Two Things I'm Trying to Learn

[TraceyHill3]

I'm practicing using window light for portraits plus converting photos to black & white. Did I do okay this time? I have a few others in my flickr stream from this, but I liked this pose the best. Oh, one thing I did notice is one of his eyes is sharper than the other. Should I have put the focal point on his nose to get both eyes? How's the exposure?



Camera Nikon D90
Exposure 0.033 sec (1/30)
Aperture f/2.8
Focal Length 35 mm
ISO Speed 800
Exposure Bias 0 EV

[yulchick]

I think putting the focal point on the nose to get both eyes in focus won't work, but do the opposite. The conversion looks ok to me. I'll leave the rest for the pros

[Doug Sundseth]

Since you don't really have a background to blur, with that setup, I'd close down to f/5.6 or so (maybe even f/8) to get better sharpness and increased DoF.

Your composition works pretty well. Your lighting works, but you might want to go for a bit more falloff from lit to unlit side. (You can use a black card out of frame on the unlit side to reduce the reflected light if you need.)

[RLucas]

Originally Posted by TraceyHill3

I'm practicing using window light for portraits plus converting photos to black & white. Did I do okay this time? I have a few others in my flickr stream from this, but I liked this pose the best. Oh, one thing I did notice is one of his eyes is sharper than the other. Should I have put the focal point on his nose to get both eyes? How's the exposure?

Camera Nikon D90
Exposure 0.033 sec (1/30)
Aperture f/2.8
Focal Length 35 mm
ISO Speed 800
Exposure Bias 0 EV

Did you back the exposure down in post? The reason I ask is because you shot @ 1/30, f/2.8, with an ISO of 800, which should have been almost over exposed if the window light was bright enough. To get both eyes in focus, you will need to stop down. At f/2.8, if his head turns just a hair, it can throw one eye out of focus.

[carlyfan]

Well I'm no pro, but I looks like motion blur to me, especially since your shutter speed is 1/30. It could be a combination of the two. Stopping down though, is only going to make the shutter speed slower. That must have been pretty dim light. Maybe try moving him closer to the window, pulling back the curtains if they aren't already, or shooting at a brighter time of day.

As far as the black and white conversion goes, it looks muddy to me. (though maybe it's just my monitor) They say that a black and white photo should have some true whites and some true blacks in addition to grays. I would add more contrast to make the blacks richer and actually black instead of gray.

Hope this helps!
Lisa

[autofocus]

Originally Posted by carlyfan

Well I'm no pro, but I looks like motion blur to me, especially since your shutter speed is 1/30. It could be a combination of the two. Stopping down though, is only going to make the shutter speed slower. That must have been pretty dim light. Maybe try moving him closer to the window, pulling back the curtains if they aren't already, or shooting at a brighter time of day.

As far as the black and white conversion goes, it looks muddy to me. (though maybe it's just my monitor) They say that a black and white photo should have some true whites and some true blacks in addition to grays. I would add more contrast to make the blacks richer and actually black instead of gray.

Hope this helps!
Lisa

+1 on Lisa's comment above. I don't think it's a DOF issue because both eyes seem to be on the same plane, and pretty much shot straight on. With the slow shutter of 1/30, I think you're seeing the result of he pushing his right eye up with his fingers at the moment of the shot and the shutter wasn't fast enough to freeze the action on that side of the face.

[TraceyHill3]

Thanks for the replies. I was playing around with the shutter speeds and raising it made it too dark, but I guess I could fix that in post. Plus, I agree on raising the aperture (or is it lowering) to f/8. I'm not sure how to make the b & w less muddy. Hmm. I'm taking notes and will try again soon! Thanks again!

[IABoomer]

Since you're editing in Lightroom, check out the Tone Curve portion of the develop module. You should be able to pull down on the darks/shadows and push up the lights/highlights to strengthen the conversion and get the blacks and whites a bit stronger. You might also be able to bump up the black levels a bit to fill in the dark areas.

[TraceyHill3]

Originally Posted by carlyfan

Well I'm no pro, but I looks like motion blur to me, especially since your shutter speed is 1/30. It could be a combination of the two. Stopping down though, is only going to make the shutter speed slower. That must have been pretty dim light. Maybe try moving him closer to the window, pulling back the curtains if they aren't already, or shooting at a brighter time of day.

As far as the black and white conversion goes, it looks muddy to me. (though maybe it's just my monitor) They say that a black and white photo should have some true whites and some true blacks in addition to grays. I would add more contrast to make the blacks richer and actually black instead of gray.

Hope this helps!
Lisa

The one below is a higher shutter speed so less blurry. Do you think the b & w is less muddy?


Exposure 0.005 sec (1/200)
Aperture f/1.8
Focal Length 35 mm
ISO Speed 200

[carlyfan]

Yes, that one is better than the first for sharpness and contrast, but the other one you have on flickr is my favorite! That one is fantastic! The lighting is really nice and there is more light in his eyes in that one. In this one his eyes are quite dark. He also has a really nice smile in the other one. Great photo!

Lisa