Ask me what you want.

[mercersmoments]

I hope this is ok, Mods, if it's not please delete !

My inbox is full, well almost - of questions asking about focus, lighting, lenses, photoshop etc etc.

so instead of answering the same Q 200 times over I thought I'd start a Q thread in the child section, as I mainly photograph babies & children, most of the Q's asked are about my child photos.

so ask what you want & I'm happy to help, and give you tips - there's hundreds of awesome photographers here, so if any of them want to jump in - please do !

:)

[Jman13]

I've been most impressed by your postprocessing workflow. What do you do to get skin tones so smooth while not appearing to hurt detail at all? Also, what's your black and white conversion workflow? ...your B&W shots are gorgeous.

[Mike]

Subscribed

[mercersmoments]

Thanks for your Q Jordan.

Smooth skin, for me it's about the light that is on the subject's face, I'm careful as to where I position the person, it makes for less PPing later on, I'm not a huge fan of having to photoshop every imperfection, so any marks on the face are cloned out using the bandaid tool, I zoom right in and use a small soft brush.

I shoot everything in colour & in RAW.
Not all images work as a black & white, I choose images that I think will take to black & white well.
In ACR, I desaturate first. I like lighter black & whites so I adjust the temp slider to the right, add in some blacks, and some contrast. Open in CS4 & fine tune, blemishes & eye whites are dodged.

hope this helps :)

[khartley535]

subscribing.

[talea]

Please can you tell me how you get your images so sharp and also how you get the eyes in your photos to stand out as well as they do.

I do love your work, by the way! :)

[moeronn]

Also subscribing.

[Sereia]

Thank you for this:)! I am portuguese, so can you tell me what do you mean with "fine tune"?

What is your favorite lens that you use most of the time?
Thank you

[mercersmoments]

Please can you tell me how you get your images so sharp and also how you get the eyes in your photos to stand out as well as they do.

I use L series lenses, I'm addicted to them. But the main way I get sharp photos is the toggle the focus point to the eye area, have my lighting spot on & have my shutter speed spot on,good focus is to do with your camera's settings, a typical outdoor portrait type shot for me would go somthing like this - depending on the light of course - iso 200 f/2.8 1/250 sec - I always aim to shoot aboove 1/160s

Eyes : Great focus & catch lights to begin with help, alot of the time I don't need to PP the eyes, but if I do, it's usually only a small amount of dodging in photoshop of the eye whites & catchlights.

To get good catchlights, have the light coming in from behind & slighly above you & onto your subject, a good way to determine good light is to look at the person's eyes & face. If you see good even light without sun blinding them, then you're good to go, you then meter from there.




Thank you for this! I am portuguese, so can you tell me what do you mean with "fine tune"?

What is your favorite lens that you use most of the time?
Thank you

Fine tune - is to to make small adjustments for optimal quality.

After having my 24-70 2.8L calibrated, I find it had to choose between that & the 85 1.2L
They sit fairly equal at the monent, they are both awesome lenses for different reasons, and all the reasons they are awesome are needed by me.

for the work I do, i don't think I need any other lens - perhaps the 50 1.2L one day :) there's always room for more L glass !

[Apollo.11]

thanks for sharing

[Grimlock]

Hats off to Seona for this Q&A session. Very considerate and generous.

Thank you.

[JoShAdKa4]

"so ask what you want & I'm happy to help"

Ok you asked for it here goes.... I love your name, how is it pronounced?.....
Oh wait was it photography related only? Oh Ok.... what does ARC stand for?

[Organic Treats]

Interesting. I will be checking back and will possibly come up with a question after I check out your site.

[mercersmoments]

"so ask what you want & I'm happy to help"

Ok you asked for it here goes.... I love your name, how is it pronounced?.....
Oh wait was it photography related only? Oh Ok.... what does ARC stand for?

lol, my name = see oh nah - Seona!

ACR - Adobe Camera Raw

[cdrumeller]

Thanks for starting this thread

[Sereia]

What about color pictures, what are the steps you usually take?

Thank you once again :)

[ckalephoto]

Subscribing

Chris

[bigarchi]

I have a posing question, I often find that children are not interested in posing,
or sometimes they don't even want to look at the camera because they are so wired up or something.
How do you get such young children to seem to pose, they can't possibly take direction from you can they? do they?
or are you just creating situations where you take pictures of them while they are moving about, let's say,
and pick out the one from the series where they have the best pose?
i'm tempted to tell parents, NO SUGAR before a photoshoot :)

your work is wonderful btw, always inspiring..

[cbu18]

how often do you use a flash?

do you use reflectors or boxes very often?

[mercersmoments]

What about color pictures, what are the steps you usually take?

I hate white balance, and white balance hates me. I've tried shooting white paper & grey cards, tried the WB functions on the camera, still it hates me. So i have it on auto.
I open my RAW files in Adobe Camera Raw, the first thing I do is adjust the colour temp slider to fix any WB issues.
Then I add some contrast and blacks, if I have shot above 400 ISO (i love to shoot on low ISO if I can) then I use the noise reduction slider.
If needed I use the curves sliders to lighten & darken parts of the photo.
Open the images in CS4 - Fine tune, remove blemishes, crop if I decide I want a tighter frame.
Dodge they eyes if needed. Saturate & shadow parts that I feel need some oomph !


I have a posing question, I often find that children are not interested in posing,
or sometimes they don't even want to look at the camera because they are so wired up or something.
How do you get such young children to seem to pose, they can't possibly take direction from you can they? do they?
or are you just creating situations where you take pictures of them while they are moving about, let's say,
and pick out the one from the series where they have the best pose?
I'm tempted to tell parents, NO SUGAR before a photo shoot

The no sugar before shoots is actually part of what I tell parents. They are coming to me for photos, they have chosen me from hundreds of photographers in my area, they are paying me, therefor I'm paid to give them direction. My contact beforehand involves me suggesting clothing choices etc, i ask parents to make sure their children ( no matter what age) are given a healthy good sized snack, no soft drink or sweets about 40 mins before the shoot. Hungry or hypo kids are hard work & my clients always appreciate the fact that I have given them "tips" to make their photo shoot more pleasant.

When I meet the children, I sit and play for how ever long it takes for them to warm to me, some love me straight away, some take time, some even like to look through the camera & press the button.

I'm silly - I mean I make silly noises & pull silly faces, I have mum or dad bop me on the head with a soft toy, I dance and laugh. I have a toy strapped to my lens !

you have to be patient, and if you have a really hard kid to make smile, you keep at it, you dance and sing & keep snapping until you have the shot.

Some smiles last a millisecond ! keep your finger on the button & pop up from behind the camera with a silly face & be ready to press the button !

I've not had a kid yet who I haven't been able to get to smile or laugh at me.




how often do you use a flash?

do you use reflectors or boxes very often?

Hotshue mounted flashes I use at wedding receptions, I have 2 more weddings booked before I am giving them up, I'm over cranky brides and moody mother in laws.

My kid's assembly hall at school is dark, so I use it while watching them get awards.

Otherwise it sits in my bag, but it's good to know that if I need it, I have it there ready.

I have a $10 round reflector, I sometimes use it to direct my natural light if I want to shoot in a spot that needs the reflector to direct more light onto my subjects & give me even light on their faces. But mostly it gets used for me to kneel down or sit on while shooting so I don't get a dirty bum. lol

I have a studio set up, 2 500watt strobes umbrella and soft box.

I sometimes use a combination of natural window light and one strobe with soft box set on the lowest possible setting to photograph newborns, this lets me shoot on 100 ISO, indoors without my photos looking like i have used heavy lights on the baby - with this as the result. I do love plain old natural light though, so try to do as much of it as possible

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4043/4477791145_10ba2e7015_b.jpg

[bigarchi]

Thank you Seona, very helpful :)

[JoShAdKa4]

lol, my name = see oh nah - Seona!

ACR - Adobe Camera Raw

I knew it! That's exactly how I was pronouncing it! I had a childhood friend named Leona. Great place to start your business is with a beautiful name that sings.


ACR- Adobe... aah... gotta get me one!
I use DPP and Coral Paint Shop Pro x2, sigh... one day.

Thanks for starting this thread, I'm sure I will benefit from it greatly. Take care...

[Justiss]

Thanks for the tips, these are great :)

[Stacey8221]

This is so awesome of you!
I am wanting to buy a strobe/softobox right now and I was wondering if you could point me in the right direction? I would love to have the same results as you with newborns. I will be making a big trip soon to Phoenix to photograph twin newborns and if the natural light isn't good that day I would love to have a good backup. I would really apprectiate any brand names or specifics as I have NO clue when it comes to lighting! Can you tell me what size your softbox is?
Thank you!

[mercersmoments]

This is so awesome of you!
I am wanting to buy a strobe/softobox right now and I was wondering if you could point me in the right direction? I would love to have the same results as you with newborns. I will be making a big trip soon to Phoenix to photograph twin newborns and if the natural light isn't good that day I would love to have a good backup. I would really apprectiate any brand names or specifics as I have NO clue when it comes to lighting! Can you tell me what size your softbox is?
Thank you!


My studio set up was bought from www.dragonimage.com.au

this is the exact set up I have here :

http://www.dragonimage.com.au/Lighting-Flash-Kits-Studio/c5_35_67/p285/FlashPro-500R-2-Head-Kit/product_info.html?osCsid=937eb8e2d671d86d84e2b5a1e 43fd625

this is the softbox I have, I use it with the honeycomb on the front
http://www.dragonimage.com.au/p12/LightPro-100-x-100-Softbox/product_info.html?osCsid=acec79fe13781f2b4964a6b37 e9dbcf1

This is my studio set up, it's never the same, it gets moved around to suit what I am shooting !

