right or wrong I have been playing with the shutter speed to allow for a lighter or darker picture rather than the other settings and trying not to use the flash as much...
In addition i have been leaving the ISO to auto which I want to also look into more.


Thanks for all the help and if anyone can make any suggestions on a Canon or similar Wide Lens it would be a massive help??

Mark

If you are planning a lot of landscape and architectural photography then yep I would say get a good Lens designed for the job...My choice for that would be Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM. The 16-35mm Give a good range and "L" factor makes it a good buy.

But if you want to read more then try this link.
Recommended Canon wide-angle lenses for landscape and architectural photography
Or
Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM
Which although you loose at 16-23mm off one end you gain 36-70mm at the other. Depending on what you need on a regular basis I would be looking at those. Check this link
Recommended Canon lenses for portrait, wedding and low-light photography

I would say have a good read and see where the thought patterns take you. Don't jump in too fast when buying lenses. You will never get the images you want from the WRONG lens. You may get something close but often close just does not fill the gap.

If you want good portrait pics don't confuse wide angle which are great for group shots for the longer focal lengths which are so much better for portraits aim to hit between 50mm and 135mm depending on what you need.

If you are aiming for head to toe, you could get away with a 50-70mm lens. If they are sitting, a 70-105mm works really well.

Personally I hate 90% of the rules which dictate how we are supposed to choose these things. And I often find budget dictates the Lenses we buy rather than the ultimate lens for the job we have in mind. Compromise is a nasty word. But until we can buy one of everything for the price of a loaf of bread we are stuck with the dilema....value for money vs desire. Like it or not we most of us are stuck with tight budgets.

SUNR15E

To those who are reading this....PLEASE if I have got anything way wrong tell me fast so I can correct it rather than give incorrect info. I'm learning too. And yes I know some people will tell me everything I have said is wrong....so please add your views rather than just tell me I am wrong.

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D300s - MB-D10 - 18-200mm f3.5-5.6 - 50 mm f1.8 - 360AFD - bottle of water - and a kebab...


Find me SUNR15E, on Flickr.

Or find me on facebook SUNR15E PHOTOGRAPHIC

Not sure which Canon you have but assume if your finding 50mm a tad too long it's a crop frame camera similar to my 550D

I also going my 50mm f1.8 too long for a lot of stuff so invested in a Sigma 30mm f1.4 and LOVE it!

You can see some images I've got from it here in my Decemberfest post http://www.cameralabs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=28767

For landscapes I find I'm mainly using my 18 to 135 kit lens at its widest so any zoom that didn't have 15 to 18 in its range would not fit for this use on my crop frame sensor

Hope this helps

Ian

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Canon EOS 550D (with Magic Lantern)
18mm - 135mm Kit Lens, 50mm f1.8, Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC HSM
430EX II Flash with Phottix Strato Wireless Tigger Set
Manfrotto 190CXPRO3 with 496 Ball Head. Gorilla Pod SLR
Canon Powershot A720IS with CHDK and intervalometer script. Pentax Optio W90

My Blog - http://www.ianganderton.wordpress.com

I bought my first DSLR around 5 years ago as I wanted better kids photos. The P&S we had was good for getting everything in focus, but the delay and lack of speed meant that subjects were motion blurred or the moment was lost.

Now with a 4 and 6 year old and three nieces and nephews I have found that the most reliable and consistent way of getting photos with a DSLR is to use a general purpose lens and add a flash. ie I got the 15-85 and use the 430, by mostly bouncing it off the ceiling ( but not always, need to experiment) . It freezes the action at a fast shutterspeed ie 250s. It may not give you the perfect shot, but gives you plenty of dof and you end up with sharp pictures, often you only get one chance to get the shot.

I often use the 50 and the 85 prime for indoor shots/portrait and as I usually want to capture face expressions I almost always use the 85 1.8.
The 50 1.8 isn`t sharp enough at 1.8 and better when stepping down and its often too wide. Aside from that, my copy at least, is inconsistent in its focus accuracy. It depends on how far away the subject is, it front focuses if I am closer than 1.2 -1.5 m away and then its much better. Its focus speed when in AIServo is also a bit slow, I wished I had bought the 50 1.4.

Outdoors using the AIServo and centre spot focus will allow you to track the kids faces for fun fast action shots. The 85 1.8 is good for that too.

Ideally I would love a 30 prime next for when I want to capture more of the wider scene in low light. The Sigma does look like the goods.


If you get plenty of natural sunlight indoors that is ideal, but its not often the case. Using primes with apertures wide open can produce great results, but pick you subject carefully and what you want in focus. I have got many missed photos, typically at kids party's, ie cutting the cake. Fortunately wife was using the kit lens and Sony A100 with flash and got the shots.

You may benefit from getting a flash and using your kit lens, I assume you got a kit lens?

Or you can upgrade your kit lens to something like the 17-55 2.8 IS USM or the cheaper Tamron 17-50 2.8. You may still need a flash, but they are more suited to low light stuff than the kit lens.

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Canon Powershot S95, Canon 7D, 15-85, Canon 85 1.8 USM, Sigma 30 1.4, 50mm 1.8, Canon 100 2.8L IS Macro, Canon 70-300L IS USM+Kenko 1.4 Pro 300DGX, Canon 430EX II and RS 4 Classic

SUNR15E:
Thanks for the links and info, I had read through the links but I guess its just a learning curve and I should probably play around with the kit lens and 50mm and see how I get on.

I have looked at the lens recommended and will put some thought into them.

Thanks again.....



Hi Ian,

I Have a 600D - Interesting you mention the Sigma 30mm, a friend of mine has a Nikon and mentioned their 35mm.

How do you find it differs from the 50mm?
(still trying to get my head around these pesky lenses lol)

Just going to have a look at your link now

Thanks for the advice!!



maxjj

I was looking at the flash options, did you invest in the IR and remote in addition to the flash?.... I was trying to price up what I would need.
I have sen some great examples of images using the external flash.

Thanks for the information on the 85 in addition to the 50.

I think I need to do some more research and possibly look at the flash against a new lens??

One thing is for sure I am loving my new toy

All the information is much appreciated.

Mark

Despite the fact these are exceptional lenses, they are not considered UWA on your 600D. The widest you'll get on the crop frame Canon is the Sigma 8-16, although I suspect you'll see less barrel distortion and CA with the Canon 10-22.

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Thanks for the info UKmitch86.

Just had a look through a few of your pics what was your setup for the Blue-Billed Bird image?

a Canon 500D with the yr2010 image stabilised Tamron 70-300 VC USD. Camera settings are in the bottom right corner of the screen.

I think you've got the right attitude, some people come on here with more money than sense - I was one of them! sooner or later you realise there's more than one way to skin a cat, some being significantly cheaper.

Another thing not to overlook for yourself is used equipment. I've picked up a couple of lenses on the used market and it's always my first port of call when shopping. The deals are fantastic and it's not like you're buying duds. Just go into the shop and give it a try, do your reading first though.

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