4th shot is great, and you got the rarely-seen stick whip in the 6th. That looked like a fun night to be there - Pirates and Princesses - glad the adults were joining in too!

I had one of these for years before the autofocus failed. While the newer 70-200 is faster and better glass, that lens in no slouch! If it’s working right, that lens is DEFINITELY worth $300 (US or CAN).

I cannot help with your specific question, but I was in Iceland in January and got so many great pictures! Be prepared to store more pictures than you think you’d ever take, then double that. Also, it was the windiest place ever, be prepared to not be able to stand still on your own for pictures - like heavyweight tripods if you are doing northern lights long exposures.

Thank you for always giving shot info. It’s like a peek behind the curtain for us strugglers. Also, I love that this is an older camera - photography knowledge and skill will always be more important than fancy new technology.

This isn’t a start, it can’t be adjusted if it’s a fixed lens. Really the shape of that eye is two fixed lenses, the front and the back, so it can only focus those two distances. This is not the start of a new type of lens. There’s a reason why evolution left this idea behind millions of years ago. It was a leap over the single focal point, but it couldn’t be improved on without making parts movable. That’s just the physics of lenses.

You will note that it only has two distances that are in focus. While a huge jump in evolution of the eye, not really useful for most photographers.

My surprise sharpest lens (outside the trinity) is the 24-85. It is an “FX” lens, but I use it on my d5200 all the time. It is fairly light, gives a decent zoom range, is not too expensive, and it super sharp.

I have a 2012 Mac that was revived with an ssd. It is now my daughter’s computer and still going strong. The big questions are: can you install it yourself (it’s not that tough)? Do you need all that space?
Paying someone to install a 1+ TB ssd drive will be expensive and it may be worth just buying a new computer. If you can do it yourself and you can (with archiving a few thousand pictures) do with a smaller drive, you could revive this for a couple hundred.

I definitely start with the rule of thirds and then decide if I have reason to break the rules before I finalize my shot.

Rochester, NH

Thank you Thomas, great info and food for thought - being somewhat inexperienced to posed portraiture, I’ve never considered hair light from directly above.

I will admit I did not grow up with exposure to ballet - my daughters have been dancing for near a decade, so my draw is more recent. Photographing their recitals has over the years turned into me getting requests from other families, and eventually an “official photographer” credit from the studio. Dancers are just so fun to shoot, but I also have never had the opportunity to direct them for a photo shoot. I’m hoping to find some volunteers to start playing more in their studio soon!

Thomas - as always, I love the professional photos you share here. The thoughtfulness - from makeup to background to hair, you don’t let the details go unattended.

I was hoping you could share your lighting/background setup here - I have been considering working with some local ballerinas and have been toying with different background/lighting ideas. Is it just a huge black background or is she well lit in a darker room and you cleaned up stray lines in post?

Keep posting and stay safe!

Hi Fran,

I think I was in the same place you are now a few years ago and have been working on portraiture for the last few years. With that said, my experience on in this particular forum “professional and advanced portraiture” is that the real pros are very helpful with fine tuning and specific questions, but you may not entice them to comment on this thread without specific things you want help with.

Things to start out with:

Planning - we don’t want distractions in the portrait. Everything is serving a purpose. Do I want the corner of two walls to stab my subject in the head? Sometimes the answer is yes, but everything should be a planned.

Next, portraits call for controlling light - it can be natural light or flashes etc - but you are trying to get the best light possible. There are a ton of resources out there and some pretty inexpensive, good systems to get off-camera flash setups.

Then we have to get good at post-processing. The second shot is underexposed (to me). With some reworking, it may jump out as your favorite picture. Maybe you wanted it that way? It is all about the effect you’re going for - if you’re going for dark and mysterious, the pros here can help you do that so it’s eye-popping.

Keep in mind these are the ideas of another amateur who maybe knows enough to get himself in trouble, nothing more. Maybe one of the pros will jump on and give way more useful comments.

I have a 610 that has had sensor spots, too. The last time I cleaned it was about 5000 clicks ago and I still have no spots as of a few days ago. Everyone has to clean their sensors, the 610 just makes it apparent for you. Get a decent sensor cleaning kit and you can get 12 cleanings for 1/2 the price of one at a camera shop.

First: great shot and great shooting info for us!
Second: when you say foam board at shoulder level, am I correct in guessing that is was directly in front of the model reflecting up?