How was this done?

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sd_photo

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Hey guys,

I'm relatively new to all of this... I want to know how to get more accurate focus when shooting.

For instance, this photo:

faces.jpg


How do they get her face in focus, but everything else has that blur to it?

Also, how do they get the vibrant colors like that? I'm highly doubting it came out of the camera that way.

Thanks a bunch in advance :thumbs:
 
For the focus, two ways;

1, In camera, get a lens with a huge appeture, something like F/1.2, that will give you a very small depth of field in the camera. Just focus on the face and let the camera/lens do the rest.

2. Photoshop, selective bluring, too long to explain here but a quick google will cover it.

As for the coulour, yes maybe boosted in photoshop slightly, but if you have good colours AND good light, sometimes all you need is a little bit of sharpening.
 
A really good book is Understanding Exposure. It can be had from the amazon marketplace for under £8 from the book depository. It's a really good book, explaining all this kind of stuff.
 
Hawker said:
In camera, get a lens with a huge appeture, something like F/1.2, that will give you a very small depth of field in the camera. Just focus on the face and let the camera/lens do the rest.
Click to expand...

Would you set it to aperture priority and then just let the camera select your shutter speed?

Also, would you generally just use auto focus?

Thanks again :thumbs:
 
Just out of curiosity, how many of your do photography as a career?

I've just started, and I'm totally hooked on this!

I'm 30 years old and wondering if I could ever realize the dream of doing this as a daily job :shrug:
 
sd_photo said:
Just out of curiosity, how many of your do photography as a career?

I've just started, and I'm totally hooked on this!

I'm 30 years old and wondering if I could ever realize the dream of doing this as a daily job :shrug:
Click to expand...

I'm not a professional photographer (yet), but i want to be and no matter what i'm told i'm going to make it happen.
I'm at the moment doing GCSE art - Photography.
It's basic, but its a start, working with other enthusiastic people being taught by a professional.

If you want something bad enough you'll make it happen! :)

I'm 32 by the way.
 
ShaneTKD said:
I'm not a professional photographer (yet), but i want to be and no matter what i'm told i'm going to make it happen.
I'm at the moment doing GCSE art - Photography.
It's basic, but its a start, working with other enthusiastic people being taught by a professional.

If you want something bad enough you'll make it happen! :)

I'm 32 by the way.
Click to expand...

Man, you're my hero :clap:

I currently do web programming/development, and I have to tell you. I'm just not getting fulfillment out of it!

I just started DSLR photography 4 months ago, and from the second I touched the camera, I knew it was for me :nikon:

I'm glad to hear you're chasing the dream, and I wish you all the best in your journey!

Just out of curiosity, what is it that you currently do for work? And, when you become a photographer, do you plan to give that other career up?

Oh, and lastly, what is GCSE???
 
ShaneTKD said:
I'm not a professional photographer (yet), but i want to be and no matter what i'm told i'm going to make it happen.
I'm at the moment doing GCSE art - Photography.
It's basic, but its a start, working with other enthusiastic people being taught by a professional.

If you want something bad enough you'll make it happen! :)

I'm 32 by the way.
Click to expand...

Oh, and one more thing... Do you have any photos of yours I can check out?
 
I'm currently an office bod, bored working in an office and need something i enjoy getting out of bed for.

My photos are still very newbie looking, but they are slowly getting better. Although most on my course "wow'd" at a photo i had taken the previous week.
I need to get permission from the subject before i will upload the picture here.

GCSE stands for General Certificate of Secondary Education.

It is qualification taught at school, but i'm doing it as an evening course for adults.
Its a fun course and full of like minded people :) Its just a starting point with real people. I wouldnt be good at online courses.
 
Those piccies look like they might have been done in software, or possibly a tilt/shift lens used (or even a lensbaby - check them out, very cool).

Cheers,
James
 
sd_photo said:
Would you set it to aperture priority and then just let the camera select your shutter speed?

Also, would you generally just use auto focus?

Thanks again :thumbs:
Click to expand...

Use auto focus, but find out how to select the focus point manually - when you're shooting with a wide open aperture like that focusing using the middle point and then recomposing will often lead to out of focus photos.
 
sd_photo said:
Just out of curiosity, how many of your do photography as a career?

I've just started, and I'm totally hooked on this!

I'm 30 years old and wondering if I could ever realize the dream of doing this as a daily job :shrug:
Click to expand...

I was 35 when I turned pro, three years ago, and with only two years photography experience as a hobby before that.

