Karina

[Catalina]

This is my first portrait with an adequate background. Lets see if I did it well or not,please comment.

Cordially,

Catalina

[Digital]

Attractive young lady. I find the focus is a little soft. IMHO the background is sufficient.


Bruce

[Catalina]

The autofocus of the camera was not working,I focused the image all by myself. But what does it mean? that she is not sharp enough?

[shreds]

Nice first shot Catalina.

Can you tell us a little more about the settings you used, apart from the auto focus not working?

[Digital]

The autofocus of the camera was not working,I focused the image all by myself. But what does it mean? that she is not sharp enough?

The subject would benefit from a sharper focus.

Bruce

[Catalina]

My camera is a Nikon d 40. I am using the "p" mode (The camera choses aperture and time) tNikon D40
2014/01/08 22:33:15.3
JPEG (8-bit) Fine
Image Size: Large (3008 x 2000)
Color
Lens: 18-55mm F/3.5-5.6 G
Focal Length: 38mm
Exposure Mode: Programmed Auto
Metering Mode: Multi-Pattern
1/40 sec - F/4.8
Exposure Comp.: -2.0 EV
Sensitivity: ISO 200
Optimize Image: Normal
White Balance: Auto
AF Mode: Manual
Flash Sync Mode:
Flash Mode:
Auto Flash Comp:
Color Mode: Mode IIIa (sRGB)
Tone Comp.: Auto
Hue Adjustment: 0°his are the specifications:
I tried to get this photo with natural light since I don't know how to use the flash.(about four or five pm)
Karina is a country girl from Colombia, her parents works for us at the country house. She asked foe a photo in her 15th birthday

[Geoff F]

When viewed at full screen size, the focus seems a little patchy. Not overall soft though.

I wonder if you focused on a specific point? Her hair, on the shoulder appears to be well focused but her eyes, which are the important part, are fractionally softer.

Or is it simply a case of shooting with an almost fully open aperture plus a rather slow shutter speed? I think I would have increased the Iso to 400 and used a slightly narrower aperture with a fractionally faster shutter speed. Probably shooting in Aperture Priority mode. I haven't used the P setting for a long time.

Maybe try a tiny bit of extra selective sharpening on her eyes.

But to be honest, I think we may be getting ultra critical with this shot.

And I do wonder about cropping to a different size ratio to lose some of the sides? But not really a serious problem for me.

[Shadowman]

My camera is a Nikon d 40. I am using the "p" mode (The camera choses aperture and time) tNikon D40
2014/01/08 22:33:15.3
JPEG (8-bit) Fine
Image Size: Large (3008 x 2000)
Color
Lens: 18-55mm F/3.5-5.6 G
Focal Length: 38mm
Exposure Mode: Programmed Auto
Metering Mode: Multi-Pattern
1/40 sec - F/4.8
Exposure Comp.: -2.0 EV
Sensitivity: ISO 200
Optimize Image: Normal
White Balance: Auto
AF Mode: Manual
Flash Sync Mode:
Flash Mode:
Auto Flash Comp:
Color Mode: Mode IIIa (sRGB)
Tone Comp.: Auto
Hue Adjustment: 0°his are the specifications:
I tried to get this photo with natural light since I don't know how to use the flash.(about four or five pm)
Karina is a country girl from Colombia, her parents works for us at the country house. She asked foe a photo in her 15th birthday

since you focused manually did you get the green dot or " mark on the screen before pressing the shutter?

[Catalina]

since you focused manually did you get the green dot or " mark on the screen before pressing the shutter?

I had three brackets. I had to chose one. I did not try to place the bracket ( focus) over her eyes. Because they are in the middle of the frame.

She is shy in extreme and I was focusing on her smile, she gave me this half smile which was what I wanted and I did not want "to waste" my time and lose it. Don't you see that she is smiling with her eyes too ( a true smilie)

Maybe I if could talk with her so more, make her feel more at ease and take more photos of her smiling that way.

Dear John what you recommend in a situation like this one?

[Shadowman]

I had three brackets. I had to chose one. I did not try to place the bracket ( focus) over her eyes. Because they are in the middle of the frame.

She is shy in extreme and I was focusing on her smile, she gave me this half smile which was what I wanted and I did not want "to waste" my time and lose it. Don't you see that she is smiling with her eyes too ( a true smilie)

Maybe I if could talk with her so more, make her feel more at ease and take more photos of her smiling that way.

