CC please

[EagleEyeView]

I'm JSO, i got my first DSLR about a month ago & have been reading this forum & a few others trying to figure it all out. I am having issues with my manual auto focus(that make sense? ha) I have the square in the lens directly on her eye but when i take a photo it seems to fall somewhere else. This photo seems to fall onto her hair on the right. Any advice in that & other areas is very much appreciated.


DSC_0415 by osakalindo, on Flickr

Camera

Nikon D5000



Exposure

0.003 sec (1/320)



Aperture

f/5.0



Focal Length

82 mm



Focal Length

82.3 mm



ISO Speed

200



Exposure Bias

0 EV

I love this, if I was family... I would be placing a big order! Awesome color! Some may prefer a portrait orientation but I am good with the landscape for a shot or two.

Focus.. are you letting the camera choose the spot or are you setting the spot? AF systems can be tricky and they don't read minds. I "focus and recompose" myself.. setting the camera to the center AF spot and then putting that spot on the part of the photo i want to be in focus. Once I have focus confirmation from the camera, continue to have press the shutter until I get my composition and then press the shutter the rest of the way to finish the picture. (I don't know your level.. so sorry if that is too elementary.)

[OceanHorizons]

Originally Posted by Papa Rotzzi

I love this, if I was family... I would be placing a big order! Awesome color!

+1! I love the composition and when I opened this thread I was really struck by the fantastic colors.

As a beginner myself I don't have anything to add to the advice about focusing, but just wanted to tell you I think you are off to a really great start - I would be proud if I had taken that shot.

[Niresangwa]

Great shot.

The advice above about sing center-spot focusing is your best bet. Of course in a shot like this it requires you to recompose, so at shallow DoF you have to be careful your recomposition doesn't move the subject you're locked upon out of that focal plane.

Is this a serial problem? By that I mean is this happening all of the time? If you try the above focusing method (spot focus) and still find it to be a recurrent issue, the likely culprit is that you're having issues with back focusing.

[EagleEyeView]

I manually pick my focus point. SOmeone else thought maybe the back focusing aswell. Not sure how to go about fixing that at all.. Thank you all for your feedback.

I tried doing an eye pop using gimp. Too strong? weak? Just weird looking? I thought it looked alright, but i tend to over edit, so more cc is elcome
DSC_0415 - Copy (gimp) by osakalindo, on Flickr

[Niresangwa]

Doesn't look too bad at all, definitely not over cooked.

Look up back focusing for your particular model. I found a page specific for d70's, which has diagrams and charts for you to use to establish whether that's your issue or not. It's definitely not an uncommon thing, I've had to calibrate focus on a couple of new lenses when i've gotten them.

[sk66]

Originally Posted by EagleEyeView

I manually pick my focus point. SOmeone else thought maybe the back focusing aswell. Not sure how to go about fixing that at all.. Thank you all for your feedback.

I tried doing an eye pop using gimp. Too strong? weak? Just weird looking? I thought it looked alright, but i tend to over edit, so more cc is elcome
DSC_0415 - Copy (gimp) by osakalindo, on Flickr

The eye "pop" is good IMO...

[LoveDSLR]

I can feel the connection between her and the photographer (you) from her eyes and the sweet expression.

[SusanH1970]

The eye pop is a tad too nuclear for me in the 2nd version, and I think the eyes looked fine in the original - beautiful catchlights, color is fine.

Honestly, it was lovely to begin with and needed no extra work IMHO. Well done. The red channel was blown a tiny bit, but that's a nitpick. Only thing I might have done would have been a portrait orientation crop.

I hope you don't mind, I did nothing but crop your original - I think it draws the viewer's eyes straight to hers. I'll take it down if you'd like.

[EagleEyeView]

Nires- thanks i will have to look that up. See if maybe that is my problem.

Susan thanks for your CC & crop. I want a more natural look (obviously i guess haha). Like i said i tend to over edit.