Duncan
 
WeddingHack said:
I was 35 when I turned pro, three years ago, and with only two years photography experience as a hobby before that.

Duncan
Click to expand...

Wow! Really?

I took a look at your wedding photos, and they're fabulous!

Can I ask what got your started, and what you did to hone your skills?
 
I bought a film SLR (Canon 500N) just before I went on honeymoon - I'd had leave-in-the-drawer point and shoot film cameras before that, but no real interest in using them.

On honeymoon in Thailand I shot 11 rolls of film, which I thought was a ridiculous amount at the time, and really enjoyed it. When I got back some were quite good, so I got hooked and was out every weekend shooting. Bought a 10D six months later and got even more hooked. When I got made redundant three years ago everyone told me go pro so I did.

Shot a few weddings at cost to build a portfolio and the rest is history.

Everything I've learnt has been from internet forums and groups, and of course practice. When you start shooting weddings the learning curve is pretty steep, but I'm still learning every time I work - if that ever changes I think I would give it up.

So now I get the opportunity to take over 100,000 photos a year and get paid for the pleasure. I'm like a pig in sh*t.

Duncan
 
WeddingHack said:
I bought a film SLR (Canon 500N) just before I went on honeymoon - I'd had leave-in-the-drawer point and shoot film cameras before that, but no real interest in using them.

On honeymoon in Thailand I shot 11 rolls of film, which I thought was a ridiculous amount at the time, and really enjoyed it. When I got back some were quite good, so I got hooked and was out every weekend shooting. Bought a 10D six months later and got even more hooked. When I got made redundant three years ago everyone told me go pro so I did.

Shot a few weddings at cost to build a portfolio and the rest is history.

Everything I've learnt has been from internet forums and groups, and of course practice. When you start shooting weddings the learning curve is pretty steep, but I'm still learning every time I work - if that ever changes I think I would give it up.

So now I get the opportunity to take over 100,000 photos a year and get paid for the pleasure. I'm like a pig in sh*t.

Duncan
Click to expand...

Your story starts like mine (save for the honeymoon), and I certainly hope it progresses the same ;)

You mentioned doing weddings at cost... What is cost these days for a wedding (as I am interested in approaching some people in the near future and offering my services to them).

As well, when you shooting weddings, what sort of equipment do you bring along. And, do you do weddings solo?

Thanks again :thumbs:
 
At cost meant petrol costs, accomodation if it was away, and the cost of the prints - I made it very clear to them my experience and the fact that I was working this way to build a portfolio.

I shoot alone at weddings, I've tried taking people along but find my rapport with the couple suffers.

Equipment - 2 x MKii, 5D, 15 fish, 16-35 2.8, 24 1.4, 35 1.4, 50 1.2, 85 1.2, 70-200 2.8, 24-105 4, 2 x 580EX, CP-E4, tripod (but it stays in the car)
 
WeddingHack said:
Equipment - 2 x MKii, 5D, 15 fish, 16-25 2.8, 24 1.4, 35 1.4, 50 1.2, 85 1.2, 70-200 2.8, 24-105 4, 2 x 580EX, CP-E4, tripod (but it stays in the car)
Click to expand...

Wow, I don't even know what half of that stuff is!

2 x MKii???
5D - Canon DSLR????
15 fish - 15mm prime fish-eye???
24 1.4 - this prime?
35 1.4 - prime?
50 1.2 - prime?
85 1.2 - prime? wow, all these primes for a wedding?????????
24-105 4???
2 x 580EX????
CP-E4????
tripod - you never use it???
 
2 x MKii??? Canon DSLRs
5D - Canon DSLR???? yep
15 fish - 15mm prime fish-eye??? yep
24 1.4 - this prime? yep
35 1.4 - prime? yep
50 1.2 - prime? aha
85 1.2 - prime? wow, all these primes for a wedding?????????
24-105 4??? an F4 zoom lens
2 x 580EX???? flashes
CP-E4???? battery pack (I have googled this :p)
tripod - you never use it??? he does, but probably not when shooting wedding, as he said

I really like the way he works with DOF, I presume the has so many primes with big apertures because of that.
 
Lol, sorry should have been a bit more specific.

Generally I use zooms outdoors and primes indoors, I prefer to shoot with available light so the wide apertures give me more flexibility indoors. Oh and yes, I like playing with DOF.

There's never really a need for a tripod that I've found.

Duncan
 
As for the photo at the start of the thread, I would imagine he's using a 50/85 1.2 close to wide open.
 
WeddingHack said:
Lol, sorry should have been a bit more specific.

Generally I use zooms outdoors and primes indoors, I prefer to shoot with available light so the wide apertures give me more flexibility indoors. Oh and yes, I like playing with DOF.

There's never really a need for a tripod that I've found.

Duncan
Click to expand...

Hi Duncan,

So you carry 3 cameras with you? Are they backups, or do you switch between often? Is there a mina camera that you use? Do you prefer the 5D or Mark II?

Also, what lens do you use the most whilst shooting weddings?

Thanks again :thumbs:
 
I carry two cameras on me always, usually the 1D's, one with a wide lens, a longer lens on the other. The 5D is mostly a backup - the focussing is much slower than the 1D, if it does get used it's usually with the 16-35 or fisheye on it for an extra wide shot.

As for most used lenses - 16-35 & 70-200 outside, 24 & 85 inside.

Duncan
 
Hi guys,

I took this shot today of my car with a 50mm prime 1.8:

http://www.seandamien.com/temp/car_sample.jpg

As you can see, it's dusk, but even still, I can't understand why the quality of the image is so poor.

I was shooting 1/30 * 1.8 and ISO 400. No flash, manual mode, pattern metering, auto WB.

Any help input would be appreciated :thumbs:
 
The quality of the image isn't poor, merely the quality of the light - flourescent lights are rubbish for photography.
1/30 f/1.8 and 400iso will produce a slightly 'soft' looking image - I'm assuming it's hand-held? This is what I'd expect to see under those conditions when shot and processed 'straight' i.e. no major tweaking.
Remember the human eye 'compensates' for bad light in a way that film/pixels don't (although more expensive cameras' white balance systems are better than others), so it'll seldom appear the way it 'looked' in real life.

Your portrait example at the start of the thread was shot under optimum and highly controlled lighting conditions, a mixture of daylight and artficial light (look at the shape of the catchlights in her eyes) and a mixture of wide aperture when shot and selective blur in post-production. The colours have been boosted a little by pushing the colour saturation.
Aslo remember that a make-up and hair stylist spent hours on the hair and face before she even sat in front of the camera.

And yeah...for my sins, I do this for a full-time job...lol
 
Thanks for the input...

How would you have shot this to get a higher quality result out of it?

I'm assuming a tripod would be in order?

What about handheld? What could I have done to improve the shot?
 
If you're shooting hand hels you could find something like one of those pillars to lean against to give you some stability.
 
A few ways of improving this - firstly as you guessed would be a tripod to minimise any camera shake. Then you can shoot at your 'slowest' ISO setting, giving you the best quality. You could also go with a narrower aperture to maximise the lens's capabilities - you know that all lenses have an 'optimum' aperture that gives the best quality, right? Usually it's a middle aperture - f/5.6 or f/8, depending on the lens.
You can also use a technique known as 'painting' with light: stop the lens right down so you use a very slow shutter setting and (staying out of the frame) use multiple exposures with a flashgun set manually at a fraction of the correct output so that the (say three or four) flashes add up to the right flash setting. Flash the subject from different positions so as to cancel out any shadows. It was a technique taught me for doing close-up technical work on aircraft jet engines, but which can be applied to larger subjects like cars in underground car-parks, for example (oh how I loved shooting bits of Olympus engine under a blanket with a Hasselblad and a Metz-45 hammerhead gun...lol).
Lastly, shoot RAW and process using Photoshop CS or similar - the RAW converter allows you to set your white balance during post production so you can optimise your colour temperature - much easier and less time-consuming than doing custom white balance exposures in situ.
 
WeddingHack said:
I carry two cameras on me always, usually the 1D's, one with a wide lens, a longer lens on the other. The 5D is mostly a backup - the focussing is much slower than the 1D, if it does get used it's usually with the 16-35 or fisheye on it for an extra wide shot.

As for most used lenses - 16-35 & 70-200 outside, 24 & 85 inside.

Duncan
Click to expand...

Hi Duncan,

Just out of curiosity, what were the settings for this shot:

87135571.QP0rj3j9.070908_361.jpg


And this one:
87135659.ldYMY33G.070908_428.jpg


It appears that you were shooting in a dark setting, yet, the photos come out so bright and vivid. Did you fire your flash?

Great shots!

Thanks again :thumbs:
 
I don't see any shots ...
 
Nope, can anyone else see photos in the above post ?
 
Nope, red X's for me.
 
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