my daughter's semi formal

[Spinning]

I think I actually got some really nice photos of her. It was a wee bit more emotional than I thought to see her go from sweats to a pretty dress and makeup...where does the time go???
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c225/Sondracot/161.jpg
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c225/Sondracot/148.jpg
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c225/Sondracot/135.jpg
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c225/Sondracot/145.jpg
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c225/Sondracot/127.jpg

[Spinning]

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c225/Sondracot/128.jpg
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c225/Sondracot/082.jpg

[Spinning]

I know they are a little blurred or not totally crisp....but not bad...better than I thought I would do...

[Csae]

1.8, even on a cropped body, didn't seem to give you enough DOF, you can see, especially in the last shot, it feels like you only got her hairline in focus, her eyes/nose/mouth/ are all ahead of the focus and thus out of focus.

But these are all about the memories moreso then execution, so i wouldn't dwell on it too much :)

[michaelb]

I know they are a little blurred or not totally crisp.......

yea, somethings up with these, they seem oof or too slow of a SS. What was the SS for these?

[Spinning]

The photos that came out the best are with her friends. But since they aren't my kids I don't want to post them on a public forum. I think the other problem was that fact that I had it on center for focus and maybe should have had something else set...The speed was 400 1.8 AV mode
I get another try in a month or so with the formal

[D Thompson]

I like #3 & #5 as they capture her very nice. They all seem slightly under exposed to me. Just because your have f1.8 doesn't mean you should always use it;). You could've easily went to f4 for a little more dof.



yea, somethings up with these, they seem oof or too slow of a SS. What was the SS for these?
I think it's the f1.8 they were shot at. SS were all fast enough except #1.

[michaelb]

...I think it's the f1.8 they were shot at. SS were all fast enough except #1.

I thought so at first too Denis, but in the last shot you can clearly see that her arm is in focus and her face isn't. The focus is off, either because the photographer or the lens misfocused.


Spinning - using the Center point is OK, but if you do that you need to "focus-recompose" - focus on your subject's eye using the center point then leave the shutter half pressed why you change your composition, then take the shot. Many people say you shouldn't do this because the camera to subject distance changes slightly, but I do it all time and if I can do it at f/2 on FF (as in the shots below) you should be able to get away with it on your 50D at f/1.8.





This shot was taken using focus-recompose...
http://brownphotography.smugmug.com/photos/798513379_Pwot4-L.jpg


Another focus-recompose shot, f/2 again...
http://brownphotography.smugmug.com/photos/788310052_BcirR-XL.jpg

[Mark_48]

Spinning,
I don't know if you had done much in the way of post processing, but I downloaded a couple of the images and in Canon's DPP applied sharpening to them and although the DOF was rather shallow on a couple, the images did gain a bit better definition and appeared overall less soft.

[Mark_48]

Hope you don't mind..... and if you do I'll remove these.

I did some quick editing in Photoshop Elements to see if I could give the images a bit more snap and finished appearance. #3 and #4 I added "artificial" catchlights in the eyes as if you might have used a flash.
Basically played with the levels a bit, recropped a couple, added a vignette effect, softened some areas, some dodge and burn.
I think I like the way #2 & #3 came out. What do ya think? :)

[Spinning]

OMG!~ Mark those are beautiful!~ Those are the kind of photos I had hoped to get last night! LOL!
Could you email me the files!!?!?!?

[Elisha]

very nice indeed Mark. Not sure about the catch light though.....makes it look like stuck pixels or something.

[Mark_48]

very nice indeed Mark. Not sure about the catch light though.....makes it look like stuck pixels or something.
Yeah, I haven't really got the knack of fake catchlights yet. Just thought the eyes needed something for sparkle factor. What would you have thought if I hadn't let on they were fake?



Spinning,


OMG!~ Mark those are beautiful!~ Those are the kind of photos I had hoped to get last night! LOL!
Could you email me the files!!?!?!?
You did get them. They just needed some slight "adjustments" :)

PM me your email address and I'll send the files. These are sized pretty much the same as when you uploaded, so I don't know if they'll take to printing very well if that's your intention. I do have some of the PSD files from PS Elements which include the layers I worked on, although they may be a bit large to email. If you want those I can put them somewhere where you can download them.

[michaelb]

That's some really nice PP Mark (only thing I don't like is the catchlights), but everything else looks great.

[Mark_48]

OK, Ok...no fake flash :mad: ........... ;)

[jwhite]

I thought so at first too Denis, but in the last shot you can clearly see that her arm is in focus and her face isn't. The focus is off, either because the photographer or the lens misfocused.


Spinning - using the Center point is OK, but if you do that you need to "focus-recompose" - focus on your subject's eye using the center point then leave the shutter half pressed why you change your composition, then take the shot. Many people say you shouldn't do this because the camera to subject distance changes slightly, but I do it all time and if I can do it at f/2 on FF (as in the shots below) you should be able to get away with it on your 50D at f/1.8.


This is why a lot of people (myself included) separate out the focus from the shutter. I have it set to the * (back of the camera) for both my 5D and 40D. Removes the exposure lock, but I focus separate more than the exposure lock. These settings can be found in the custom functions.

Jason

[jwhite]

Wow Mark. I love your changes as well. The catch light does look a little fake. The real thing would have been best.

[adam75south]

Hope you don't mind..... and if you do I'll remove these.

I did some quick editing in Photoshop Elements to see if I could give the images a bit more snap and finished appearance. #3 and #4 I added "artificial" catchlights in the eyes as if you might have used a flash.
Basically played with the levels a bit, recropped a couple, added a vignette effect, softened some areas, some dodge and burn.
I think I like the way #2 & #3 came out. What do ya think? :)

those look great mark.

[Mark_48]

those look great mark.
Thanks!!
Just remember though, it was Spinning that did the difficult part, capturing the images. Without those I would have had nothing to play with :)

[michaelb]

This is why a lot of people (myself included) separate out the focus from the shutter. I have it set to the * (back of the camera) for both my 5D and 40D. Removes the exposure lock, but I focus separate more than the exposure lock. These settings can be found in the custom functions.

Jason

I do sometimes do that, mostly when I'm shooting landscapes on a tripod though. For a while I separated the two all the time, but now I just do it at times.

[adam75south]

Thanks!!
Just remember though, it was Spinning that did the difficult part, capturing the images. Without those I would have had nothing to play with :)

yea sorry about that spinning, your pictures were good in the first place, but the added contrast and dodge/burn can really add a lot to it. as a mom, you have to be happy about getting that kind of quality for free(ish).

[Spinning]

No appolgies needed at all! This is what I needed to see and understand.

I actually played with some photo editing. Down loaded Gimp to see what I think of that. On the other PC we down loaded picasso for me try and see what type of program would suite me best. I have a very old version of photo shop.

Honestly I would never had thought to do that dodge and burn stuff....even some of the tinting..so it is all good....
This was one of the best ways to learn visually what can be done. I do feel I have a good eye for composing but I have a long way to go to learn what my camera can do and as for editing...I think learning French would be easier.....

[FLiPMaRC]

Here's a nice basic dodge and burn video :) http://vimeo.com/3121503

[sparkie1263]

very nice indeed Mark. Not sure about the catch light though.....makes it look like stuck pixels or something.

That is what I was thinking. It is had to add catch light and get it right. Nice edits.
Frank