Dear John what you recommend in a situation like this one?

Catalina,

If you find yourself in the same situation orientate the camera in portrait mode so that the focus indicators are aligned vertically. That way you can choose top/middle/bottom focus indicator and align with the facial feature you prefer.

[Shadowman]

Catalina,

Here is a link to your camera's manual if you don't have it.

http://www.nikonusa.com/pdf/manuals/dslr/D40_sp02.pdf

[Catalina]

Thank you. I spent the last days on my vacation studying it ( to no avail)
thanks for your interest
Cordially,
Catalina

[shreds]

Catalina,

Thank you so much for posting the info….all those bizarre numbers do tell us a lot.

When I used to run classes in London, and at a University, the first thing we did was to try and get attendees/students to do was to understand the relationship between shutter speed and aperture, to encourage them to move away from the 'false' safety of 'P' programme mode. Otherwise the camera does what it thinks is best, but that is always a compromise. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. So try to improve the chances by controlling the situation.

Analysing, the 1/40 second exposure is probably as 'slow' as you are likely to want to go without camera shake. Parts of the image show that it is not unduly 'blurred' so it is not this that is the problem.

Getting those focussing points on the eyes is going to be the issue, see if you can use focus lock p26.

The English version is here:-

http://www.nikonusa.com/pdf/manuals/...ww2/D40_en.pdf

for anyone else following this who is not fluent in Spanish….(me!)

Yes, her hairline is as sharp as you are likely to get, but as John & Geoff have pointed out it is the eyes that will make the difference. If you can get a focus point to lock on those firstly then hold that focus whilst you recompose, then the camera will stay focussed on the eyes regardless.

A greater depth of field would undoubtedly have help get that small ½" distance all sharp, but as you were struggling with light, that probably wasn't possible (enter the complicated world of lighting and flash photography!) Actually not that difficult, but onboard camera flash is often harsh and generates red eye.

You will also see many books advise that you keep the aperture wide (e.g. small number say f3.5) to try and 'throw' the background out of focus, thus concentrating the image on the face.

and not forgetting the model……try a few things to put her at her ease…..give her the camera and ask her to take one or two of you….great way to build rapport. It makes the camera less threatening and more of a game. It might also assist in getting her to come back and pose for you again and even get that smile working more. People will smile when they are relaxed; if not, the tension shows in the face.

Thats probably enough to be going on with….longer term look at other methods of lighting or alternatively using the third tool in your camera, adjusting the ISO setting. Not too much otherwise the image will be 'noisy' but it will give you a little more flexibility in difficult situations, even though you should aim to maintain it ordinarily as low as possible. (200 ISO in the case of the D40)

[Catalina]

Dear Ian:
The idea of giving her the camera is great to make her feel at ease.
Imagine the situation, the owner of the farm, where she lives and her parents work, is a stranger to her. I had seldom talked to her. She s 15, I am 53 (but mother of 3)
You are right; is time to get out of the "security" of the "p" mode.
I studied in an academy for six months the professors never gave us an idea of the aperture or speed shut, they said try... But while you try the natural light changes, the genuine smile on the eyes disappears, the baby gets cranky and so on
A photographer is like a hunter, waiting for the exact moment to shot . But the right moment might come too early. How to be prepared? here comes the "p" mode o the rescue.

What I have been doing lately is to put the camera on the "p" mode to have an idea of the number for aperture...then I "compensate" with the shutter speed, then I concentrate in the focus (my camera offres just three possibilities),then at the composition. If you have a better idea for a beginner, a better way to do tings, please let me know.

the d 40 is uncomfortable to CHANGE THE APERTURE, you have to press two buttons at the same time.

But the most important thing to look for was the right day (a little bit cloudy) and he right hour , between four and five.

All was going well, but when the sun shined we had to change the location, but it was no good idea.The rest of photos went bad

with the sun shining behind he pine, we used a blanket but it was no good the sun shone on her face and her mother's face.

She was dreaming ( The mother)that by the time she is 15 ( a big date for a grl in Colombia) I will be able to take manificent pictures with flashes and all.

Cordially,

Catalina

Again, thank yu Ian for your valuable time.