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4117/4864975385_a547a299e0_z.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4070/4390244973_fc78927a6d_z.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4022/4710663610_1cf24a9fa6_z.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2711/4225056520_7855b5695e.jpg

[lookingforaname]

Wow - thanks so much! The set up shots are especially interesting.

[delmama]

thank you for being so kind and sharing with us!

[Organic Treats]

I love seeing studio set-ups. Thank you for that!

[sma1mom]

I've always admired your work! thanks for the thread

[davis909]

subscribing. thank you very much for doing this.

[edyakamenk]

Thank you so much for sharing this. You are so kind. Subscribing...

[mercersmoments]

my secret weapon for making kids look at me !

[JoShAdKa4]

I knew it.... Ha!

You Rock Seona!

[lookingforaname]

Wow - does that work? Do their eyes look like they're focusing high?

[mercersmoments]

Wow - does that work? Do their eyes look like they're focusing high?

I've never had a problem.

I knew it.... Ha!

You Rock Seona!

Oooooh ! secret's out ! lol

[Apollo.11]

Love it! Gotta give it a try.

[Stacey8221]

That is an awesome idea!! I had a problem with getting two young boys to look at the camera yesterday and something like this would of been perfect!

I was wondering how you knew your 24-70 needed calibrated?? Also how long were you without it when you sent it off to get fixed??

[mercersmoments]

I was wondering how you knew your 24-70 needed calibrated?? Also how long were you without it when you sent it off to get fixed??

Just over time I could see the quality diminishing. I'm a pixel peeper, big time & the quality wasn't there.

I tested it on f/12 hooked up to my studio lights, on a tripod - and still the focus was out. Then I knew i wasn't imagining it.

I was quoted 15 days, but had a tanty (I'm good like that) and got it back in 7 days with a cost of $401.80.

It's so great now it makes me do a happy dance. lol

[Rivest]

Thanks for this thread, really helpful :) I have a little shoot tomorrow and that toy trick will definitely help ;)

[petedam]

It's so great now it makes me do a happy dance. lol

LOL ...thanks for sharing.

[Michelle Brooks Photography]

Great trick! Gonna steal, er, borrow it! ;)

[Andres14]

Seona, this is a great thread and I appreciate your tips.

I have similar camera bodies and lenses. So my question is, which lens do you use on the 30D ( I have the 40D) and which one do you prefer on the 5D mk II.

I'd like to experiment a little and perhaps go into the shoot with the two bodies loaded and ready to go. Last photoshoot I had, the baby woke up while I was trying to change lenses and testing out the distance and angles.

[mercersmoments]

which lens do you use on the 30D

The 24-70, the 85 is way too close for me on the cropped body for my day to day shootng.

If you have the space to keep the 85 on while photographing babies then I'd choose it over the 24-70, I'm buying the 50 1.2 this weekend, it will be my baby photography workhorse.

[zug]

Subscribing :)

[toadallymissy]

What are you using under the newborns ( to set them up)? it looks like it curves up. i was thinking bean bag but i havent seen one that curves. Thank You, Missy

[mercersmoments]

What are you using under the newborns ( to set them up)? it looks like it curves up. i was thinking bean bag but i havent seen one that curves. Thank You, Missy

Ahhh - finally someone has asked this, OOOh this could be top secret !!! lol

Most baby photogs. use a large round beanbag, but I use a bean chair folded over on it's self to create a ledge - then the blankets are over the top of it.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zEi3fvPniFo/SUHVE0WZQTI/AAAAAAAABcw/o4Ygve7Rybc/s320/black+bean+bag+chair.jpg

so then I can position the baby like this :

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4113/4952613269_063592c3b4_b.jpg

Her legs are down on the lower ledge while the top part of her body is up on the higher ledge.


I have a parent sitting next to the baby at all times, when they come to my studio I run through the safety rules with them, the main one being that the mum or dad must stay next to the baby and play spotter - to make sure baby stays safe on the beanbag chair.


http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4069/4716282777_d7d7f8c5cd_b.jpg

[delmama]

that is a very cool chair, where did you order it from?

[CDreamer]

Bumpity bump.......would like to know the above also :)

[mercersmoments]

Sorry for the late reply to this one.

I actually bought the bean chair from our local Target - which I think is like a walmart or huge homeware store for most of you guys.

it's found in the bean bag section - so it's pretty much just a chair shaped bean bag.

Hope this helps !

[lookingforaname]

I have a question! What was your path into the business of photography, and what do your weekly hours look like, in balancing family and business? I'm interested as I ponder going into business, but still have little ones around. Also things like pricing are a headache!

[Tigerkn]

Another Thanks for sharing!

[mercersmoments]

I have a question! What was your path into the business of photography, and what do your weekly hours look like, in balancing family and business? I'm interested as I ponder going into business, but still have little ones around. Also things like pricing are a headache!

I took it slowly, eased myself into paid shoots. I have 2 kids in school and one starting next year.

I shoot weekends when my hubby is home. Also I shoot the days my daughter is in daycare.

next year I will have all 3 at school and will be able to do more.

I plan to only shoot 3 -4 days a week & edit one day - I only need 2-3 shoots with package orders to bring in a full time wage. I usually save up a few orders and then send them in all at once to be printed.

I like to be able to pick and choose my days and hours and still be able to attend my kid's school events.

My diary is set out with the days and times I want to work, so when I get a client calls to book, I run through the times and days I have free & they are always able to choose from what options I have given them.

so far so good, I must say that having a hubby who is home to care for the kids on weekends & is supportive of my business helps alot.

[cbouchez]

I love your work! Currently I have a 15 week old baby which gets her picture taken on a weekly bases... Can't wait to use some of the tips that you sahred with the Canon community!

Fhank you very much!


BTW: When you use your 24-70 How far way from the subject are you?
What about the focal lens?

[mercersmoments]

BTW: When you use your 24-70 How far way from the subject are you?
What about the focal lens?

I use this lens on 70mm & be as close as I can, unless I want more background, then I move back a bit. I try not to use it on 24 as I get distortion.

:)

[huntersdad]

I use this lens on 70mm & be as close as I can, unless I want more background, then I move back a bit. I try not to use it on 24 as I get distortion.

:)

While not using the same lens, I use a Tamron 17-50 2.8 to do some baby shoots for friends. MFD on this lens is 10 inches 50mm, which I will assume can offset the 1.25 at 70mm on your 24-70. My backgrounds never come in that OOF, even close to the subject. Do you do any blurring in PP?

[mercersmoments]

While not using the same lens, I use a Tamron 17-50 2.8 to do some baby shoots for friends. MFD on this lens is 10 inches 50mm, which I will assume can offset the 1.25 at 70mm on your 24-70. My backgrounds never come in that OOF, even close to the subject. Do you do any blurring in PP?


No blurring in PPing - shot at f/2.8 and I make sure my subjects are a good distance away from the backdrop, this is how I get blurred backgrounds.

:)

[nisefase]

Sorry for the late reply to this one.

I actually bought the bean chair from our local Target - which I think is like a walmart or huge homeware store for most of your guys.

it's found in the bean bag section - so it's pretty much just a chair shaped bean bag.

Hope this helps !

thanks
I need to check the store because the target.com doesn't have BOO =)

[sunnygirl]

Just wondering if you use a pro lab for printing, if so, do you use a custom profile they supply or just use standard srgb profile saved as a jpeg.

[mercersmoments]

Just wondering if you use a pro lab for printing, if so, do you use a custom profile they supply or just use standard srgb profile saved as a jpeg.

Yes, I use a pro lab & I have their colour profile & soft proofing profile so I can see what my prints will come out like.

I shoot in sRGB and convert to their RGB for my printing.

[huntersdad]

While I'm in the asking mood here, I noticed in another thread on here, you posted a setup of your setup for a shoot with your daughter. I was wondering if would talk a little about your backdrops. You have a black backed by a slightly larger white one. Why the backing (assume to prevent unwated light from coming through the black one)? Also, what sizes are you using here? Neither looks particularly long or wide, although the white appears to be wider than the black one.

Do you handhold your shots? I don't think anyone else asked this.

[digidiva]

Just one question......Can I come live with you until I have learned ALL your tips?
Please? Hmmmm?....I can cook!

[Siggy]

Just one question......Can I come live with you until I have learned ALL your tips?
Please? Hmmmm?....I can cook!

Me too? I live in the US, but I'm willing to travel. :D

Thanks for this post. It's nice that you are so candid about your set-up and technique. I always have questions for photog friends, but sometimes feel like I'm annoying them with so many of them. Thanks again.

[mercersmoments]

While I'm in the asking mood here, I noticed in another thread on here, you posted a setup of your setup for a shoot with your daughter. I was wondering if would talk a little about your backdrops. You have a black backed by a slightly larger white one. Why the backing (assume to prevent unwated light from coming through the black one)? Also, what sizes are you using here? Neither looks particularly long or wide, although the white appears to be wider than the black one.

Do you handhold your shots? I don't think anyone else asked this.

The white backdrop is vinyl, I put that down first for a couple of reasons, A: to protect my carpet from naked babies who pee ! lol and B: it's a backdrop as well, so I just flip over the black backdrop and the white is there, ready hung and ready to use.

I have 2 - 6 meters by 10 meters and about 6 meters long and 3 meters wide - I think ! lol they are folded over the back of the backdrop stand in that photo, so you can only see half of the length.

yes, everything is handheld, I only set up my tripod to take night shots of lights.



Just one question......Can I come live with you until I have learned ALL your tips?
Please? Hmmmm?....I can cook!

Sure, I can't cook to save myself !

Me too? I live in the US, but I'm willing to travel.

Thanks for this post. It's nice that you are so candid about your set-up and technique. I always have questions for photog friends, but sometimes feel like I'm annoying them with so many of them. Thanks again.

More the merrier, as long as you can live with 3 kids, hubby, dog, cats, snakes & crazy neighbours!

[azpix]

my secret weapon for making kids look at me !

I am going to try this tonight with my kids. Maybe they will look if they see Buzz Lightyear tied to the camera.

[Siggy]

[quote=mercersmoments;10662558]
To get good catchlights, have the light coming in from behind & slighly above you & onto your subject, a good way to determine good light is to look at the person's eyes & face. If you see good even light without sun blinding them, then you're good to go, you then meter from there. quote]

I've thought of some questions I would like to ask.

#1. This shows how green I am, but what do you mean by metering? Are you talking about the meter in the camera (getting it in the center)?

#2. You said you didn't like to do a lot of PP on skin. I see so many photographers in my area who are going overboard with editing skin. They look somewhat like glamour shots, even on the kids. People oohh and ahhh over them, but to me it makes the people look fake. What do you consider too much skin softening?

#3. I use a 7D (crop camera) I have a Tamron 28-75 2.8 lens that I love, but I would really like to have the Canon 24-70L 2.8 Do you think this lens would work w/ a crop camera?

Thanks for all your help on this site. I've been following a lot of your suggestions like starting a notebook with my best camera settings and practice, practice, practice :)

[mercersmoments]

#1. This shows how green I am, but what do you mean by metering? Are you talking about the meter in the camera (getting it in the center)?

When using Manual mode, you need to use your light meter inside your camera to gain correct exposure, so yes in the middle is normal exposure, though I like to expose slightly to the right & also like my shutter speed above 160th sec.

#2. You said you didn't like to do a lot of PP on skin. I see so many photographers in my area who are going overboard with editing skin. They look somewhat like glamour shots, even on the kids. People oohh and ahhh over them, but to me it makes the people look fake. What do you consider too much skin softening?

When a person looks like Barbie.
I will soften a newborn's skin at about 10 opacity if they have dry skin. Most of the time I don't need to do much with skin, unless there is a scratch or sore, then I'll clone it out, if there is redness to the skin, like eczema I will use a soft white brush at about 8 opacity, then clone a little and skin smooth the area until it's even.

9/10 I dont need to worry though.


#3. I use a 7D (crop camera) I have a Tamron 28-75 2.8 lens that I love, but I would really like to have the Canon 24-70L 2.8 Do you think this lens would work w/ a crop camera?

I use the 24-70 on my back up 30D (crop) and it's lovely, the 24-70 is a brilliant lens- on any camera crop or full frame - as long as you get a sharp copy, so test it when you get it, as I have had to have mine calibrated in the past.

:)

[kevindar]

subscribing also. thanks.

[Siggy]

I use L series lenses, I'm addicted to them. But the main way I get sharp photos is the toggle the focus point to the eye area, have my lighting spot on & have my shutter speed spot on,good focus is to do with your camera's settings, a typical outdoor portrait type shot for me would go somthing like this - depending on the light of course - iso 200 f/2.8 1/250 sec - I always aim to shoot aboove 1/160s

Seona, I tried your settings above this weekend, also aiming to keep it above 1/160 and I was excited with the results. The sharpness was great and I was referred to another client because they liked their pics so much. Thank you (((HUGS)))

[mercersmoments]

Seona, I tried your settings above this weekend, also aiming to keep it above 1/160 and I was excited with the results. The sharpness was great and I was referred to another client because they liked their pics so much. Thank you (((HUGS)))

Awesome ! I'm so pleased to hear ! I'd love to see the photo - if you are allowed to show them.

Great work - you've made my day !

Seona :)

[Siggy]

I used to post pics on here via Flickr, but I can't do it now. Does anyone know another way or place I can use to show pics?

[petedam]

I used to post pics on here via Flickr, but I can't do it now. Does anyone know another way or place I can use to show pics?


Go to "action" "view all sizes" right click or control click and "copy image address" then just insert the image address here. :)

[Rivest]

Or ''Share this'', then ''Grab the HTML BBCode'' than select BBCode, copy the text over it and paste it here :)

[Siggy]

Seona, here's some of my recent pictures. I welcome any comments or suggestions, especially on the editing. My husband just bought CS5 for my birthday so I can't wait to start using it.

Thanks everyone for the help on uploading.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4107/5065173941_4581e76f5c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/52699470@N03/5065173941/)Pic20-4x6 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/52699470@N03/5065173941/) by Salina27 (http://www.flickr.com/people/52699470@N03/), on Flickr

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4091/5065145643_d9ae01da28.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/52699470@N03/5065145643/)Pic18-4x6 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/52699470@N03/5065145643/) by Salina27 (http://www.flickr.com/people/52699470@N03/), on Flickr

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4091/5065145273_0f39fe692a.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/52699470@N03/5065145273/)Pic1-4x6 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/52699470@N03/5065145273/) by Salina27 (http://www.flickr.com/people/52699470@N03/), on Flickr

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4130/5065785950_9ffd4784f0.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/52699470@N03/5065785950/)Pic9-4x6 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/52699470@N03/5065785950/) by Salina27 (http://www.flickr.com/people/52699470@N03/), on Flickr

[mercersmoments]

EXCELLENT Siggy ! You toggled the focus between her eyes, love it - to me sharp eyes = sharp photo, eyes are so important.

Love your warm processing. Looks like you have used flash - nice, the images are evenly lit and smooth.

- have you tried the same settings, with a higher ISO just using natural light ?

The only thing I would say is, if you are going to chop off heads on purpose - take more head off, or make sure you have all the head in the frame, so don't take only a little bit off, as it makes it look like you accidentally cut off some head - if you know what I mean ?! lol

So the last one - I would have left all head head in

I am a fan of close chopped heads, I do it alot, but you have to get the amount you chop off right !
lol - I'm confusing myself here ! lol

Otherwise these are lovely, I am glad the settings I suggested gave you such lovely clear pics.

seona :)

[Siggy]

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4125/5066192464_4fbef1033a.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/52699470@N03/5066192464/)Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/52699470@N03/5066192464/) by Salina27 (http://www.flickr.com/people/52699470@N03/), on Flickr

Okay, I re-cropped this one to keep all of her head in the frame. Where do you usually crop on the head (middle of forehead?)

I've only had the Canon 7D for a few weeks and I'm still learning to get the ISO correct. On my older camera I couldn't go above 200 or it would start showing heavy noise.

Everytime I shoot I learn something new. It's really starting to become addictive. I have a full-time job but I'm doing a bit on the side after work or some weekends. Since we don't have children it makes it a little easier to have the extra time :-)

[4-ever-blessed]

subscribing

[surgeonhawkeye]

WOW, great posts here, subscribing too

[LDS]

Subscribing also!

Siggy - what lens did you use for your shots? They are wonderful! I am shooting my BF's girls next weekend and am unsure of which lens I should use!

I have the 60D and the following lenses: 50mm 1.8, 18-55mm 3.5-5.6, 55-250mm 4-5.6, 18-135mm 3.5-5.6, 100mm 2.5 and a fisheye. No "L" lenses...that'll come after I pay off the 60D!

[Looony2nz]

subscribing

[skhoury]

Hi,

Did you used the flash in these shots or not?
if yes, can you share with us how did you do it?
Regards,

Ahhh - finally someone has asked this, OOOh this could be top secret !!! lol

Most baby photogs. use a large round beanbag, but I use a bean chair folded over on it's self to create a ledge - then the blankets are over the top of it.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zEi3fvPniFo/SUHVE0WZQTI/AAAAAAAABcw/o4Ygve7Rybc/s320/black+bean+bag+chair.jpg

so then I can position the baby like this :

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4113/4952613269_063592c3b4_b.jpg

Her legs are down on the lower ledge while the top part of her body is up on the higher ledge.


I have a parent sitting next to the baby at all times, when they come to my studio I run through the safety rules with them, the main one being that the mum or dad must stay next to the baby and play spotter - to make sure baby stays safe on the beanbag chair.


http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4069/4716282777_d7d7f8c5cd_b.jpg

[skygod44]

Hey Seona, great thread, very generous, and I'm sure your business will go from strength-to-strength!
Regards,
Simon
:D

[kyle_4375]

Great thread, great advice! Thanks so much for sharing all your 'secrets!'

[yanz]

Hi. Thank you very much for the wonderful advice. It's very helpful. I am trying to setup a small studio to shoot my 4 1/2 month old but having a bit of a hard time. I have a follow up question regarding the bean bag. I was trying to find a store that sells them locally in NY but wasn't able to find one. I bought a small bean bag from target but i think its too small to be useful. Would you be able to post a link to the one that you bought. I don't mind spending more but want to make sure its the right one.

Thanks again for your advice,

Yan

I really enjoy seeing new picture that you post on your Facebook Page. Great Work!!!

[PhuongMy704]

thank you soo much.. this is A LOT of help !!! love ur pictures =)

[mercersmoments]

Hi,

Did you used the flash in these shots or not?
if yes, can you share with us how did you do it?
Regards,


With those particular shots, yes I used one 500 watt strobe with a softbox.

The exif for those shots was :

Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Lens: EF85mm f/1.2L II USM
Exposure: Manual exposure, 1/125 sec, f/3.2, ISO 100
strobe was turned right down low.

Baby was on the bean chair (above) with a blanket over the top - mum was sitting beside (for safety)

Light was positioned about a meter from the baby, behind me and slightly to my right.


Hey Seona, great thread, very generous, and I'm sure your business will go from strength-to-strength!
Regards,
Simon

Thank you Simon - I found that being self taught, I was very grateful for what ever help others would give me, so I hope I am returning the favor by helping others out :)

Hi. Thank you very much for the wonderful advice. It's very helpful. I am trying to setup a small studio to shoot my 4 1/2 month old but having a bit of a hard time. I have a follow up question regarding the bean bag. I was trying to find a store that sells them locally in NY but wasn't able to find one. I bought a small bean bag from target but i think its too small to be useful. Would you be able to post a link to the one that you bought. I don't mind spending more but want to make sure its the right one.

Thanks again for your advice,

Yan

I really enjoy seeing new picture that you post on your Facebook Page. Great Work!!!

Hi Yan - and thank you.

I purchased mine from Target, so a homes wares type place -or department store - I have found a few links on the net that I hope Will be useful to you.

I do also use a normal style bean bag, just a large one - I use this for newborns, but the bean chair - I just find much easier & more stable for children who can hold their heads up while on their tummy, be creating 2 levels on the bean chair - I get the perfect pose and it's much easier to photograph them.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/LAZY-BEANZ-L-SHAPED-BEAN-BAG-NEW-/320596677159?pt=AU_Chairs&hash=item4aa50d1227

http://www.mybeanbags.co.uk/bean-bag-chairs/



thank you soo much.. this is A LOT of help !!! love ur pictures =)


:) :)

[skygod44]

Hey Seona,

Thanks for the "thanks" and I just took a long peek at your website.

Two comments and a question -
1. The main page's scrolling images are fantastic. Those alone took my breath away due to the perfect exposure, expressions and complete lack of distractions which I think distances a natural talent (you!) from people who should stick to their day job and leave photography alone.
2. Your pricing - I did a quick conversion to Japanese yen and was impressed at your modesty. When I do a photo shoot for families, I also charge a "reasonable" fee because it feels "right" to me. I think you could charge more, but if you don't need to, don't be greedy like some POTNers I could mention!!!
Qu. Do you desaturate much? Many of the colour shots seem much less "annoyingly oversaturated" than I see from other 'togs recently. Which I think shows a real ability to separate what's important (ie, the subject) from what technology is able to do (ie, over-deliver).

So, a HUGE thumbs-up from me, and again, thanks so much for sharing the details of something you're clearly a "natural" at. My fiancée and I are going to start building a home/studio/concert venue (she's an opera singer!) next year, and I think I'll have to visit your site/thread again then, to give me some true inspiration for tweaking the house designs.
Take care for now,

Simon
:-)

[mercersmoments]

Wow Simon ! Now before I start, I'll just pick my huge head up off the floor and come back down from that high you just gave me - lol - Thank you !

Re: de saturating - colour etc etc :

I don't add or take colour out of my colour photos. I keep what is there, what comes out of the camera.

Then I adjust the WB, contrast, exposure & blacks.

I like "real" colour, I'm not a fan of colour pop or over saturated images.

When I left school back in 1994 aged 16 I worked as a photographic printer for Kodak - I was trained on colour printing, printing 35mm film.

There was no over saturating, or any kind of photo shop - it was all true colour, nothing extra.

So I have taken what I learnt there & used it. I like real black and white - not muted or sepia, not blown out or too dark, I like "just right" - same with my colour - I want my photos to look like the scene I captured, I like orange, not bright orange, I like blue, not bright blue.

Just a happy medium - is me ! Well I like to think so anyway ! :) You know, not too much, not too less. (Bit like my prices) My packages do start at $550 - for prints and high res files, it's enough for me, but alot less than my colleagues charge :)



All the best with your venture next year - sounds wonderful ! Oh and to be able to sing - my shower voice is as good as it gets in this house !

[skygod44]

Wow Simon ! Now before I start, I'll just pick my huge head up off the floor and come back down from that high you just gave me - lol - Thank you !
Well...sometimes I think it does us good to be complimented, no matter from whom!
:-)

Re: de saturating - colour etc etc : I don't add or take colour out of my colour photos. I keep what is there, what comes out of the camera. Then I adjust the WB, contrast, exposure & blacks. I like "real" colour, I'm not a fan of colour pop or over saturated images...
Me too, but I'm competing with companies like "Studio Alice" here in Japan (their homepage is here -> YUCK! (http://www.studio-alice.co.jp/)) and they LOVE the over saturated, get 'em in-and-out, always-the-same approach. Look at a "great baby photo" here -> SHEESH! (http://www.studio-alice.co.jp/shortcut/omiyamairi.html) and you'll see why 99% of my challenge is to re-educate the entire country!!!

...I like real black and white - not muted or sepia, not blown out or too dark, I like "just right" - same with my colour - I want my photos to look like the scene I captured, I like orange, not bright orange, I like blue, not bright blue.
Again, try this page for a few bright colours! -> NOTHING GOOD, IMO! (http://www.studio-alice.co.jp/shortcut/sekku.html)
And you'll see the problem is deeply rooted here.
:(

...My packages do start at $550 - for prints and high res files, it's enough for me, but alot less than my colleagues charge.
Prices?
Try this -> 22,100 yen! (http://www.studio-alice.co.jp/charge/mpc_disney/index.html) = about AU$280!!! That's 3 photos, stuck in crappy Disney display cases, all over saturated and just like everyone else's kids' pics.

SO.....our challenge after the studio is built is to attract customers who want REAL photos! Of course, I teach English too (otherwise we'd starve!), but your website has really got me fired up again to bust the monopoly that Studio Alice has down here in southern Japan.
Thanks again, and catch you soon!
Simon
PS: I fell in love with my lady's voice the moment she first sang! A real gift, which I'm very proud of! There's a pic of her here -> Yuko (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=646352&page=55) (post #821) but I can't post video of her singing for various contractual reasons. :(

[yanz]

Hi Yan - and thank you.

I purchased mine from Target, so a homes wares type place -or department store - I have found a few links on the net that I hope Will be useful to you.

I do also use a normal style bean bag, just a large one - I use this for newborns, but the bean chair - I just find much easier & more stable for children who can hold their heads up while on their tummy, be creating 2 levels on the bean chair - I get the perfect pose and it's much easier to photograph them.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/LAZY-BEANZ-L-SHAPED-BEAN-BAG-NEW-/320596677159?pt=AU_Chairs&hash=item4aa50d1227

http://www.mybeanbags.co.uk/bean-bag-chairs/



Thank you very much for your response. I will look into these bags and see if i can order one of the L shape bean bag chair..

Have a great day and Keep up the great work !!!

Yan

[kyle_4375]

Hi Seona,

Any chance you could post up a "before and after" example of a photo? I'd be interested in learning what your typical post processing workflow looks like. And if it's a secret, then I understand as well :)

[mercersmoments]

Hi Seona,

Any chance you could post up a "before and after" example of a photo? I'd be interested in learning what your typical post processing workflow looks like. And if it's a secret, then I understand as well

Sure ! Nothing to hide - lol :) My PPing is VERY basic :) - Less is more :)

First shot is SOOC -

I de saturated in ACR & upped black & contrast/exposure

opened in CS4 & cropped tighter

Took out mark on his face

Dodged eye whites

upped levels

done :)

[erinsowinski]

subscribing

[4-ever-blessed]

I have a question…

Just wondering does your daughter ever refuse to have her photo taken? My children refuse scream at me “no, no stop” haha I have two boys at home 6.5yrs and 4.7yrs. How do you do it? Should I bribe them?
Also
How do you overcome a child that has a fake smile? A friends daughter that I have taken photo’s of at birthday parties… has this huge fake smile, I can get her to laugh which has given me a slit second were she is natural then it’s straight back to that forced smile. Has your own daughter ever gone through that stage?
thanks

[4-ever-blessed]

also with this photo did you use a flash or any other lighting? just wondering because of the umbrella thanks

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Engadine-Australia/Seona-Mercer-Photography-Custom-Child-Portraiture/124719434222672?ref=mf#!/photo.php?fbid=124727607555188&set=a.124726997555249.17407.124719434222672&pid=230612&id=124719434222672

[mercersmoments]

I have a question…

Just wondering does your daughter ever refuse to have her photo taken? My children refuse scream at me “no, no stop” haha I have two boys at home 6.5yrs and 4.7yrs. How do you do it? Should I bribe them?
Also
How do you overcome a child that has a fake smile? A friends daughter that I have taken photo’s of at birthday parties… has this huge fake smile, I can get her to laugh which has given me a slit second were she is natural then it’s straight back to that forced smile. Has your own daughter ever gone through that stage?
thanks


lol my daughter is a camera ham ! Though I do whip out the odd choc bickie !

I get SO MANY fake smilers !

I simply tell them that I don't think that is their real smile, I make a joke & say "Oh that's a silly smile, you have a better one that that - is it in your pocket?"

They are kids, you must joke and come down to their level.

Jokes and funny noises will get you giggles and laughter - and this is where your best natural smiles are.



also with this photo did you use a flash or any other lighting? just wondering because of the umbrella thanks

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Engadi...24719434222672

This was taken with all natural light - I had a beach behind me - so had very bright light coming in from behind me - and didn't need any extra lighting.

I have dug up the exif data on that image for you :

EF85mm f/1.2L II USM
1/4,000 sec, f/1.8, ISO 160

[jerdan]

Hi Seona.. You have so very helpful with this whole thread.... There hasn't been much said about posing newborn babies and keep them nice and sleepy (if there has.. I must have missed it and apologize)... I seem to struggle with that.... So I know it needs to be very warm and the baby should be full... I do this and the babies still stay up for quite some time... ??? The other question is.. what poses and how many looks should I strive for with my newborn sessions ... I feel like everytime I walk away from a newborn session I ultimately have the same look in all my pictures. Any help would be divinely appreciated. Do you ever offer workshops in the states?

Danielle

[4-ever-blessed]

"Oh that's a silly smile, you have a better one that that - is it in your pocket?"
thanks so much for that, it's a great one.
I have used the "Dont smile, please dont smile" while being silly...and it works on my friends son then when I tried with my niece she didnt' think it was to funny at all lol there all so different knowing what to use and when is a skill, you have and i hope to.
I used to teach Kinder gym and learn to swim so pretty good with kids and getting down to their level., adding a Camera for some kids is like sticking them in the cold pool with a stranger, take time for some to warm up. I need a few more fun jokes to have up my sleeve i think.

thanks for the settings for that shot.

[mosi2]

Hi Siona, it's very kind of you to share such an information for us..it's good to have you here. I'm a new in photo things. I have to shoot my frinds babies in about a week. I have no idea, what i gonna do, and bang, i found this thread. It's really helpfull. I have one question, do you think it's possible to shoot with all natural indoor light without flash at all ?
maybe little light from the window only, I have 50mm f/1.4 , can i produce good photo with that lens only? any tricks or technique i have to know before shooting the babies? Thanks Siona..and sorry for my bad english :)

[mercersmoments]

Hi Seona.. You have so very helpful with this whole thread.... There hasn't been much said about posing newborn babies and keep them nice and sleepy (if there has.. I must have missed it and apologize)... I seem to struggle with that.... So I know it needs to be very warm and the baby should be full... I do this and the babies still stay up for quite some time... The other question is.. what poses and how many looks should I strive for with my newborn sessions ... I feel like everytime I walk away from a newborn session I ultimately have the same look in all my pictures. Any help would be divinely appreciated. Do you ever offer workshops in the states?

A few rules for shooting newborns :

The most important rule is to PHOTOGRAPH THEM UNDER 10 DAYS OLD !!! The younger the better ! They are more sleepy !
Full tummy
Warm room
Settle them on the bean bag and pat their backs or bums
Stroke their face and have some white noise playing
Don't attempt to pose them until they are in a deep sleep & when moving hands/feet into position do it very very very slowly !

Do you ever offer workshops in the states?

I would SO LOVE to visit the States ! One day maybe - when all my own children are in school !

I have never been to a work shop, or done any kind of photo course, ever - I am totally and completely 110% self taught - lots of trial and error, lots of bad shoots and lots of "dust myself off and try agains" So you CAN teach yourself by reading forums like this and practicing your butt off - this is why I wanted to start this thread - so people could learn the way I did, and it's my way of giving back and saying Thank You for all the help I received when I was learning :)
Hope this helps :)

Hi Siona, it's very kind of you to share such an information for us..it's good to have you here. I'm a new in photo things. I have to shoot my Friends babies in about a week. I have no idea, what i gonna do, and bang, i found this thread. It's really helpfull. I have one question, do you think it's possible to shoot with all natural indoor light without flash at all ?
maybe little light from the window only, I have 50mm f/1.4 , can i produce good photo with that lens only? any tricks or technique i have to know before shooting the babies? Thanks Siona..and sorry for my bad english

So pleased this thread has helped you :)

The 50mm 1.4 is a lovely lens & perfect for using natural light indoors and for photographing babies !

do you think it's possible to shoot with all natural indoor light without flash at all ?

YES !

The photo below was taken using all natural light inside my lounge room - the baby was set up on a bean bag near a window - the window was behind me.

My settings were :

Camera Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Exposure 0.008 sec (1/125)
Aperture f/2.8
Focal Length 85 mm ( Lens was the 85 1.2L)
ISO Speed 400

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1397/5125165144_88e29d5b34_b.jpg

The key is to have enough light on the baby and then meter accordingly.

Also don't be afraid to get the mum or dad in on the act

The photo below was very simple, Dad held his sleeping baby, he was standing against a wall, the window was to his right

Settings for this shot were :


Camera Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Exposure 0.004 sec (1/250)
Aperture f/1.6
Focal Length 85 mm
ISO Speed 500

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4126/5083015049_4a37e3c023_b.jpg

Hope this helps :)

[mosi2]

It really helps Siona, I take test shoot today, well it wasn't good enough to made me proud yet, i just want to report you this what I learn from you. I knew, it gonna need lot of improvement. This what i got, c&c very very welcome even the harsh one. Sorry the image is quite small.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1113/5131647032_49e99387b9.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/17888522@N07/5131647032/)
P1-davin (http://www.flickr.com/photos/17888522@N07/5131647032/) by akusumajaya82 (http://www.flickr.com/people/17888522@N07/), on Flickr

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1310/5131045925_ef4ddbf6e6.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/17888522@N07/5131045925/)
P2-davin (http://www.flickr.com/photos/17888522@N07/5131045925/) by akusumajaya82 (http://www.flickr.com/people/17888522@N07/), on Flickr

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4125/5131046195_b220336dd9.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/17888522@N07/5131046195/)
P3-davin (http://www.flickr.com/photos/17888522@N07/5131046195/) by akusumajaya82 (http://www.flickr.com/people/17888522@N07/), on Flickr

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4147/5131647890_24dbc90d64.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/17888522@N07/5131647890/)
P4-davin (http://www.flickr.com/photos/17888522@N07/5131647890/) by akusumajaya82 (http://www.flickr.com/people/17888522@N07/), on Flickr

all in natural light, no flash, 50mm f/1.4 canon 550D :)

[delmama]

Seonna, I am wondering if you prop your babies in a bean bag or a bed with pillows? I use a bean bag most of the time but I find the bed works well too sometimes...suggestions?

[mercersmoments]

It really helps Siona, I take test shoot today, well it wasn't good enough to made me proud yet, i just want to report you this what I learn from you. I knew, it gonna need lot of improvement. This what i got, c&c very very welcome even the harsh one. Sorry the image is quite small.

Well, I think for a first time you have done well. What a sweet little baby. I really like the foot photo.

I can see a slight haze or lighter area across the photos, this could have been caused from either a smudge on your lens or the sun has come across the front of your lens? - Or have you added it in PPing?

If you would like me to have a go at some editing for you - just to show you some ideas, let me know.

I love the last image, the mother looks very at peace with her baby, it's a nice tender moment between them both.

They look exposed well and your focus is good, it's just the light haze I see that bothers me - so lets get that fixed up & you'll have a lovely set of images to give the mother :)

Seonna, I am wondering if you prop your babies in a bean bag or a bed with pillows? I use a bean bag most of the time but I find the bed works well too sometimes...suggestions?

I use a bean bag chair - back on Page 3 (I think) of this thread there's a photo of it - I have used a bed and pillows as well, at client's homes, but I shoot mainly in my home studio, so newborns get the bean bag ! It works well and is safe, and I can sit mum or dad on a chair next to the baby too :)

[mosi2]

Well, I think for a first time you have done well. What a sweet little baby. I really like the foot photo.

I can see a slight haze or lighter area across the photos, this could have been caused from either a smudge on your lens or the sun has come across the front of your lens? - Or have you added it in PPing?

If you would like me to have a go at some editing for you - just to show you some ideas, let me know.

I love the last image, the mother looks very at peace with her baby, it's a nice tender moment between them both.

They look exposed well and your focus is good, it's just the light haze I see that bothers me - so lets get that fixed up & you'll have a lovely set of images to give the mother :)



I use a bean bag chair - back on Page 3 (I think) of this thread there's a photo of it - I have used a bed and pillows as well, at client's homes, but I shoot mainly in my home studio, so newborns get the bean bag ! It works well and is safe, and I can sit mum or dad on a chair next to the baby too :)

Hi siona, yes i think it's the window sunlight over my lens, i didn't aware with that haze.
Sure...I'll be glad to see your ideas, it's free for you to edit. You just keep shocking me with your kindness to newcomers like me. Thanks for trhe comment siona

[mwilleman]

What a great thread! I'm new to photography and really got into it to photograph my 1 year old. So far it's been tough for me, all my shots just seem to be candids that don't look very professional. I'm thinking about setting up a small studio in my house to work on getting better looking shots. Do you use strobe or continuous lights for your shots and how many? Thanks again for setting up this great thread.

[mercersmoments]

Hi siona, yes i think it's the window sunlight over my lens, i didn't aware with that haze.
Sure...I'll be glad to see your ideas, it's free for you to edit. You just keep shocking me with your kindness to newcomers like me. Thanks for trhe comment siona

Easy fixed with some photoshop, I usually just use the burn tool to fix sun haze - next time try popping on a lens hood, it should help :)

Could you possibly post 2 or so of your photos without the text & in a larger size ? :) I'll be able to edit them for you :)


What a great thread! I'm new to photography and really got into it to photograph my 1 year old. So far it's been tough for me, all my shots just seem to be candids that don't look very professional. I'm thinking about setting up a small studio in my house to work on getting better looking shots. Do you use strobe or continuous lights for your shots and how many? Thanks again for setting up this great thread.

I have 2 500 watt strobes with modeling globes - for kids & babies I only set one up & have a soft box attached.

My typical settings for using one light are :

Light turned to lowest possible power.
F/3.2
1/125
ISO 100

This shot was taken using the above camera settings , baby was on a bean bag chair with lambswool over the top & draped up and clipped to my backdrop stand.

As you can see there are still some shadows on the baby, I like to have my artificial light look like natural light as much as possible, I also have the window behind me, and usually open the blinds so I get some extra catch lights.

Probably not the "normal" way to do things - but it works for me - and I like it :)

The light with soft box was just off centre behind me - the second photo shows my set up (with my daughter pretending to photograph her doll !) This should give you an idea of how I set up my studio for photographing babies :)



http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4088/5092376915_ef7e7ab381_b.jpg


http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1156/5101284022_79f470cfb4_b.jpg

[mosi2]

Thanks Siona,
These are the images before i bump up the contrast and brightness,
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4132/5134344251_830f2d90c8_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/17888522@N07/5134344251/)
_MG_1747 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/17888522@N07/5134344251/) by akusumajaya82 (http://www.flickr.com/people/17888522@N07/), on Flickr

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4085/5134943674_a9c2b8e1b5.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/17888522@N07/5134943674/)
_MG_1724 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/17888522@N07/5134943674/) by akusumajaya82 (http://www.flickr.com/people/17888522@N07/), on Flickr

really, thankyou for helping me, appreciate it a lot. :D

[mercersmoments]

:)
I really like these images in black & white, they are so meaningful and sweet, black and white always gives a nice mood to photographs like these. He's a very lovely baby too !

In photo shop I used a black and white layer to de saturate the images.
I then used the burn tool to darken the haze from the sun
I used a levels layer to darken the blacks & lighten the whites
Adjusted the brightness and contrast slightly.


I hope this helps you :)

[mosi2]

Wow..you did a little thing, but resulting in very different mood. I love it. I think i'm gonna present it B/W just like you did. It feels more "touching" than the colours, and you right about the haze, it much better without it. Ow and thankyou very much for today lessons, hope I'll shoot this baby again soon. I'll try to make better. Yes, he's lovely baby, not even a single cry when we do all the photo things, and he's very small baby, only 2.05 kg.

[mercersmoments]

Yes, less is more when it comes to editing ! I think the mother will love these images !

[delmama]

I love those in BW as well!

[delmama]

Hi Seona,
I have been practicing with different settings on my camera and I liked this photo of my daughter, nothing fancy just playing around in my room. I think there is too much light, perhaps lowering the ISO would of helped, it was at 400. I see some color casting on her face too, I am not sure how that happened...
CC welcome :)
ps: she has halloween stamps all over her arms too!

[mercersmoments]

delmama

What a gorgeous girl !!! Sweet shot too, it looks like she will pose for you - so make the most of it and practice on her !!!!

It looks like you have had plenty of light here, which is good. I think the photo is a bit over exposed & there's also a shutter speed problem.

It looks like you have exposed a bit too far to the right of the meter, which is why it's so bright - this can be fixed in PS.

There appears to be a small amount of shake, see how the image isn't crystal clear ? - it's not a focus issue, as the photo isn't soft, so it's a shutter issue.

Can you please post the exif data for this shot ?

Without being in the room this was taken in, I'll have a guess & give you some settings to use.

There seems to be alot of natural light coming in from the window.

So try:

ISO 200
f/2.8
1/200th

you may need to tweak these settings a little, try to keep the shutter speed as high as you can - still keeping the meter either in the middle or half a stop to the right.

I try to keep my shutter above 1/160 when using natural light with kids - they move around too much !

Keeping your shutter speed high will help with any kind of movement from the child, or from your hands.

I find that after a while - holding a large heavy camera (especially the 5D2 with the 85 1.2L attached) that my hands/arms get tired and I shake !

let me know how you go using these settings and post another photo :) Oh and shoot RAW (if you're not allready :) )

[delmama]

Thank you!Here is the info. It was right in front of my french door in my bedroom, it gets pretty bright in my room, I always use it for photos ;)
And yes, she will pose for me, when she feels like it haha. I do have a question, I tried upping the shutter speed to about 150 and my photo came out completely dark? why do I have this problem?

F-stop:10
Exposure time: 1/10 sec
ISO: 400
focal length: 50mm (using my 17-50 2.8)

I hope that helps, I will attempt some shots again tomorrow!

And this is the SOOC shot, feel free to edit. I know the background is not the best, like I said she was randomly playing in my room and I was just practicing with some settings ;)

[mercersmoments]

I'll edit this for you, it's not as over exposed in the SOOC shot so thats good.

1/10 - thats very slow. Also f/10 is too narrow - so you will get dark shots using this if you set it to 1/200

f/10 is great for outside group shots or landscapes, but I find that you need to up your ISO depending on how much light you have.

I use f/10 with flash for group shots insdie at a wedding reception etc.

You can photograph her using 2.8 on that lens, or even 3.2 :)

[mercersmoments]

Ok, so I desaturated it using a black and white layer. I burnt in her face just slightly. Used a levels layer to up the blacks. Used the coffee shop baby action, smoothed her skin at 10 opacity & used eye define at 12 opacity.
Dodged her hair a little to bring out highlights.

:)

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4047/5137694980_33b583c81f_z.jpg

[daniboo]

Howdy! I'm new to this site, and new to Digital Photography! I did 35mm B&W back in the day, and recently bought a Canon T2i! I'm using my 9 month old, Caden, as my subject! He's great in front of the camera! Here are a few of my first shots with him.... Can you give me some suggestions? These have not gone through PP. I'm in the market for a program, and not sure what to get. I like an organic feel to my shots, so I wouldn't want to go nutso in PP.

I'm currently using AV mode right now..... It'll be a while before I feel comfortable with M....

http://i626.photobucket.com/albums/tt347/daniraine/Canon%20October%202010/IMG_0155-1.jpg

http://i626.photobucket.com/albums/tt347/daniraine/Canon%20October%202010/IMG_0084-1.jpg

http://i626.photobucket.com/albums/tt347/daniraine/Canon%20October%202010/IMG_0167-2.jpg

http://i626.photobucket.com/albums/tt347/daniraine/Canon%20October%202010/IMG_0410-2.jpg

Thanks so much!

[delmama]

Ok, so I desaturated it using a black and white layer. I burnt in her face just slightly. Used a levels layer to up the blacks. Used the coffee shop baby action, smoothed her skin at 10 opacity & used eye define at 12 opacity.
Dodged her hair a little to bring out highlights.

:)

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4047/5137694980_33b583c81f_z.jpg

wow! your edits always look absolutely GREAT! THANK YOU for taking all your time to teach us all some great stuff, I would love to know how you desaturated the photo, just whenever you get a chance :)
you are so good at this, you need to do some workshops!

[mercersmoments]

Howdy! I'm new to this site, and new to Digital Photography! I did 35mm B&W back in the day, and recently bought a Canon T2i! I'm using my 9 month old, Caden, as my subject! He's great in front of the camera! Here are a few of my first shots with him.... Can you give me some suggestions? These have not gone through PP. I'm in the market for a program, and not sure what to get. I like an organic feel to my shots, so I wouldn't want to go nutso in PP.

I'm currently using AV mode right now..... It'll be a while before I feel comfortable with M....

Ahhaa ! What a cute little man you get to photograph !!!

That last one is just so cute ! Love it !

I am using photo shop CS4, I have just upgraded to CS5 - Though it's still waiting to be installed onto my computer - I must do that soon.

If you can get hold of CS3, CS4 or CS5 - you will be very happy :)

You can do very basic editing in photo shop, to keep a natural feel to your photos.

I have done a very quick edit for you, just to show what a few simple adjustments can do to enhance a photo :)

I did a curves adjustment to lighten the photo & I took some yellow out. I used a levels layer to add some blacks & and a brightness/contrast adjustment too.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4010/5138017286_8a0d1656da.jpg

wow! your edits always look absolutely GREAT! THANK YOU for taking all your time to teach us all some great stuff, I would love to know how you desaturated the photo, just whenever you get a chance
you are so good at this, you need to do some workshops!

:)

I usually do my de saturating ACR with a RAW file, but this time I did the following :


Layer - new adjustment layer - black and white

Play round with the sliders and adjust to taste then click layer - flatten image.

:) Have a play and see how you go :)

[daniboo]

Ahhaa ! What a cute little man you get to photograph !!!

That last one is just so cute ! Love it !

I am using photo shop CS4, I have just upgraded to CS5 - Though it's still waiting to be installed onto my computer - I must do that soon.

If you can get hold of CS3, CS4 or CS5 - you will be very happy :)

You can do very basic editing in photo shop, to keep a natural feel to your photos.

I have done a very quick edit for you, just to show what a few simple adjustments can do to enhance a photo :)

I did a curves adjustment to lighten the photo & I took some yellow out. I used a levels layer to add some blacks & and a brightness/contrast adjustment too.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4010/5138017286_8a0d1656da.jpg



:)

I usually do my de saturating ACR with a RAW file, but this time I did the following :


Layer - new adjustment layer - black and white

Play round with the sliders and adjust to taste then click layer - flatten image.

