KellyNunna Loc: Pennsylvania

I had the opportunity to do a "photo shoot" with my son, his wife, and new baby. I had two umbrellas on stands with lights and I turned on every light in the room. I positioned the couch near the french doors for extra light as well. I put the umbrellas behind me. I believe my mistake in these two combination shots are the wide aperture. Also, I used the center focal point. Is that correct? Where do I focus? Between all three subjects? I did not use my on-camera flash and I have yet to purchase an off camera flash or a tripod. And...I am very much a "hungry" newbie...cc please :o)

Dark cloth behind subjects


French door outside light to Left

KellyNunna Loc: Pennsylvania

Whoops...forgot pertinent information...

Canon T4i, 50mm lens
ISO 200-400
Aperture 3.5
SS varies
AWB, Center/Spot Meter

OriginalCyn Loc: Connecticut

The first thing that jumps out at me is (besides the cuteness factor) is that you could separate the family from the blanket further so it would soften the lines in the background...

Armadillo Loc: Ventura, CA

KellyNunna,

You did a pretty good job with what you have to work with. You have some soft focus issues to correct on the next try. You can practice, and modify these suggested settings in your home with a child's toy doll.

Close out all outside lighting.
Increase the lamp output of the umbrellas to above 150W
Place the subject at least 5 feet in front of a wall, or backdrop
Place the umbrellas 5 feet in front of the subject, and 45 degrees from center point facing the subject

Set your camera on a tripod at 20feet in front of the subject.
Install your 18 - 300mm lens on camera.
Set camera ISO = 200.
Set camera to Aperture Priority, F/8 - f/11
Set Camera mode to Manual
Set Shutter to 1/200
Set camera White Balance to the lighting source color temp.
Use a shutter cable release to trigger the shutter.

Use Center Point Focus and focus on the eyes of the subject.
Press the shutter button half way down to set focus, then recompose the imag and close the shutter button.

For tripod use you should turn off Vr

Take your first exposure.
You can modify the above suggested setting, but you must understand what you are doing with each change. The Aperture Priority setting will give you enough DOF to get the nose to back of head in sharp focus.
The ISO will give you fine grain properties for enlargements.
The shutter will sync with strobes and flash if you are using strobe lamps.
The Zoom Lens will allow you to get far enough away from live subjects so you are not "In Their Face".
The Zoom lens will compress the distance and help prevent perspective distortion.

Practice on a non live subject, they have a lot more patience than live humans.

Michael G

KellyNunna Loc: Pennsylvania

Thank you very much, Michael, for taking the time to give me detailed information. I will most definitely put your suggestions into practice. An additional question...if I am shooting 3 subjects...which eyes do I focus on? Or do I focus in the middle of all 3 and using f8-11 should all be in focus?

KellyNunna Loc: Pennsylvania

Thank you, Cyn, for taking the time to offer a suggestion as well...Yes...I believe I should have moved more furniture around and backed up. Is dark or light preferred as a backdrop? And, for the subjects...dark or light?

Armadillo Loc: Ventura, CA

KellyNunna,

You would try to average the three subjects, and focus on the one in the middle. This is where the photographer needs to take control of the scene, try to get all subjects on the same plane of focus.

If you have two adults, place them on the outer side, place the child in the middle, and squeeze all three close together, and they will be in the same general plane of focus from the camera.

Depending on the focal length of your lens, f/8 - f/11 should provide acceptable focus range from the adult nose to the back of the head.

Michael G

jwhphotos Loc: Maryland

The second and third appear to be underexposed and need to be brightened by 1-2 stops. For the first, you need to move the subjects to a position a couple feet in front of the background. The camera should be around 5 feet from the subjects. For a group such as this where all three are in or close to the same focus plane, an aperture of f5.6 or so at with about a 35mm lens would work.

But, all measurements are dependent on the space available, the lens available, and the lighting.

Practice, practice, and practice some more and get a book on basic portraiture.

KellyNunna Loc: Pennsylvania

Thank you for the advice, Michael...I will apply your suggestions in practice.

KellyNunna Loc: Pennsylvania

Thank you, jwhphotos, for your suggestions. I am practicing ALOT!! Any suggestions on a popular, good book?

jwhphotos Loc: Maryland

Here's one http://photo.net/learn/portraits/
You can find many more online with google. Barnes and noble has a whole section on photography. Just browse through the selections and pick ond that appeals to you. It is equally important to look at what others have done.

autofocus Loc: North Central Connecticut

RE: armadillo "Set camera to Aperture Priority, F/8 - f/11"
"Set Camera mode to Manual"


All good info, but I guess I'm a little confused with this..why set to aperture priority, and then set to manual when it all can be set in manual mode?

Armadillo Loc: Ventura, CA

Autofocus,

Sorry for the confusion. I did not go into minute detail because I don't know how much the poster knows about the camera settings, and I chose not to assume the poster was totally ignorant about photography.

"Set camera to Aperture Priority, F/8 - f/11"
"Set Camera mode to Manual"

Set Aperture Priority, auto focus on the person in the center, eyes.

Set camera mode to Manual, turn off auto focus, recompose portrait scene, make a test exposure, and adjust exposure values as needed for a perfect capture.

Michael G

autofocus Loc: North Central Connecticut

Well Michael, I guess I'm still confused, maybe more so now, with what you are suggesting. Let me start by saying my wife and I are portrait / lifestyle photographers. In addition, there still is a few unknowns about the ops application. All things considered much of what you said is good information, such as the position of the lights, the subject distance from the background, shooting at f/8 - f/11 to maximize DOF, etc. What we don't know is about the lighting...is it constant power, if so, their power ratings, or strobes? Are they shoot through umbrellas, or reflective umbrellas, white or silver? If they are constant power, and not particularly powerful, shooting at f/8 or f/11 may not let enough light in for proper exposure, and would entail higher ISO settings, or slower shutter speeds, and/or a wider aperture..each having their potential downsides. We also don't know if the op is shooting in "One Shot" mode which is a must in most portrait applications, and not in AI Servo, or AI Focus. At this time we simply do not know these details, and it's hard to make meaningful recommendations.
Pertaining to your suggestions and what I am at odds with is this:
-set camera to aperture priority, set desired aperture, and then switch to manual mode...why? when you can set your desired aperture in manual mode, so why the switch?
- pre-focus using the center focus point in autofocus, and then turn off autofocus??...this will certainly set yourself up for failure and unsharp photos..a very odd, and unnecessary step. And using the center focus point/re-compose method is not always the most reliable. For that reason, we (the wife and I) always select a focus point on, or near the nearest eye of the subject. Additionally, the group size, and their arrangement will always be a key factor in your choice of f/stop, and all subjects lined up in a straight line usually isn't the nicest composition.

KellyNunna Loc: Pennsylvania

Interesting...I shoot in manual mode and set my aperture wide but not to max w/ the 50mm. I worked to adjust the proper exposure manually while attempting to keep the iso as low as possible, yet trying to keep SS faster for less camera shake. One shot mode...I use autofocus with center focus point as I have a difficult time w/ manual focus and getting a sharp image. I do view @ 100% which is maybe overkill...then decide if composition is worth keeping. My concern is getting all subjects in focus and where to focus to achieve that end...I used two white umbrellas with attached lights that look lome large energy saver bulbs...

I am really appreciating this discussion...