Baby photography C&C Welcome

[KWM]

Greetings

I did a photoshoot of my baby some time ago but am not happy with the sharpness of the pictures. I used kit lens 18-55 mm Nikon and natural light by the window. Should I get a 50 mm 1.8G for more sharp pictures? Can't afford the more expensive lenses. May be light is also low.

Exposure Time : 1/100
F Number : 5.0
Exposure Program : Manual
ISO : 2800
Metering Mode : Spot
Flash : No Flash
Focal Length : 40.0 mm



Exposure Time : 1/100
F Number : 4.2
Exposure Program : Manual
ISO : 3600
Sensitivity Type : Recommended Exposure Index
Exif Version : 0230
Date/Time Original : 2016:10:09 17:06:13
Create Date : 2016:10:09 17:06:13
Shutter Speed Value : 1/100
Aperture Value : 4.2
Exposure Compensation : 0
Max Aperture Value : 4.3
Metering Mode : Spot
Flash : No Flash
Focal Length : 30.0 mm


Exposure Time : 1/100
F Number : 3.5
Exposure Program : Manual
ISO : 3200
Sensitivity Type : Recommended Exposure Index
Exif Version : 0230
Date/Time Original : 2016:10:09 17:36:23
Create Date : 2016:10:09 17:36:23
Components Configuration : Y, Cb, Cr, -
Compressed Bits Per Pixel : 1
Exposure Compensation : +2/3
Max Aperture Value : 3.6
Metering Mode : Spot
Flash : No Flash
Focal Length : 18.0 mm

[Mike Buckley]

If I had a baby this good looking, I would want nice photos too and these are very nice photos.

It would be helpful if you would provide the ISO, shutter speed and aperture data for all the photos, as those could be factors. It's also likely based on what I'm seeing that you can simply use your post-processing skills to sharpen the images a bit more. Having said that, the last one looks fine to me and the first two are only a tad soft. As a matter of style I would use Local Contrast Enhancement (a particular type of sharpening) and increased contrast on the baby's eyes, but that's separate from the overall sharpness.

All of the above, naturally, is based on viewing the relatively small size posted here. It's likely but not guaranteed that I would think the same about the full-size files.

[Manfred M]

The other question I would ask is which autofocus mode are you using?

I find for portraiture I use a single focus point, use that setting to focus on the eye closest to the camera, lock in the focus / exposure and then quickly recompose to get the framing I want. I find that in these closeup shooting situations, the complex focus modes tend to pick the wrong place to focus on. In any portraiture, the eyes, especially the eye closest to the camera must be 100% sharp whereas any other places can be a touch soft.

Also make sure you shoot at close to your maximum focal length (55mm) as this will minimize any distortion of the facial features.

[madcrow]

It,s not always about the now sharp an image is, it's the memories they can bring back in later years. Like your images and may you enjoy him well into a ripe old age.

[mknittle]

Nice images Tayyeb. Are you using a tripod? Like Manfred mentioned about single point focus. It looks like your camera isn't focusing on only on your baby.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Tayyeb,

I did a photoshoot of my baby some time ago but am not happy with the sharpness of the pictures. I used kit lens 18-55 mm Nikon and natural light by the window.

I agree with the recommendation to shoot at a longer focal length to avoid undue distortion of whichever part is closest to the camera becoming overly large - so 55mm on your kit lens, or the 50/1.8 would be better than the 40/30/18mm used here.

With regard to sharpness, my experience is that in natural light, it pays to shoot bursts of say 3 images of each scene you focus on, you will find later that one is likely to be sharper than the others because;
a) that one had a better AF capture (use AF-C, single point only - focus as Manfred suggests)
b) and/or you didn't inadvertently sway towards or away from, the subject at the crucial moment
c) and/or you held the camera steadier (at 1/100s) avoiding camera shake
d) and/or the baby didn't move or blink during the exposure

e) Another thing to watch for is that you don't accidentally move too close, so the lens cannot focus properly (because you're inside the minimum focus distance (mfd). Having said use AF-C (which I prefer), using AF-S is better if you have the beep enabled, because you should notice the lack of beep if you do get too close. If you have a set of extension tubes (with AF connections), you could try fitting the thinnest (or middle sized one) to enable closer focusing, this is an idea that I only had after my grand-daughter grew to the point it was no longer an issue, so I haven't tried it.

Should I get a 50 mm 1.8G for more sharp pictures?

