child photographer

<p>Hello, I am a beginner child photographer. Working mostly on location during the day.<br>

I started 5 years ago photographing children on birthdays parties. Moms loved my images so much that they started to asking me for photo sessions. Currently, photography is my part time job and I hope I can take photography as my profession. <br>

I currently own my rebel xti ( which i am a little ashamed of) and my 50mm 1.8 100mm 2.8, 28mm 2.8 prime lenses. I totally loved them. <br>

However i had used my settings in Av for my primes most of the time. However, I am having a hard time getting my images sharp and focus. They seem blurry which gets me pretty frustrated. I have not idea what i am doing wrong.<br>

Which is your recommended setting to shoot outdoors during day with a 1.8 prime?<br>

What am i getting such results? mostly with my 50mm</p>

<p>Hi, Esmerelda, and welcome. Can you post a couple of your problem images so we can get a better idea of what you're dealing with? In the meantime, a couple of basic points: If you're shooting with the lens wide open, your depth of field will be very small - for instance, the nose may be sharp but the ears will be blurred. You should probably shoot at f/8 or f/11 just for the subject him or herself, smaller aperture than that if you need objects in front or behind to be sharply focused, also. Also, focus on the eyes because that's where focusing problems are the most obvious.</p>

<p>Since the moms are happy with your work, it sounds like you have the creative part of it down well, so hang in there....</p>

<p>My hunch is that your shutter lags; therefore, your images are not quite sharp. Also, if you're handholding your camera, it could further exacerbate the sharpness issue. Anyway, much depends on action at hand and where the action is coming from. Yes, sometimes you need to adjust ISO's a bit to get the appropriate results = aperture you need along with a shutter speed to stop action (if that's what's intended). Using tripod or a monopod may help you steady the camera better.</p>

<p>I doubt that your lens/es have anything to do with your sharp/focus issue, but if you're in doubt you can test them on the tripod (or solid surface) and go from there. You should AF on certain subject, reframe, and hit the trigger. Sometimes the AF could play tricks on you....I use manual.</p>

<p>In any case, you need to dovetail the artistic part of frame aesthetics with tech know-how. So, in the future, when you look at your histogram (it will give you a hint or two) or magnified photo on your LCD screen, you have to analyze (often quickly) why the photo is <em>this way</em> and not the way I intended....and go from there. I should also add that I almost never use the lens wide open on my 50/1.8....and the 2.8-3.2 range allows me to gain some DOF while still retaining good bokeh.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

<p>Les</p>

<p>There is no need to be ashamed of your Rebel XTi. I know someone who has taken some extraordinary photos with that camera.</p>

<p>Thank you so much for your responses.<br /> @ Anthony I had an experience early this month, I was photographing a family ( I shoot their family pictures last year. They decided to take others session with me this year ) I was posing the family and the brother in law just had a camera like mine, and he start to taking pictures as well, and posing the family also!<br /> It was so distracting because the family was also looking at his camera, and then my camera. He even made a comment like : "since we had the same camera we will have the same pictures". It made me very upset.<br /> Since then, i am dreaming on the day i will afford a new, pro camera, so i can upgrade from my rebel that every mom and dad have.<br>

Here is an example 100mm1/20 f5 ISO 100<br>

<img src="http://www.luznaturalfoto.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/IMG_0093.png" alt="" /></p>

<p>From your example and the data given I would guess the shutter speed is too long and you get blur from motion, both from your subject and your own hands. Set the ISO higher and make sure you have at minimum 1/125th shutter speed or even shorter with a 100mm lens. A pro camera would not produce sharper with this settings.</p>

<p>Right! 1/20th is much too slow for you to hand-hold. And even if you're on a tripod, it's too slow to freeze the movement of your subjects, even something like eye movement.<br /><br />So, raise the ISO (to make the camera more sensitive and allow you to let in less light while using a higher shutter speed), or open the lens up to a wider/faster aperture to do the same. Or, shoot in more light (or add more light with an off-camera flash).</p>

"Since we had the same camera we will have the same pictures"

 

It is the photographer and her knowledge that make good pictures. You could have replied," You should get the same typewriter as Ernest Hemingway used and you could write great novels too."

<p>Esmeralda, your Rebel is fine, but - with respect - you need to learn how to use it. That's the beginning, the middle, and the end of the story here, and a pro camera used the same way would be just as disappointing.</p>

<p>There are no quick wins here - you need to learn the craft.</p>

<p>"Here is an example 100mm1/20 f5 ISO 100"</p>

<p>That was in daylight ? Really ? </p>

<p>By this quick online calculator, ( http://www.calculator.org/calculate-online/photography/exposure.aspx ) A heavy overcast day would result in a proper exposure of ISO 100, F5.6, at 1/125th of a second. Why are you way down at 1/20th of a second ? Do you have a polarizing filter on the lens ? A neutral density filter ? Something is cutting out about 2.5 stops of light, even if it was overcast. You may be able to hand hold a 100mm lens at 1/125th of a second, but it's really , really hard to hold it with only 1/20th. If you want sharp pictures, you really MUST get that shutter speed up. </p>

<p> </p>

It is a shame about the camera shake/blur in the above photos. Aside from that, the composition is good and the plain background thrown out of focus with the larger aperture is professional looking. You have a good eye. The woman's eye looks like it would have been in sharp focus if not for the camera shake blur. It looks a little light, overexposed, which could have easily been adjusted in image editing. If not for the blur, people would look at that photo and say, "Wow, you must have a really nice camera."

<p>How did your clients like your images? If they liked them there is nothing to worry about. </p>

I agree with John. If you were opened up to f/5 at ISO 100, your shutter speed should have been coming out much faster

than that, and you do need a much faster shutter speed when hand holding.

<p>Must admit that I'd very much like to see the <em>full</em> Exif of those images...</p>

<p>Thank you very much for your response, advice and knowledge. I deeply appreciate it :)</p>