Photographers' Union Thread

[Cactus Annie]

That's just reminded me, I need to get my film in my camera developed.

[Liesje]

Originally Posted by stammer476 This may sound kind of dumb, but the explanation that really "clicked" with me about aperture was to think of your lens like your pupil. When you want to see far away, you squint. So the smaller your aperture, the further your focus (and also the more light you'll need). Don't know if that helps, but it helped me.

Good way of explaining it!

I shoot a lot of dog portraits (for fun, not for other people) and try position the dog or myself so the lighting is deal but sometimes have a DOF problem. I like bokeh and I like shallow DOF but sometimes the dog's face is so deep, either the tip of the nose or the ears are slightly out of focus. We had a discussion about this on a blog with someone who is a professional dog photographer, and she has had the same problem.

Like so....this is the first pic I took on manual on my new camera, lol. A quick snap of my dog standing still for 2 seconds. Not something I want to print, the colors here look true to what I saw and it's just a quick snap so no need for me to post-process. The dog's eyes are in focus but the tip of the nose is not quiet (more obvious on the original).
Exif data:
Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/400)
Aperture: f/4.8
Focal Length: 122 mm
ISO Speed: 250
Exposure Bias: 0 EV

Critique and tell me what I should have done differently

[ntalwar]

Originally Posted by Liesje I shoot a lot of dog portraits (for fun, not for other people) and try position the dog or myself so the lighting is deal but sometimes have a DOF problem. I like bokeh and I like shallow DOF but sometimes the dog's face is so deep, either the tip of the nose or the ears are slightly out of focus. We had a discussion about this on a blog with someone who is a professional dog photographer, and she has had the same problem.

How many feet are you from the dog, and how many feet is the dog from the bushes? Try to vary those - they are important factors. Also try up to f/8 for portraits (depending on distance to subject).

[Liesje]

Generally I am 10-20 feet away (I'm thinking in terms of my backyard and where I stand when the dogs play). If I'm too close I can't use that lens (like my 55-200VR lens). In that pic the dog is probably 8 feet from the bushes.

How far away should I be?

[ntalwar]

Originally Posted by Liesje Generally I am 10-20 feet away (I'm thinking in terms of my backyard and where I stand when the dogs play). If I'm too close I can't use that lens (like my 55-200VR lens). In that pic the dog is probably 8 feet from the bushes. How far away should I be?

Nikon's site says the minimum focusing distance for that lens is about 3 feet. To use a smaller aperture (e.g. f/6 to f/8) and still get the bokeh, I would get in a few feet closer and use a more distant background (e.g. 20-30 feet).

[Liesje]

K, thanks! At the moment the bush is all I have since it's an evergreen and we don't have leaves until late May or June 3 feet seems really close, I don't think I've ever been able to focus that close with that lens besides with my macro adapter on it (but the closer I am to the dogs, the more likely they are going to run and jump on me or lick the lens!).

[Liesje]

Is this one better? I was much farther from the dog than the previous pic, but and the background was farther back as well. Light was kind of bright but these women asked us to snap a headshot of their puppy and they wanted him to look nice and red/yellow. F/5.3, 1/640, 145mm.

When I look at the original of this one, the face seems to be equally in focus (rather than the nose or ears slightly out)


But then this one, the nose is out of focus (f/5.6, 1/500, 200mm)


This one turned out OK I think but it's from the side so there's not the same depth like there is from the nose to the earset (also f/5.6, 1/500, 200mm)

[Mofo]

Justin you should buy yourself a grey card, they are quite cheap!! your white balance is way off in some pics, and the first and second are out of focus probably because of the shutter speed you were using, another tip with the black background the best way to achieve a true black is to put the subject as far as you can from the background

[ntalwar]

Originally Posted by Liesje Is this one better? I was much farther from the dog than the previous pic, but and the background was farther back as well. Light was kind of bright but these women asked us to snap a headshot of their puppy and they wanted him to look nice and red/yellow. F/5.3, 1/640, 145mm.

Those look good. Experimenting with smaller aperture + distant background should help.

[Diemen]

Originally Posted by Liesje Good way of explaining it! I shoot a lot of dog portraits (for fun, not for other people) and try position the dog or myself so the lighting is deal but sometimes have a DOF problem. I like bokeh and I like shallow DOF but sometimes the dog's face is so deep, either the tip of the nose or the ears are slightly out of focus. We had a discussion about this on a blog with someone who is a professional dog photographer, and she has had the same problem. Like so....this is the first pic I took on manual on my new camera, lol. A quick snap of my dog standing still for 2 seconds. Not something I want to print, the colors here look true to what I saw and it's just a quick snap so no need for me to post-process. The dog's eyes are in focus but the tip of the nose is not quiet (more obvious on the original). Exif data: Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/400) Aperture: f/4.8 Focal Length: 122 mm ISO Speed: 250 Exposure Bias: 0 EV Critique and tell me what I should have done differently

If you stopped down to f5.6 you'd probably get the nose in focus without affecting the background blur too much. I'd also look into framing a little differently. Try composing the shot so the dog's head is more to one side of the frame, rather than in the middle. The rule of thirds comes in pretty handy for that (divide the frame into thirds vertically and horizontally, and try to place your main subject along those lines). It's not a hard and fast rule (sometimes centering the subject gives more impact), but it often will help give the picture a more dynamic feel and help guide the viewer's eye through it.

Here's a quick crop:

[Justin24]

Originally Posted by Mofo Justin you should buy yourself a grey card, they are quite cheap!! your white balance is way off in some pics, and the first and second are out of focus probably because of the shutter speed you were using, another tip with the black background the best way to achieve a true black is to put the subject as far as you can from the background

The background was actually blue. I should have used a faster shutter speed. I should have used a faster shutter speed. I used Daylight WB and Tungsten. I kinda like the effect. I also messed around in Photo shop.

[Mofo]

Originally Posted by Justin24 The background was actually blue. I should have used a faster shutter speed. I should have used a faster shutter speed. I used Daylight WB and Tungsten. I kinda like the effect. I also messed around in Photo shop.

oh for the black background I was talking about the b/w photo, the thing is there's a blueish cast in the 2dn pic, I'd recommend calibrating your monitor to see the true colors you are working/messing around with

[Justin24]

Do you recommend a good site to help calibrate my computer monitor? as far as the blueish cast I kind of made it look that way? I don't know why?

[Justin24]

The thing is I never intended to shoot anything. My cousin was working on a class project (beginning color photography) and I decided to grab my camera and shoot away.

[ntalwar]

Originally Posted by Justin24 The background was actually blue. I should have used a faster shutter speed. I should have used a faster shutter speed. I used Daylight WB and Tungsten. I kinda like the effect. I also messed around in Photo shop.

I agree with the bluish cast on her face. I'm not a PS expert, but a quick way to correct it in PS is to bring up the Levels box and click the white eyedropper on the white of the eye (or another area that should be white).