If you get the 50/1.8, this will help with low light, but ask yourself what aperture you'll use and whether you think the Depth of Field will be sufficient, shooting at f/2 is all well and good, but the DoF is even less forgiving than at f/4.5 (using kit lens). Also bear in mind the 50/1.8 does not have VR, which I assume your kit lens does - and that you have used it.

Plus, if the cause is a) to e) above, it probably won't make any difference.


That said, I do almost exclusively use my primes (35/1.8 and 50/1.4) to shoot Chloe (my grand-daughter), but that's mainly because I don't have the small kit lens, I have the 18-200mm, which now has infuriating zoom creep.


I think Post Processing could improve the results of even these, as Mike suggests (but I have other tricks I commonly use).


If you haven't seen them, you may find my posts this year, all listed here, helpful, or at least interesting.

Hope that lot is helpful, Dave

[KWM]

The other question I would ask is which autofocus mode are you using?

I find for portraiture I use a single focus point, use that setting to focus on the eye closest to the camera, lock in the focus / exposure and then quickly recompose to get the framing I want. I find that in these closeup shooting situations, the complex focus modes tend to pick the wrong place to focus on. In any portraiture, the eyes, especially the eye closest to the camera must be 100% sharp whereas any other places can be a touch soft.

Also make sure you shoot at close to your maximum focal length (55mm) as this will minimize any distortion of the facial features.

Noted your points. I did use single point auto focus and tried to focus on the eyes but since this was my first time and baby's movements can be unpredictable so I may have missed the eyes. I didn't know about shooting at max focal length so will keep this in mind in next time. Thanks for the feedback.

[KWM]

Nice images Tayyeb. Are you using a tripod? Like Manfred mentioned about single point focus. It looks like your camera isn't focusing on only on your baby.

Thanks I didn't use a tripod. Handheld shots with single point auto focus.

[KWM]

Hi Tayyeb,
I agree with the recommendation to shoot at a longer focal length to avoid undue distortion of whichever part is closest to the camera becoming overly large - so 55mm on your kit lens, or the 50/1.8 would be better than the 40/30/18mm used here.

Hi Dave, I didn't know about shooting at max focal length as you and others have pointed out. Will keep this in mind.

With regard to sharpness, my experience is that in natural light, it pays to shoot bursts of say 3 images of each scene you focus on, you will find later that one is likely to be sharper than the others because;

I was using burst mode in the hope that I'll find some good ones but I thought this sharpness may be a lens+ light issue. I have read online that prime lenses are very sharp etc etc.

If you get the 50/1.8, this will help with low light, but ask yourself what aperture you'll use and whether you think the Depth of Field will be sufficient, shooting at f/2 is all well and good, but the DoF is even less forgiving than at f/4.5

My main aim with 50/ 1.8 is to get sharp pictures but it looks from your and other fellow CIC members' comments that I can get sharp pictures with the kit lens and need to practice more

I did see some of your shoots of Chloe and those were my inspiration when I did this shoot. Now I'll go through them again for more learning. In fact when I talk about sharpness, I have the pics of Chloe in mind However I knew I won't get results like yours due to my inexperience.

Thanks for the feedback.

regards

[Dave Humphries]

My main aim with 50/ 1.8 is to get sharp pictures but it looks from your and other fellow CIC members' comments that I can get sharp pictures with the kit lens and need to practice more

I did see some of your shoots of Chloe and those were my inspiration when I did this shoot. Now I'll go through them again for more learning. In fact when I talk about sharpness, I have the pics of Chloe in mind However I knew I won't get results like yours due to my inexperience.

A lot of what you see in my pictures is down to good post processing techniques, I use Photoshop CC and ACR within that, because I shoot RAW.

I do sometimes apply Clarity (in ACR), this is roughly equivalent to the Local Contrast Enhancement (LCE) that Mike mentions.

If I need to, when (not 'if') I miss focus on the eye(s), I will apply a brush or two of locally applied sharpening in PS CC to just the eyes, while I am editing the full resolution image. Of the pics with good expressions, I still bin half due to missing focus so badly I cannot fix it in PP.

I downsize for web display and then output sharpen using USM in PS CC before posting images here.

These are the key steps in PP that give me those results.

Practice helps a lot too, it sounds like you were already heading in the right direction with some of the things you were doing.

I am still learning new shooting techniques, mostly flash related and PP skills with each subsequent shoot I do with Chloe. I did another of those over the weekend, so there will be an addition to my 'Baby Pics' series quite soon.

Good luck next time, Dave