studio portraits for children

[basje]

Maybe a faster lens can help you! As long as you position your subject a bit to the background, you should be able to shoot with a lens that's at F1.8? That way you get a lot of light, so you can shorten your shutter speed. It's often used for concert photography and other low-light situations as well. The 200mm ones often have a much smaller aperture, so you get less light.

[kseg]

I like others, don't have much to add since I am still learning but wanted to let Ken and DigiDave know that I appreciate both answers on this forum, they give clear answers that are understandable. I am always interested in what they have to say. Thanks for sharing your knowledge with the rest of us.

[JMitchell1317]

Thanks everyone for the input. Gives me hope that I just need to experiment more, and will get it someday.

[seanhagen]

Originally Posted by Digidave

I'm not familiar with the D200 but on My D80 I have a maximum shutter speed of 1/200. In most cases this would be fast enough but I don't photograph children. If you need a faster shutter speed then what your camera is normally capable of, there is an option in the menu settings to go into Auto FP mode. On my D80 I find that under the pencil icon. This allows you to set your shutter speed to whatever you wish. I'm not exactly certain about all the techy stuff that's involved but I think it reduces your flash output a little.

I'm not sure why your maximum shutter speed on your D80 is only 1/200, but the maximum shutter speed for the D80 is 1/4000 ( or 1/2000 with a flash ). I just picked up and tested my D80 by pointing it at a light, and I was getting 1/500 ( with Auto FP off ). The D200 has a maximum shutter speed of 1/8000.

As for some tips on photographing fast moving children, I'd suggest a fast lens, Program Mode, and Auto ISO. Program Mode and Auto ISO are my best friends. Instead of having to worry about shutter speeds and aperture sizes, if a photo doesn't come out the way I want all I need to do is adjust the exposure bias a bit, and I'm good. I'll admit though, I haven't done any studio photography, so Program and AutoISO might not be the best settings for a situation where you have control over everything (except the fast moving children, of course ).

Also, if you're getting as close as you can, why not get a 50mm f/1.8 prime lens like I saw someone else suggest? That way, you're getting a fast sharp lens which will let you focus a bit more on the picture you're taking and not the lens and camera settings.

Hope you have better luck in the future!

ps: For those of you shooting with Nikon cameras, I highly recommend this site: http://kenrockwell.com/tech.htm . He's got some great articles and a full, easier to read manual for several Nikon cameras ( including the D80 ). I've learned quite a bit from reading that site -- and going out to experiment with what I've read. I've never shot with a Canon camera though, so I don't know how good his Canon suggestions are.

[Digidave]

I'm not sure why your maximum shutter speed on your D80 is only 1/200, but the maximum shutter speed for the D80 is 1/4000 ( or 1/2000 with a flash ). I just picked up and tested my D80 by pointing it at a light, and I was getting 1/500 ( with Auto FP off ). The D200 has a maximum shutter speed of 1/8000.

When quoting me, please be sure to include the entire quote. As you can see, omitting the first line changes the entire concept of my statement.

"One last thing about using your flash." was the first line of that quote of mine you used. So, when talking about using flash on the D80 in it's normal mode, 1/200 is as fast as the shutter it will go. When not using flash, 1/4000 is the fastest shutter speed. I too just tested my D80 & I could not find a way to get it to go beyond 1/200 without first changing it to FP mode & attaching an external flash unit.

[seanhagen]

Ack! That's what I get for replying to a post at 1am. Sorry!