Tomorrow's prompt for the joy of LOVE series that I am doing is "together - self-portrait". I have such a difficult time getting the focus correct. Any tips on how to get the shot to focus in the spot that I am going to be placing myself and my daughter. I'm thinking that I will be setting up a shot of us playing on the floor. She loves to "fly" by balancing on my feet in the air. Any tips would be appreciated. The only lenses I have are a Nikon 50mm 1.8, a terrible quantaray 70-300 zoom from my 35mm slr, and the kit lens from my old 35mm Nikon n50, 28-80mm. It is the dead of winter here in the NE so we will be indoors, but I have pretty decent lighting.
Amanda, even "pretty decent lighting" indoors means very poor lighting for cameras. Our eyes technically have auto-ISO settings, so it's amazing at just how poorly cameras can really shoot!
My first question is: do you have at least one off-camera flash? It would be great if you did, but not impossible to shoot if you don't.
The first thing you need to do is set your camera with an aperture of f/5.6. Yes, that will be very dark. You'll probably need to shoot at 800 ISO @ 1/100 exposure. Use a tripod, of course, but you need around 1/125 exposure just to freeze human motions.
To focus the camera, do a Google search for "focus chart" and print one out. I have one I bought at a camera store for a few bucks that is printed on foam core material. What you can do is attach that focus chart to a chair (I use a lightstand) and position it where you will be sitting for the portrait. Mount your camera to a tripod, focus on the chart, and you're set!
I say to use f/5.6 because with the 50mm lens, with the camera about 10' away from you, you'll have about three feet of DOF. That should be enough to allow a little play just in case you don't sit exactly where you had the focus chart.
If you don't have a strobe to use, just sit right next to a window. If you don't have one already, go out to Walmart and buy a piece of white foam core material in the art section. It is a wonderful bouncer for $1. Place it on the opposite side of you from the window and you'll have a nice amount of light bounced directly at you.
If you can, go to manual focus. Place your daughter very close to where you want to have both of you in the photo, fccus on her. Have your aperture set not too shallow - f/5.6 if the camera is 10-12 feet away. If possible, try not to use flash, at least not straight on - bounce if for a more interesting shadow. Set your timer, and take a few! Nothing like trial and error. Oh yeah - have fun! It'll be great to see genuine joy in your image!
@jasonbarnette Thank you! I do not have an off camera flash, but I do have a room with windows almost surrounding us. I have been meaning to buy some foam core for other projects, so I guess I should go to the store in the morning! Thanks for the tips, I can't wait to try it out!
@emsabh Thank you for the tips. And thank you for reminding me to have fun, because sometimes I seriously forget to do that :) My daughter is pretty fun, though, so we should be good!
These guys have covered everything I was going to say..but I still wanted to say I can't wait to see this shot! It sounds really fun. You should post it on here when you are done :)
I am by no means a professional, like Jason. But I have been playing with self portraits so my explanation will be less technical, but I still wanted to chime in. I don't use a flash at all because I don't have an off camera one as of yet, and even with the flash setting dialed down I don't like the look I get with a flash, I have a lot to learn there. When I take pics of myself I can be still if I need to use a slower shutter speed to get the look I want, this might be trickier with your daughter, but sounds like you have lots of natural light so that will be great.
I take some test shots to get the look I want, if I want to overexpose or under based on the "look" I'm going for with the shot. I also usually use ISO 400 or 800. I also set the white balance setting for tungsten/inside lighting and this helps a little as well.
Focus: In lieu of a focus sheet, I'll pick an item(stuffed animal usually) to put in the spot I'll sit, focus on it, then turn the focus from auto to manual and put the camera on the tripod. Set the self-timer and take shots till I'm satisfied. Or, I'll stand in the location I'll be in the shot, and focus back at the tripod and lock the focus in that way.
I also end up in my bathroom a lot, there is a lot of light in there and the walls are all white so I get the best results there, oddly enough. Jason was so right when he said inside lighting is bad. I feel like I live in a dungeon sometimes. haha
@jasonbarnette@lislee75@amyhughes@feeandstevie@arielmagyawejr@emsabh Thank you ALL for your tips and encouragement. I posted the winner from today's self-portrait photo shoot. This is my very first self-portrait and it will not be the last. It's time I came out from behind the camera. Olivia and I had so much fun. No stress, just lots of playing. We spent an hour playing super Olivia baby and I got a fantastic leg workout, but those photos did not make the cut. To see the one I posted in color plus a collage of bloopers, you can visit my blog: www.sevinsweetness.blogspot.com Again, thank you so much for your help!!
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My first question is: do you have at least one off-camera flash? It would be great if you did, but not impossible to shoot if you don't.
The first thing you need to do is set your camera with an aperture of f/5.6. Yes, that will be very dark. You'll probably need to shoot at 800 ISO @ 1/100 exposure. Use a tripod, of course, but you need around 1/125 exposure just to freeze human motions.
To focus the camera, do a Google search for "focus chart" and print one out. I have one I bought at a camera store for a few bucks that is printed on foam core material. What you can do is attach that focus chart to a chair (I use a lightstand) and position it where you will be sitting for the portrait. Mount your camera to a tripod, focus on the chart, and you're set!
I say to use f/5.6 because with the 50mm lens, with the camera about 10' away from you, you'll have about three feet of DOF. That should be enough to allow a little play just in case you don't sit exactly where you had the focus chart.
If you don't have a strobe to use, just sit right next to a window. If you don't have one already, go out to Walmart and buy a piece of white foam core material in the art section. It is a wonderful bouncer for $1. Place it on the opposite side of you from the window and you'll have a nice amount of light bounced directly at you.
thank you for following Amanda... Enjoy your 'flying' shoot!!! :)
I take some test shots to get the look I want, if I want to overexpose or under based on the "look" I'm going for with the shot. I also usually use ISO 400 or 800. I also set the white balance setting for tungsten/inside lighting and this helps a little as well.
Focus: In lieu of a focus sheet, I'll pick an item(stuffed animal usually) to put in the spot I'll sit, focus on it, then turn the focus from auto to manual and put the camera on the tripod. Set the self-timer and take shots till I'm satisfied. Or, I'll stand in the location I'll be in the shot, and focus back at the tripod and lock the focus in that way.
I also end up in my bathroom a lot, there is a lot of light in there and the walls are all white so I get the best results there, oddly enough. Jason was so right when he said inside lighting is bad. I feel like I live in a dungeon sometimes. haha
Can't wait to see what you come up with!