Homecoming Portrait -- what happens when you don't know what you're doing (Page 2): :mrgreen: Well, now I've got the big head! :-D Thank you so much! (And I will practice! I'm in the...

Pockets Loc: Dallas Metro

Sherman A1 wrote:

For those of us who do not do this on a regular basis, there is just like anything else in life, a whole bunch to remember. I would have to improve to reach the level of amateur in photography, but I enjoy trying.
The only other thought I simply to take a bunch of shots and you are bound to hit something(s) that is good. :-D

This was a good photo, so don't beat yourself up because it might have been something a little more. You did good. :thumbup:

:mrgreen: Well, now I've got the big head! :-D Thank you so much! (And I will practice! I'm in the same boat)

Tracy B. Loc: Indiana

I had this problem also. I would think that using more than one autofocus point, maybe using the three across would also help keep both people in focus more. I used f2.8 because I wanted to use low ISO and needed more light, so I wanted a large aperture.

lateron Loc: Yorkshire, England

Pockets wrote:

I took this pic of my nephew and his date on the stairway in my house. Getting enough light on them was a challenge without it being too harsh, but my other issue was getting them both in focus. I think my AV was too wide because my nephew was not focused, though his date was (more or less) :-).

Question -- how do you shoot a picture like this, especially where the subjects are not close in height?

I think that you did well considering the difficulties.

roxiemarty Loc: Florida

I agree with odd jobber. The aperture should be around f8, a good rule is the more people in the photo, increase the aperature. Otherwise not enough DOF. It's a pretty good portrait though. Nice looking young couple!

ralphc4176 Loc: Conyers, GA

A smaller aperture would help. If you don't have enough light for a smaller aperture at a reasonable shutter speed, you might try a higher ISO setting to shoot a smaller aperture, unless that gets you into the grainy range. Also, a wide angle lens will have better depth of field than a "normal" or telephoto lens.

Tracy B. Loc: Indiana

What if you want a shallow depth of field. But have two people in focus?

manofhg Loc: Knoxville, TN

I think it would be a good shot once the color balance is corrected. I shot some similar shots some years ago and had some of the same problems of indoor, sometimes low light where I didn't want to up the ISO, but also had to consider the difficulty in keeping them still enough.

If I were (not if, but when) to repeat it, I would use an off camera flash or on camera, but well diffused. That would allow for enough light to increase your f-stop as well as stop motion, and get the color balance right.

boberic Loc: Quiet Corner, Connecticut. Ex long Islander

Pockets wrote:

I took this pic of my nephew and his date on the stairway in my house. Getting enough light on them was a challenge without it being too harsh, but my other issue was getting them both in focus. I think my AV was too wide because my nephew was not focused, though his date was (more or less) :-).

Question -- how do you shoot a picture like this, especially where the subjects are not close in height?

I have no problem with he being taller than she. I like the railing in the shot. It shows that they are on a stairway. I do have a problem with the window as background. It is very distracting, and takes the viewers attention away from the couple.

Meives Loc: FORT LAUDERDALE

[quote=Pockets]Pockets, I checked your camera data and show the lens was wide open at f 2.8 and ISO was only 100. If you increase ISO to 400 or 800 you can close f stop to f 8 or f11 and get a much larger DOF (depth of field). Also the rule for speed of shutter is 1/mm and you were at 120 mm so 1/120 would be the slowest you could shoot, but you were at 1/20. David

gemlenz Loc: Gilbert Arizona

This looks like a white balance problem to me.

Pockets wrote:

I took this pic of my nephew and his date on the stairway in my house. Getting enough light on them was a challenge without it being too harsh, but my other issue was getting them both in focus. I think my AV was too wide because my nephew was not focused, though his date was (more or less) :-).

Question -- how do you shoot a picture like this, especially where the subjects are not close in height?

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

Pockets wrote:

I took this pic of my nephew and his date on the stairway in my house. Getting enough light on them was a challenge without it being too harsh, but my other issue was getting them both in focus. I think my AV was too wide because my nephew was not focused, though his date was (more or less) :-).

Question -- how do you shoot a picture like this, especially where the subjects are not close in height?

Getting both of them in focus is a matter of two things:

1.) Distance to subject

2.) Aperture size.

Adjusting both will get you where you need to be.

Imagine a flat plane that moves out from the lens of the camera floating in space...and it moves away from you...and it's "thickness" represents the amount that's in focus.

When it's close to you and the aperture is large (like it was in your shot) it's very thin. The farther it goes...the thicker it gets, and the smaller your aperture the thicker it gets.

When it "hits" your subjects, if you've done your job...it will be thick enough to have them both in focus.

So keeping your subjects parallel to that plane is important; you want that plane to hit their face first...not their knee or elbow or whatever.

So your vantage point that was below them, means that the imaginary plane hit the rail first...then their arms...and their faces last...not what you want.

make sense?

More of a concern is that it appears that you used "on board" flash...aka "pop up flash" or something similar.

Definitely not flattering light for them. The shadows get harsh and you still seem to have camera shake issues.

Next time, try to either use the room light in a flattering way or get the flash off camera or at least bounce it to the side so that it hits them from an angle.

Dan L Loc: Wisconsin

How about taking pictures of the subject or subject props before the big day, so you can run test at different camera and lighting settings. Review, retest another day, etc. That should get you in the ballpark of how you want the take picture (s), oh, don't forget to try different locations during the practice sessions. Plus, lunch will work for all the helpers hard work:)

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

By the way; I see that you shot this at the following settings:

1/20 shutter speed

ISO 100

f/2.8

You could have really helped yourself a LOT by shooting at a much higher ISO.

Let's see what you could have done.

ISO 100 > 200 > 400 > 800 > 1600

That's a total of 4 stops between 100 and 1600.

So your shutter speed of 1/20 could have been:

1/20 > 1/40 > 1/80 > 1/160 (that's 3 stops)

And you could have used f/4 (for the 4th stop)

And had the equivalent exposure with a deeper depth of field and less camera shake.

jimmya Loc: Phoenix

Pockets wrote:

I took this pic of my nephew and his date on the stairway in my house. Getting enough light on them was a challenge without it being too harsh, but my other issue was getting them both in focus. I think my AV was too wide because my nephew was not focused, though his date was (more or less) :-).

Question -- how do you shoot a picture like this, especially where the subjects are not close in height?

I have to agree with the first comment about more DOF.
This is often a problem in low light conditions. The only way to get more DOF is to increase your light and get your aperture smaller.

The other way, that I see, is to position the kids more the same distance from the camera. It appears from the shot that he is standing a bit behind her. With a very short DOF he will be out if you focused on her.

Penny MG Loc: Fresno, Texas

Pockets wrote:

I took this pic of my nephew and his date on the stairway in my house. Getting enough light on them was a challenge without it being too harsh, but my other issue was getting them both in focus. I think my AV was too wide because my nephew was not focused, though his date was (more or less) :-).

Question -- how do you shoot a picture like this, especially where the subjects are not close in height?

I think it looks really nice. I see a bit or red tint....but white balance can fix that. I bet anyone without a "trained" eye to look for these things would think it is a wonderful picture! :thumbup: :thumbup: