Pictures of people???

M

M3_csl

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Taking some pictures of a family tomorrow and just wanted some tips and camera settings.

I will be taking the pics inside with some minor lighting, whats best ISO, aperature and shutter speed, to get best results.

Any other advice would be great!

cheers;)
 
Good basic settings if you're going fully manual would be f11, ISO 100, 1/200th shutter speed at about 85mm focal length. Otherwise I'd set f8 or f11 on Aperture (lowest ISO you can get away with) & let the camera sort the rest out. If you're really stuck, there's always Portrait mode. Best is always to do a dry run in similar conditions (time of day, flash set-up etc).
Love to see the pictures if you can share!
Phil
 
Yeah thats what I think too... if you're going to shoot single people on their own then it might be worth setting the aperture wider, something like 5.6 is always sharp and will lose a bit of focus elsewhere helping your subject remain isolated. Just get the eyes right and if you have lots of eyes to choose then choose the majority that are closest imo.

I would say anything between 50-85mm is about your ideal focal length for your cropped sensor.
 
Um, what? f/11? Thats going to give you a terribly slow shutter speed and bad photos. You want the lowest f/ number you can. If the lighting is minor, f/1.8 at least. Shutter speed to focal length. ISO to 1600.
 
f1.8 isn't possible with his kit and you usually want to drop a couple of stops to at least reach the sharp area of the lens. F11 will make sure everything is in focus too, not much point getting a bit of one person in focus really is there? and upping the ISO isn't a bad idea but isn't 1600 a bit noisy for portraits? Personally I'd use a flash to fill in and set it down on power or use a diffuser so its doesn't cast horrid shadows.

But that's just me. I'm no expert! :)
 
theory said:
f1.8 isn't possible with his kit and you usually want to drop a couple of stops to at least reach the sharp area of the lens. F11 will make sure everything is in focus too, not much point getting a bit of one person in focus really is there? and upping the ISO isn't a bad idea but isn't 1600 a bit noisy for portraits? Personally I'd use a flash to fill in and set it down on power or use a diffuser so its doesn't cast horrid shadows.

But that's just me. I'm no expert! :)
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f/1.8 isn't possible with his kit no, but it is what he would be best using if the light is minor and I did say he needs the smallest number possible. You're basically listing technical bits without thinking of the reality. If there's minor lighting he'll have to forget about stopping the lens down to get slightly sharper shots and go with the lowest his lens provides. f/11 is just silly for a family event. It'll be far too dark. Trust me, I am an expert :p I've shot parties at 50mm f/1.8 1/50th ISO1600 and had to boost them in Lightroom because they were too dark. Not much point focusing on one person? Eh? Thats a bit odd. Its a family event. Capturing that one person crying or laughing is what you want. ISO1600 is perfectly fine for portraits. I do it all the time. You could use an external flash, but he doesn't have one and onboard is nasty.
 
I do trust you, I've seen your stuff before but it just seems like a totally different bit of advice to what I'd expect is all

And yeah I meant a 'bit of one person' rather than 'all of one person' because while it's arty it might not be the sort of thing that I'd expect you'd want for a party.

Elaboration appreciated btw - its not so much of a case of not thinking it through as opposed to a case of not having the experience to remember what works and what doesn't - I guess I probably use the flash too much for indoor stuff. I used to use a home made tissue paper diffuser to soften my on-board flash though and it worked pretty well!
 
I don't do arty party shots. I capture the party and everyone loves the photos I get using those methods. 50mm f/1.8. Peoples faces, emotions are what makes the party and when people look at my photos they remember the events, the moments. I felt you were confusing what was technically best on paper with what actually works.
 
Yep I agree with pete about the apature. 11 is WAY to narrow, your shots will come out far too dark at that apature. For indoor locations where the light isn't great I keep to the widest my lens will go (so f/4 for me). Plus with that narrow depth of field you can get some fantastic shots of people on their own.

I do think that 1600 is very high, I NEVER shoot at 1600 and 80% of the photography I do is in low light conditions. Most of the time I shoot at 400.

I have a 430ex so the settings I use are: f/4, ISO 100-400, 1/100th

It really all depends on the lighting conditions. Every indoor room is different so you just have to judge it yourself.
 
On a 40D ISO1600 will be great. But then I shoot B&W so its not an issue.
 
petemc said:
On a 40D ISO1600 will be great. But then I shoot B&W so its not an issue.
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He doesn't have a 40d though, he has a 400d

I generally use f8 1/60 on iso 400 with the flash +/- 1/3 depending on the conditions and bounced off the ceiling or walls (if pale enough), but again it's all academic as the OP doesn't have a speedlight
 
But the guy saying he doesn't use ISO1600 does :p Hence me saying why on a 40D it'll be great :)
 
Do you not think thats a little confusing for the OP though?
:)
 
Its not my fault if he thinks me saying a 40D is a 400D :p
 
do the 400d and 40d handle iso the same :shrug:

if not then what the 40d does .. does not help the op imo

md:shrug:
 
I have no idea but I would assume so. I used ISO1600 on my 10D and I can only assume that the 400D is better than that. Its not hard to try and see is it? Find out if the image looks ok or not and make your own decision. Its digital. Take a risk, delete if need be.
 
I shoot iso1600 on my 20d all the time, for some of my photography I find myself shooting 1/25 f1.8 iso1600 and underexposing by 1-2 stops to keep the shutter speed fast enough to freeze people.
 
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