:) Have a play and see how you go :)

Thank you so much for your help! I really love the editing you did on the photo! On the whole, how did you feel about the set? What can I do to improve?

[travln1]

First post!

May I ask what your "go to" lens is? Which do you prefer? If you could only have one lens, what would it be?

And secondly, in the shot of your daughter taking a photo of her doll...is this typically the distance you would sit at when photographing? Which lens would you use in this scenario?

Thank you so much for being so generous!

[waterrockets]

First post!

May I ask what your "go to" lens is? Which do you prefer? If you could only have one lens, what would it be?

And secondly, in the shot of your daughter taking a photo of her doll...is this typically the distance you would sit at when photographing? Which lens would you use in this scenario?

Thank you so much for being so generous!

While I'm interested in the answer as well, I thought I'd mention something I learned as I was just getting into this: many of the images posted in POTN have Exif data in them. So, if you look at an exif viewer, you might be able to see what lens was used in a shot, in addition to all the settings...
Like these two shots:
24-70mm f/2.8L (http://regex.info/exif.cgi?dummy=on&url=http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4113/4952613269_063592c3b4_b.jpg)
85mm f/1.2L (http://regex.info/exif.cgi?dummy=on&url=http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4069/4716282777_d7d7f8c5cd_b.jpg)

[mosi2]

Ahhaa ! What a cute little man you get to photograph !!!

That last one is just so cute ! Love it !

I am using photo shop CS4, I have just upgraded to CS5 - Though it's still waiting to be installed onto my computer - I must do that soon.

If you can get hold of CS3, CS4 or CS5 - you will be very happy :)

You can do very basic editing in photo shop, to keep a natural feel to your photos.

I have done a very quick edit for you, just to show what a few simple adjustments can do to enhance a photo :)

I did a curves adjustment to lighten the photo & I took some yellow out. I used a levels layer to add some blacks & and a brightness/contrast adjustment too.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4010/5138017286_8a0d1656da.jpg



:)

I usually do my de saturating ACR with a RAW file, but this time I did the following :


Layer - new adjustment layer - black and white

Play round with the sliders and adjust to taste then click layer - flatten image.

:) Have a play and see how you go :)

Amazing..it looks bright but not pale..sorry, it may silly question, how to took the yellow out? btw, what a funny little boy, I love when he wear costume, seems like mini batman lol :lol:

[daniboo]

Amazing..it looks bright but not pale..sorry, it may silly question, how to took the yellow out? btw, what a funny little boy, I love when he wear costume, seems like mini batman lol :lol:


Hehehe! Thanks a bunch!

I was wondering how she took some yellow out, as well! I downloaded GIMP last night, and was toggling with some adjustments.....

[nemesis47]

On Gimp... Go to Colors -> Color Balance... play with the sliders on Adjust Color levels.

[Lyssi]

Thank you for sharing all of this wonderful information.

My questions are about focusing. I find that when I use f/2.8 I run the risk of having one eye slightly out of focus which ruins the portrait. I tend then to always use f/5.6 to be safe and of course don't get as much blur as I'd like with the background, as a result.

1. Where do you place your focus point, on one eye or between the eyes?

2. Do you focus and reframe with children or use the appropriate individual focus points of the viewfinder rather than the centre focus point ?

3. I wondered too if perhaps I am not keeping my camera parallel enough when I'm taking the picture and that is why both eyes are not equally sharp? Tricky when the kids are moving about outdoors.

Any advice here would be appreciated

[mercersmoments]

First post! May I ask what your "go to" lens is? Which do you prefer? If you could only have one lens, what would it be?

And secondly, in the shot of your daughter taking a photo of her doll...is this typically the distance you would sit at when photographing? Which lens would you use in this scenario?

Thank you so much for being so generous!

I love my 24-70 2.8L - It's very much my all rounder. So if I was only allowed to have one lens in the whole world it would be the 24-70 !

The photo of my daughter taking a photo of her doll : Yes this is the distance I use if the strobe light is on - and I can switch between my 85 1.2L & my 24-70 2.8L.

The reason there's a good distance between the light and my subject is so I can use f/2.3 or 2.8 without my light blowing out the subject - the light is turned to the lowest power and is far away enough for me to still be able to use it as off camera flash and use wide apetures to give me my blurred backgrounds and take away that hard harsh oversharp look that studio lights can give - which I don't like on babies :)

When using just the light from the window, I bring my subjects closer & use the 24-70.

hope this helps :) And welcome to POTN - We are an awesome, friendly bunch ! lol

While I'm interested in the answer as well, I thought I'd mention something I learned as I was just getting into this: many of the images posted in POTN have Exif data in them. So, if you look at an exif viewer, you might be able to see what lens was used in a shot, in addition to all the settings...
Like these two shots:
24-70mm f/2.8L
85mm f/1.2L

Yes this is correct - most images you can run through an exif data viewer to see what settings and lens the person used.

I used this exif data viewer :
http://regex.info/exif.cgi

Amazing..it looks bright but not pale..sorry, it may silly question, how to took the yellow out?

I selected layer - new adjustment layer - selective colour- yellow and adjusted slightly then flattened image by selecting layer-flatten image.

Then i selected layer - hue &saturation - clicked the colour picker - clicked on his chin where there was colour cast - then adjusted until the colour cast was toned down a little. Then flattened image.

Thank you for sharing all of this wonderful information.

My questions are about focusing. I find that when I use f/2.8 I run the risk of having one eye slightly out of focus which ruins the portrait. I tend then to always use f/5.6 to be safe and of course don't get as much blur as I'd like with the background, as a result.

1. Where do you place your focus point, on one eye or between the eyes?

2. Do you focus and re frame with children or use the appropriate individual focus points of the viewfinder rather than the centre focus point ?

3. I wondered too if perhaps I am not keeping my camera parallel enough when I'm taking the picture and that is why both eyes are not equally sharp? Tricky when the kids are moving about outdoors.

Any advice here would be appreciated

1. Where do you place your focus point, on one eye or between the eyes?

I usually toggle to the bridge of the nose for a front on portrait & to one eye (the closest to the camera) on a more side on portrait.

So this photo - she is slightly side on - the focus was on her left eye - or the "front" eye in this shot

you can see one is clear than the other, but it still looks fine because of the angle. This was shot on 2.8 (and in AV - I was having a lazy day) so I expect some softness in the other eye and in other parts of the photo - though I do like the look it gives. If you bump to 3.2 you will still get nice smooth backgrounds, but your overall focus point will be a bigger area and you are more likley to get both eyes in focus.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4009/4686657277_382dbd347b_b.jpg

Do you focus and re frame with children or use the appropriate individual focus points of the viewfinder rather than the centre focus point ?

Both, sometimes with the 24-70 at 2.8 it misses focus, and I know when it is, so I use the centre focus point, focus and recompose, if I am quick enough - kids are fast movers ! lol But I do prefer to toggle to the area rather than focus and recompose. So 90% of the time I am a toggler - lol

If all else fails, use the centre focus point lock the focus and recompose. They say that the sweet spot on the 24-70 is at 50mm 3.2 with the centre focus toggled, and I have tried this - and it's true !

I wondered too if perhaps I am not keeping my camera parallel enough when I'm taking the picture and that is why both eyes are not equally sharp? Tricky when the kids are moving about outdoors.

No it's probably more to do with the focus point and aperture (and shutter speed - slow shutter and kids don't mix)- You can turn the camera upside down and as long as your focus point is in the right spot you'll still get in focus pics :)

Try the sweet spot settings - keep your shutter speed around 1/200 and post some samples :) I think on your 17-55 you could try 40mm f/3.2 :)

[4-ever-blessed]

Hi Seona in the photo of the cute little boy that you took the yellow out, how does one avoid having too much yellow? often my photo's will have too much of one colour usually an orange tinge. is it just because I'm choosing auto white balance?
thanks

[daniboo]

Hi Seona in the photo of the cute little boy that you took the yellow out, how does one avoid having too much yellow? often my photo's will have too much of one colour usually an orange tinge. is it just because I'm choosing auto white balance?
thanks

Hehehehe! That's my son, Caden! I'm a proud mama!

[mercersmoments]

Hi Seona in the photo of the cute little boy that you took the yellow out, how does one avoid having too much yellow? often my photo's will have too much of one colour usually an orange tinge. is it just because I'm choosing auto white balance?
thanks

Lots of things can cause colour casts. In that photo there was yellow flowers that caused it, manual WB will help, but colour casts are just one of those annoying things you get, and it's hard to stop them.

I had a child in a green t shirt and he ended up with a green shaddow under his chin, I had to use layers in PS shop tone it down.

try shooting a white bit of paper and then setting your camera, using the white image to set as your custom WB. See if that helps you :)

[4-ever-blessed]

try shooting a white bit of paper and then setting your camera, using the white image to set as your custom WB. See if that helps you
thanks I'll have to look up how to do that ;-)

[waterrockets]

Lots of things can cause colour casts. In that photo there was yellow flowers that caused it, manual WB will help, but colour casts are just one of those annoying things you get, and it's hard to stop them.

I had a child in a green t shirt and he ended up with a green shaddow under his chin, I had to use layers in PS shop tone it down.

try shooting a white bit of paper and then setting your camera, using the white image to set as your custom WB. See if that helps you :)

Thanks for all this wonderful advice. I've been lurking in this thread for some time and appreciate it -- I'm sure many silent others are as well...