[Manfred M]

Catalina - when shooting portraits, the focus point should always be the eyes (and specifically, the eye closest to the camera). If it / they are sharp, there can be softness in the rest of the image, but the image will still look good. I'm not sure if your camera lets you choose "single point" focus mode, if it does, you might want to select that.

If this works, then place the focus point on the eye and press the shutter release half way down. This locks the focus point. While still holding the shutter release in that position, recompose the image and when ready press the shutter release all the way and take the picture.

For portraits, you might want to consider turning your camera 90 degrees and shooting in portrait orientation. This generally produces a more pleasing format and exclused superfluous background from the image.

You might also want to consider shooting at a longer focal length. Again, for portraits, we tend to want to flatten the facial features, so shooting at the 55mm focal point will generally provide a stronger image than a shot taken as, say 38mm. Just as an aside, the most common lenses pros use for portraiture are the f/2.8 70-200mm lens (on a full-frame camera).

Another consideration would to shoot a wider aperture. I pretty well always shoot portraits using aperature priority mode on my camera. If I want to blur the background I will shoot with small aperture number and if I want great depth of field, I will choose a much larger one, say f/11.

Your shutter speed looks a bit low; staying above 1/60th second will probably be a good thing to do.

Having the autofocus not working and trying to manually focus on that camera body and lens is not especially easy to do. The focus ring throw (the angle of the lens you have to turn through) is very short and the focus screen is not particulary good for that purpose.

[shreds]

Dear Ian:
The idea of giving her the camera is great to make her feel at ease.
Imagine the situation, the owner of the farm, where she lives and her parents work, is a stranger to her. I had seldom talked to her. She s 15, I am 53 (but mother of 3)
You are right; is time to get out of the "security" of the "p" mode.
<snip>

Cordially,

Catalina

Again, thank yu Ian for your valuable time.

Catalina,

Right, lets look at the positives…you got the timing of the day right, (unless you wanted to get up real early!)

Using P mode as a 'crutch' tut tut….no no.

Set the camera for portraits on A= aperture mode (if you were shooting action then I would use S =Shutter speed mode, so we have alleviated that issue). Its a portrait, so we don't want a large depth of field, so set the aperture to f3.5 I think you said was applicable to your lens, or as close to a small number as possible (remember small f number equals large aperture). (This is only really applicable if you want to 'throw the background out of focus', otherwise the lens will produce better image quality across the board at around f8)

Keep an eye on the shutter speed, as Manfred says and personally I too would try and keep it generally 1/60 of a second or more (depends on the lens:- on my 105mm I would look at a minimum speed of 1/100 or 1/125, and on my 200mm lens, I might opt for a bit more than the minimum and go for a 1/250 as a shutter speed as long lenses exacerbate any movement).

So that leaves the third element of ISO to adjust, dependent upon lighting. I am not sure on the D40 where I would draw the line, and sometimes 'noise' is more apparent than at other times. Probably ISO 640 might be a reasonable limit but you can determine that without your model being present. But if it is light enough, keep it at ISO200.

Yes…always try and shoot portraits 'vertically', they always look better.

So, the camera is now roughly set up and ready to shoot, no boring your model, only minor adjustments to make maybe one stop or ISO setting, and you can concentrate on the most difficult thing, entertaining the model.

Professional models are usually a dream to work with unless they have attitude, they know how to strike the pose, hold it, go back to it, smile, not blink, all those thousand and one things that the rest of the population get wrong.

Always have a 'settle down' chat beforehand, involve them and what they might like to see, obviously teaching them the camera will make them realise that it is not simply point and shoot, but bear in mind they probably don't have your interest in the camera or photography, so don't bore them. Keep it light and fun. If you ever do any studio stuff or even just indoors, find out what music they like and put something on in the background, or get them dancing to it, all depends what you want the shot to look like. Mix it up though, make it an enjoyable event for them too and you will also benefit.

You might even gain a longer term photographic assistant to hold your reflector and lights if they take to it.

[David547]

Nice shot of beautiful lady ..

[Kaye Leggett]

Catalina - thank you for posting. The responses are a good lesson to us all on some good 'how to' and' how not to' points.
If you take a look at some of the 'great' professional portrait photographers you will see they don't feature smiles...... so the little smile you teased which gives Karina a slightly sultry look is very professional - pat yourself on the back for it.