post by blackhawk | | This member has been banned. See the banlist for more information.
Re: I love this portrait. Any way to improve for next time? <Reply # 1 on 12/17/2017 3:47 AM >
The focus lock-on point needs to be on the eye. Blur the hair not the eye; the window to the soul.
Get a spot AF lock-on the eye, hold, recompose and shoot. Because of the moisture, eyes are easy lock-ons except the hair is also a high contrast target. Or manually dial it it although this can be difficult to do with many cams especially if the face isn't filling the frame. Or get an AF lock up on the hair and guess-a-mate the manual dial in correction on the focus ring. With an AF lock-up on the hair, holding it and then moving the cam forward an inch or two or so is an easy way to get it as well.
Stopping up the aperture setting can help but it won't totally correct a focus error. It also takes away that stand out impact that a wider setting gives. A big trade off if that's the effect you want to achieve. Background blur suffers as well. f/5.6-8.0 are generally work good for many lens if you have enough light. Shooting wide open demands solid AF lock-ons and some lens are at their sharpest wide open like the Canon 70-200 f2.8 Stopping that puppy down is most times a disservice to the image.
Different situations call for different techniques to grab the image. Becoming fast and fluid means recognizing and knowing the limits of the cam/lense, working within their limits and lots of practice. Multiple set ups/shots are best if you aren't sure the settings are spot on... if you have that luxury. Shooting people is one of the funnest and most challenging types of shooting. Fast set-ups and framing are needed for street shooting; it needs to be second nature and fluid to avoid losing stone cold keepers. Aim for 3 seconds or less with a composed squared off image and shutter release. Even that's an eternity... This is where the right top end lens and pro cams came into their own. I wuv action shooting gear.
[last edit 12/17/2017 3:59 AM by blackhawk - edited 1 times]
post by That_Dude | | Re: I love this portrait. Any way to improve for next time? <Reply # 2 on 12/28/2017 9:40 PM >
I'm not that technically savvy with cameras but I would have moved to the left so her face is centered in the opening and the sides of the window are not covered by her hair. Also, I would use a 50mm f1.4 lens or something similar to really blow out the background and bring out the subject.
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