How to click good Portraits

[hensil]

Oks. Thanks for the info.

Narrower then f/5.6 bookeh will be effected isnt it, will not be so much creamier.

I think i should have pumped ISO so as to get desired exposure.


In this type of light, in a party hall say as shown in image, what should be the exposure so as to get perfect sharp images?

Simar,
Ankur has said it but I will say again. The shutter speed was too less for the action shot you taken.
The rule of thumb is such 'The minimum shutter speed to shoot sharp pictures (without motion blur) should be the reciprocal of the focal length'. This is for 35mm format, so in your case APS-c format multiply by 1.5.
So now you shot with 50mm, so the min. shutter speed should be 50x1.5=75mm.
Now, this rule of thumb holds true only if you are shooting static subject. When shooting action/motion shot the shutter speed will depend on the type of motion. Faster the motion, faster the shutter speed. How much? This you can only know by practice.
OS/VR-Vibration Reduction helps in giving sharp picturesr with slower shutter speed than this rule of thumb, but only for still subjects. VR does not help much for action shots.

Henry

 

[Simar Rajput]

Simar,
Ankur has said it but I will say again. The shutter speed was too less for the action shot you taken.
The rule of thumb is such 'The minimum shutter speed to shoot sharp pictures (without motion blur) should be the reciprocal of the focal length'. This is for 35mm format, so in your case APS-c format multiply by 1.5.
So now you shot with 50mm, so the min. shutter speed should be 50x1.5=75mm.
Now, this rule of thumb holds true only if you are shooting static subject. When shooting action/motion shot the shutter speed will depend on the type of motion. Faster the motion, faster the shutter speed. How much? This you can only know by practice.
OS/VR-Vibration Reduction helps in giving sharp picturesr with slower shutter speed than this rule of thumb, but only for still subjects. VR does not help much for action shots.

Henry

Thanks for the formula Henry, when i closely watch my images shutter speed at 1/60 sec is giving me sharp images.

So by formula i need to be fast then 1/75 sec to get sharp images for still objects.

Henry you suggest anything for metering? For these type of shots what metering i should use?

 

[hensil]

Thanks for the formula Henry, when i closely watch my images shutter speed at 1/60 sec is giving me sharp images.

So by formula i need to be fast then 1/75 sec to get sharp images for still objects.

Henry you suggest anything for metering? For these type of shots what metering i should use?

You can go through these tutorials.
http://www.bcmtouring.com/forum/photography-how-q-f85/what-exposure-tutorial-t41800/
http://www.bcmtouring.com/forum/photography-how-q-f85/how-auto-focus-dslr-works-t41866/
http://www.bcmtouring.com/forum/photography-how-q-f85/understanding-aperture-t54759/
http://www.bcmtouring.com/forum/photography-how-q-f85/how-sensor-size-effects-field-view-depth-field-t54546/
http://www.bcmtouring.com/forum/photography-how-q-f85/simplified-explanation-histogram-t42427/
The original DSLR camera simulator | CameraSim

Henry

 

[Simar Rajput]

You can go through these tutorials.
http://www.bcmtouring.com/forum/photography-how-q-f85/what-exposure-tutorial-t41800/
http://www.bcmtouring.com/forum/photography-how-q-f85/how-auto-focus-dslr-works-t41866/
http://www.bcmtouring.com/forum/photography-how-q-f85/understanding-aperture-t54759/
http://www.bcmtouring.com/forum/photography-how-q-f85/how-sensor-size-effects-field-view-depth-field-t54546/
http://www.bcmtouring.com/forum/photography-how-q-f85/simplified-explanation-histogram-t42427/
The original DSLR camera simulator | CameraSim

Henry

Thanks Henry have gone through your tutorials in past too. Amazing effort by you.

Will go once again, if anything is left that i need to take care while in action.

 

[AnupamR]

Thank you Henry..

That's a beautiful face and equally good portrait. I like everything in this.
The focus is good, the light is good. Good expressions. Nothing in the bg to distract. All +
Henry

- - - Updated - - -

Thank you Somnath da for the continues support and guidance... This was shot with Tamron 70-300 which does not have VR.

I will keep all above points mentioned by you in mind while shooting next time...

Hello Anupam, see for yourself what a little application of mind does to our performance !!! At page 2 post no 15 you had posted another portrait and see how much you have already improved . I see the marked improvement in the following areas :-

1. You have nicely levelled yourself at the eye level of the child

2. Background has been carefully chosen and as a result no longer competing for attention

3. Much better overall feel and retention of skin tone

4. More conventional cropping

THINGS I THINK THAT COULD BE CONSIDERED DOING DIFFERENTLY :-

1. You have shot at f4.5 . At 170 mm ( 255 mm in FF term ) perhaps that is wide open. Nikon 70-300 is not famous for contrast & sharpness at wide open. You can try at 2 stops smaller aperture next time and I am confident it will come out better. At longish focal length the DOF will not change too dramatically.

2. You have matrix metered. Try another shot with centre weighted metering on the face and see how the BG comes out.

3. You have achieved shutter speed of 1/250 s at 255 mm focal length. Try to achieve at least 1/400 at such focal length if you hand hold. Bump up ISO comfortably unto 640 to achieve that. Was VR on ? I hope it was not in "active" mode.

4. Head is framed centrally , you could try to place it more towards right.

Thanks for allowing us to brainstorm a bit

Keep shooting & sharing

cheers
Somnath

 

[Roadie..]

Nothing fancy Deb.
I just cut a white glossy, kitchen blotting paper (used by wife to clean off excessive oil from fried stuff) and stapled it around on camera flash. Good for fewer times use only.
I liked the soft and diffused light affect it produced.
The first picture of this post and this post was shot with DIY diffuser.

Setup looked something like this. (Picture copied from web)

View attachment 586497

I saw some small plastic like diffuser on ebay and may order it soon (not before i check on a local store)

Regarding Diffusing inbuilt flash light
I once had strong requirement of bounce flash
Here is what all I used to create the same effect by inbuilt flash.

Put flash power to manual and adjust shot by shot

For subject lying horizontally. I placed the camera on tripod, adjusted the frame, started 10 sec timer and handheld a mirror at 45 degree in front of the flash.
This diverted the flash to the ceiling and bingo. Adjusted flash power to get perfect exposure.

For portrait I have that Paper type doctor's tape.
To keep it handy I keep two three pieces stuck below camera body.

Apply one or two layers directly over flash as needed.


I did try the paper type envelope firstly But it reflected most of the light on my own face

 

[polly]

Post mortem please

 

[anupmathur]

Re: Post mortem please

Over exposed.
Crispness lacking.

A quick post process. Here is what I'd prefer:

 

[polly]

Over exposed.
Crispness lacking.

A quick post process. Here is what I'd prefer:

View attachment 588427

Thanks for your opinion.
I went back to the album section of my phone from where I uploaded it via tapatalk.It's slightly different in my album than what appeared here.
I mean it's more washed like here,a bit punchy in my phone.
Am I missing something?
My first upload of picture after intense exercise.anupji,which software was used by you to improve this picture?

 

[anupmathur]

...
I went back to the album section of my phone from where I uploaded it via tapatalk.It's slightly different in my album than what appeared here.
I mean it's more washed like here,a bit punchy in my phone.
Am I missing something?
...

A photo can lose sharpness/detail when uploaded to a forum (most tend to 're-size' a large photo to reduce the file size), but it is unlikely that it will look 'washed out'.
I imagine it's because a photo always looks more vibrant and sharp on small screens than on a larger one.