Engagement picture

[thepinkfog]

I took some engagement pictures for a couple friends, and during this particular session, had a lot of problems with the pictures being noisy and generally a little blurry. Usually, this is more of a problem with indoor/low lighting situations. I took this picture at ISO 100, Fstop 5.6, and 1/200 exposure time. Any suggestions for improvement? It looked better after post processing, but i'd prefer the original to turn out better.

[WooD]

Including your EXIF info would help a lot.

How were you metering these shots?

[thepinkfog]

Here's the EXIF!

Make - Canon
Model - Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT
Orientation - Top left
XResolution - 72
YResolution - 72
ResolutionUnit - Inch
DateTime - 2009:08:05 05:20:09
YCbCrPositioning - Co-Sited
ExifOffset - 2264
ExposureTime - 1/200 seconds
FNumber - 5.60
ExposureProgram - Manual control
ISOSpeedRatings - 100
ExifVersion - 0221
DateTimeOriginal - 2009:08:05 05:20:09
DateTimeDigitized - 2009:08:05 05:20:09
ComponentsConfiguration - YCbCr
ShutterSpeedValue - 1/200 seconds
ApertureValue - F 5.60
ExposureBiasValue - 0.00
MeteringMode - Partial
Flash - Not fired, compulsory flash mode
FocalLength - 18 mm
UserComment -
FlashPixVersion - 0100
ColorSpace - sRGB
ExifImageWidth - 3456
ExifImageHeight - 2304
InteroperabilityOffset - 13382
FocalPlaneXResolution - 3954.23
FocalPlaneYResolution - 3958.76
FocalPlaneResolutionUnit - Inch
CustomRendered - Normal process
ExposureMode - Manual
White Balance - Auto
SceneCaptureType - Standard

Maker Note (Vendor): -

Thumbnail: -
Compression - 6 (JPG)
XResolution - 0.01
YResolution - 0.01
ResolutionUnit - Inch
JpegIFOffset - 13522
JpegIFByteCount - 5298

[CaptainNH]

No problem with blurriness in this shot, it's just that you've focussed on the grass not your couple.

The composition is a little peculiar - I can see what you were thinking, but I'm not sure that it quite got there. For this shot to work, you'd probably need a DoF much shallower that you have here, for which you'll need a lens with a wider aperture.

The couple's heads are also lost in the far horizon, it's generally a good idea to avoid horizons through heads when composing portraits.

It's a good attempt though, and thanks for posting it!

[kgb224]

I like the angle you used here.Outstanding work done by you.

[thepinkfog]

Thanks! I really appreciate all the input!

[Sterling]

As CaptainNH said, the focus point is miles in front of your subjects on the grass. It looks like your camera (or you) just focused on the centre of the frame rather than on the couple. Also, I find the pose a little unusual for an engagement photo. The back to back pose, reinforced by the opposite facing benches makes them seem rather distant from one another - sort of the opposite feeling I'd expect from an engagement shot.

[PS*]

I get the concept you were going for but it lacks a little something. In an engagement photo I expect something, some meat.

[Jim Bryant]

Yikes! Not only were the subjects out of focus, but at first I didn't see anybody. Normally on these such type of photos wouldn't you want the subjects being a bit more conspicuous in the photograph.

[thepinkfog]

This is the only one i took this far off and it's the exact spot where they got engaged. I guess "engagement photo" is not the best label, because obviously they wouldn't use this particular one for their save-the-dates. I wanted to get a feel of the landscape/environment where they got engaged without having them as the absolute focal point (hence the reason for focusing on the grass instead). I wanted it to feel like they were having a moment of their own without being intruded on by the camera.