Senior portrait

[sallie]

Please tell me what you think about the sharpness of this photo. How can I improve the sharpness quality? Can I sharpen in post processing?

Shot with Nikon D90
85mm lens
1/250, f/1.8, flash fired

[Jblackjr]

I'm far from a pro and really can't give you much advise but the first thing I noticed was the spit strands on both sides of her mouth. I would PP those out .

[metoo]

The things i notice is she is very pretty but her expression/pose is not flattering. It looks a bit out of focus which I would say would be due to the the 1.8 apeture. I have the nifty fity 1.8 and i shoot at 1.8 all the time out of necessity, but there is generally some sort of focus issues. I'm ok with it because they are moments I want to capture. They will be 4x6 prints in a photo album, not blown up into anything larger. For a photo shoot though, it wouldn't be ok with me.

[Rentham]

Originally Posted by metoo

The things i notice is she is very pretty but her expression/pose is not flattering.

Out of curiosity, what do you find unflattering about her expression?

[doctorjames]

As others pointed out, the wide open aperture of f1.8 is probably the issue here.

I am not sure where that lense is at its sharpest, but its probably f7-f11.

Its a trade off between cutting down the depth of field, and loosing sharpness, assuming that you want all of your subject to be sharp. There is also a difference between 'sharpness' and being in focus. At f1.8 you may not get all of your subject in perfect focus.

I use a 85mm reasonably regularly now, and although im not blessed with f/1.8 (I can only open up to f2.8) I rarely want or need to use it wide open like that. f4 seems to be the cut off, with the better shots coming from f7 or thereabouts.

[metoo]

I think its a combo of her neck sticking out and her mouth being open. I suppose that is totally subjective though like most things.

[graciousness]

First thing I noticed is that there's something weird going on with her forehead. It's either you cloned out hair from her forehead and this wasn't done too well, or you have shadows of branches on it. It's very prominent and needs fixing.

The focus is off but I think this can be fixed in post processing. The colours are flat, too, but again, fixable.

[dannyrich]

II have the 85mm and its one of my fave lenses, rarely off my camera.

I think the problem is you used it at 1.8 which isnt a bad thing in some cases but when movement is involved and you need a large portion of the image to be relatively sharp its a big ask at 1.8.

I personally think you need to be around f4 ish.

[sallie]

Thank you all for your feedback. This shot was not edited, may have been cropped. Thank you for pointing out her expression, shadows on forehead, etc. All the comments will help me with my next shoot. I will adjust my aperture. Anyone know where the sweet spot is for an 85mm Nikon lens? Or know a good app fir my iphone/pad to calculate? I appreciate all the help. Thanks.

[ErikUngerPhotography]

Nikon 85mm f/1.8D AF Nikkor Lens Image Quality

This sight allows you to input the lens and aperture to see the sharpness. But remember, the DOF is a major part of composition, and you may want a DOF that you cannot get when the lens is at its sharpest.

I know for my Canon 50 1.4, the lens seems to be at its sharpest at 5.6-8. When shooting portraits, I will start at 5.6 to see how my DOF is and then go from there. Sharpness can also be over rated, especially after you take viewing distance into consideration.