Regarding lighting color, one trick I've found is to always shoot something white or gray, full-frame if I'm somewhere with strange light (elemetary school cafeteria, for instance). I just switch to manual focus for the shot, fill the frame with a gray surface, and shoot (out of focus is probably better).

Then, when I get home to DPP, the first thing I do is go to that shot and adjust the RGB levels so that all three of the peaks perfectly overlap, which makes it "perfectly gray." Then copy that recipe to clipboard, and paste the recipe to every image I shot at that location. All the faces and clothes now look completely natural. Of course, this requires shooting in RAW...

One thing though, I've found that there are color casts that I want to keep. Children blowing out a candle in low light, for instance. The yellow coloring is just how it's supposed to look :)

[travln1]

Thank you! I love the 24-70 f2.8, too.

May I ask one more question? Regarding the bean bag chair: you said you folded it over on itself. How so? I'm having a hard time envisioning it.

Thank you so much for being so generous!

[Looony2nz]

Hi, ! 2 questions. Please tell me what you mean by a "crop camera". I've heard the term, but don't know what that really means.

and. when you say you toggle the focus point to the eye area , is this something you can only do on manual settings. My husband shoots with the auto focus most of the time and he says if he were to focus on the eye area, the rest of the pic would be out of focus?
so confused
thx

[howzitboy]

what a great thread! thx Seona for sharing!

[mercersmoments]

Thanks for all this wonderful advice. I've been lurking in this thread for some time and appreciate it -- I'm sure many silent others are as well...

Regarding lighting color, one trick I've found is to always shoot something white or gray, full-frame if I'm somewhere with strange light (elemetary school cafeteria, for instance). I just switch to manual focus for the shot, fill the frame with a gray surface, and shoot (out of focus is probably better).

Then, when I get home to DPP, the first thing I do is go to that shot and adjust the RGB levels so that all three of the peaks perfectly overlap, which makes it "perfectly gray." Then copy that recipe to clipboard, and paste the recipe to every image I shot at that location. All the faces and clothes now look completely natural. Of course, this requires shooting in RAW...

One thing though, I've found that there are color casts that I want to keep. Children blowing out a candle in low light, for instance. The yellow coloring is just how it's supposed to look
Yep, yep and yep ! Totally agree :)

Thank you! I love the 24-70 f2.8, too.

May I ask one more question? Regarding the bean bag chair: you said you folded it over on itself. How so? I'm having a hard time envisioning it.

Thank you so much for being so generous!

:) It's an "L" shape bean chair, so imagine half the top folding onto the bottom half - ok that's confusing - lol, I'll take a photo of mine today and post it ASAP :)

Hi, ! 2 questions. Please tell me what you mean by a "crop camera". I've heard the term, but don't know what that really means.

and. when you say you toggle the focus point to the eye area , is this something you can only do on manual settings. My husband shoots with the auto focus most of the time and he says if he were to focus on the eye area, the rest of the pic would be out of focus?
so confused
thx

A crop camera is not full frame. I think any EOS cameras below the 5D are a 1.6 crop body. It basically makes your lenses closer than what they are. LOL There's my basic take one it - but here you'll find more :)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full-frame_digital_SLR

Not to sure what camera your husband is using, but on my 5D2 I can toggle the focus in all modes except the green square (which you should never use cause that's naughty, lol)

he says if he were to focus on the eye area, the rest of the pic would be out of focus?

That depends on your aperture - if you use say a fairly wide aperture then yes you will have sharp eyes/face and soft every where else - like this photo : (But I still like the look it gives)

Shot on f/2 natural light - under a tree, no extra lighting/reflectors.

exif here :

Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Lens: EF50mm f/1.2L USM
Exposure: Manual exposure, 1/350 sec, f/2, ISO 200
Focus: At 65cm


http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4070/5143913080_8b8aa86669_b.jpg

I always toggle to the eye area when focusing - sharp eyes are very important to me, it's the first thing I notice about people :)

when I photograph more than one person I use a larger f/ stop number - or smaller apeture - less light.

Like this photo - I used the centre focus point and f/4 - used one 500 watt strobe with softbox set to low - and 1.2 meters away from the people - with natural light from a window to their right

Exif here :

Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Lens: EF24-70mm f/2.8L USM
Shot at 45 mm
Exposure: Manual exposure, 1/125 sec, f/4, ISO 160
Focus: At 1.9m


http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4132/5104101084_e23521772f_b.jpg



what a great thread! thx Seona for sharing!

Thanks for reading :) I'm pleased that people are getting something from it

[danpayneuk]

has been some great questions, followed by superb answers.

Been very helpfull.

[dengar]

my secret weapon for making kids look at me !

DUH! Why didnt I think of that??

[travln1]

Thank you for being such a wonderful source of information!

[mercersmoments]

Thank you for being such a wonderful source of information!

Pleasure ! I'm so pleased this thread has been worth while !

[travln1]

May I ask one more? The lambs wool you mentioned...is it really lamb's wool or another type of material? Do you find (if it is lamb's wool) any babies are allergic to it? And is is white-white, or cream, or off-white?

The material I'd like to use is more creamy than white, and I wonder how that might photograph. I don't think it would affect black and white photos, but I'm unsure about full color.

Do you ever use a colored blanket/material under the baby? Pink or baby blue, for instance? Do you like the results if you have?

Many thanks, again!

[mercersmoments]

May I ask one more? The lambs wool you mentioned...is it really lamb's wool or another type of material? Do you find (if it is lamb's wool) any babies are allergic to it? And is is white-white, or cream, or off-white?

The material I'd like to use is more creamy than white, and I wonder how that might photograph. I don't think it would affect black and white photos, but I'm unsure about full color.

Do you ever use a colored blanket/material under the baby? Pink or baby blue, for instance? Do you like the results if you have?

Many thanks, again!


Yep it's real lambs wool, it's actually a single bed underlay.I have 2 of them. I have never had any problems with babies being allergic to it, and I always tell the parents that it's real lambswool.

I chose real wool as it washes better, and I have it washed at my dry cleaners after each session, having 2 is handy so I can do 2 sessions in one day - because I have nude babies on it I have to wash after each use, same with my throw rugs - and my hats get hand washed by me.

It's a cream colour - yes it's excellent for black and white, and great for colour, though in PP I always need to do a slight colour adjustment - usually taking a bit of yellow out.

I'm not a fan of coloured blankets, I like neutral - I have tried it, with good results, but again there's more PPing involved to get the baby's skin correct.

This photo was taken using the cream lambswool :

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4029/5152516690_4cba083deb_b.jpg

[mebuck]

This is a great thread and very informative!!! Thanks so much for sharing your secrets and techniques.
I have read through every post and still have a question. You talk about toggling the focus on the bridge of the nose and I think I understand what that means but what other focusing method do you use. Settings on camera? Manual or auto focus? One shot, al servo, al focus?? I apologize if you have already answered this. I couldn't find anything in the thread already unless I overlooked.

[mercersmoments]

This is a great thread and very informative!!! Thanks so much for sharing your secrets and techniques.
I have read through every post and still have a question. You talk about toggling the focus on the bridge of the nose and I think I understand what that means but what other focusing method do you use. Settings on camera? Manual or auto focus? One shot, al servo, al focus?? I apologize if you have already answered this. I couldn't find anything in the thread already unless I overlooked.


Nope - this hasn't been asked yet :)

I use auto focus for kids - they move all the time & having USM lenses means that the focus is nice and fast.

On my camera - I have it set to AI FOCUS

AI Focus switches from one shot AF to AI Servo AF automatically if the still subjects start moving.
Perfect for kids !!

Hope this helps :)

[mebuck]

I have taken your advice on the settings and keeping my shutter at 1/160 or above keeping the focus between the eyes. Heres a few of my attempts while my son was licking the cake batter from his birthday cake using only the light from window this afternoon. I am impressed!!!
#1 ISO 800 1/200 3.2491285
#2 ISO 800 1/160 3.2491286

[mebuck]

Oh and one more question about focus. What about the focusing points? do you use them all or just the center one?

[ann-mom]

ok so wait a minute do you focus on the eye or the bridge of the nose?

[mercersmoments]

I have taken your advice on the settings and keeping my shutter at 1/160 or above keeping the focus between the eyes. Heres a few of my attempts while my son was licking the cake batter from his birthday cake using only the light from window this afternoon. I am impressed!!!

Excellent! I love these shots !!

Oh and one more question about focus. What about the focusing points? do you use them all or just the center one?

I usually use the one closest to they eyes, sometimes if I know I can't nail focus with an outer focus point (the 24-70 2.8L is known for this) I'll use the centre one and focus and recompose.

ok so wait a minute do you focus on the eye or the bridge of the nose?

Either, If the person is front on to me I try for the middle, if they are more side on I try for the eye closest to the camera

:)

[mebuck]

Excellent! I love these shots !!


I usually use the one closest to they eyes, sometimes if I know I can't nail focus with an outer focus point (the 24-70 2.8L is known for this) I'll use the centre one and focus and recompose.



Either, If the person is front on to me I try for the middle, if they are more side on I try for the eye closest to the camera

:)

Thank you! Its all because of your wonderful wealth of information.

[mercersmoments]

Thank you! Its all because of your wonderful wealth of information.

:) :) :) :)

[FreezingRose]

mercersmoments: Your photos are soooooo beautiful. I'm too trying to take better pictures of my sons and thank you very much for sharing your knowledge.