my 1st portriat using SLR

[keanula]

here's a pic taken from my newly bought (10 days old) CANON EOS 450D with kit lens of 18-55mm.

450D is my 1st D-SLR, and this picture was taken while she was standing beside the bed and wanting to grap hold of my camera...

I sincerely hope that you guys can provide me your comments/opinions of my picture here.

thanks a lot.



Give Me



Aperture: f/5.7
Focal Length: 55 mm
ISO Speed: ISO-400
Exposure Bias: 0


1) is there any recomendation setting for shooting indoor that I can try take reference from?
2) wanted to have a bokeh effect but 5.7 is the min I can go during that point of time, why is it so?
3) didn't got the chance to get my baby to the center of the frame, is it alright still?
4) is there anything in particular that I need to take note of?

once again, thank you guys so much....

[ssping83]

1) there is no such thing as a "recommended" setting as the circumstances of each scene is different..

2) 5.7? weird number dunno how you got it.. your kit lens probably has a max aperture of f/5.6 at 55mm.. and therefore you can't quite go any lower..

3) you dun always have to positiong something at the centre of the frame.. (in fact it's usually better not to.. but of course.. depending on the situation again)..

4) read up on bokeh.. bokeh is not just about the size of the aperture.. but also about distance of subject to camera and distance of subject to background.. i think that for this shot it's physically impossible to achieve any significant bokeh with your kit lens (since the background is so near to your baby)..

also watch the cutting away of the fingers..

[keanula]

thanks ssping83. not too sure abt the 5.7 too. but sometime it's able to go to 4.7. will go understand it again.... btw, i did not crop the image but just didn't get my baby in the centre. it was a quick one and luckily it turns out ok. will note on that too...





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CANON EOS 450D, 18-55mm @ www.capture4life.multiply.com
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[yehosaphat]

Go closer, watch your composition (instead of having your baby right smack centre, try rule of thirds). Open up your aperture and try to avoid flash to make your shots more natural.

[daxdigital]

Kids are harder to photograph, especially when they're young. I'd usually go for shutter speed tweak, minimize flash usage (don't want a kid ruin his eyesight at a young age).

When indoors, Use ample sources of light, like a window or a door (Just be careful!)

Also, dress kids in colorful clothes and better yet, set your cam to "Sports" mode.

Finally, get down to their level (i.e. photograph while on one knee or while lying down, when the kids are playing.)

Have fun photographing kids!

[keanula]

thanks guys for your wonderful suggestion. will take note on the flash thingy... btw, will opening of aperture blur out the image since kids is constantly moving...


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CANON EOS 450D, 18-55mm @ www.capture4life.multiply.com
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[sunboi80]

wait for the right moment... best if ur subject is at a distance from the background then u will have a nicer bokeh... photographing kids gotta be patient

[calebk]

Seems like you are not knowledgeable about your own equipment. Your kit lens is a f/3.5-5.6 variable aperture lens. At wider focal lengths, you are able to open your aperture more, but at 55mm, the widest you can open your aperture to is f/5.6.

[keanula]

yap... i admit that i'm not really knowledgable as this is my 1st SLR... only abt 11 days old to SLR. and hopefully can learn many more from expert all around the world here... thanks calebk for the great info you provide. will look out for that and understand more while taking pic next time...

[daxdigital]

Take some time playing around with your camera settings. Experiment. If you'd like, buy books on photography (depending on your level of expertise) or look around for sites regarding child photography.

Lastly, Patience is a virtue.

[adept1]

I think it's a nice picture and the fact that your kid is not centered is why I like it! Pics with the subject in the center tend to be boring. And as other pointed out, the more you zoom with your particular lens, the smaller your aperture will be and it will be difficult to get the background blur as a result.

[AlteredVision]

Originally Posted by keanula thanks guys for your wonderful suggestion. will take note on the flash thingy... btw, will opening of aperture blur out the image since kids is constantly moving... ----------------------------------------------------------- CANON EOS 450D, 18-55mm @ www.capture4life.multiply.com -----------------------------------------------------------

For moving kids (or other moving stuff), it's the shutter speed that affects the movement blur, not the aperture. If you're worried about that, can try shooting with shutter speed priority for a start.

[keanula]

looks like i still got plenty to learn...

[AlteredVision]

There's always more to learn no matter how good you get. Important thing is to have fun

[sunboi80]

Originally Posted by adept1 I think it's a nice picture and the fact that your kid is not centered is why I like it! Pics with the subject in the center tend to be boring. And as other pointed out, the more you zoom with your particular lens, the smaller your aperture will be and it will be difficult to get the background blur as a result.

u mean the min aperture right? could be quite confusing...
Afraid our bro here will misinterpret and tot he cannot take nice nice pics at the longest end of 55mm...

[brianop87]

Answer
1. It depends on the indoor lighting though, but try to capture without flash if there is an adequate light and the shutter speed is equal than 80.

2. Bokeh can be created if the background is far from the object, but can be attained if you have bigger aperture number like 1.2 to 2.8 or have longer focal length, even at 5.6 you can get the bokeh effect in 150-200mm zoom(I use the 55-200mm), to try bokeh just find Canon 50mm f1.8 Mark II which is about $135 good for creating bokeh and sharp picture.

3.Actually u need to lowering your angle until the lens is at the same level of your child neck or nose...Anyway there always mistakes but after u read some article u will notice that putting in center is sometime ok...Because rule are meant to be broken, and also moment beats every rule you know ( but it would be better if you know some rule to make the moment captured more clearly) that you will attain it time by time...

4.Rule of Thirds, Anchor Point, Point of Interest, Exposure Compensation, Angel of View , read about Aperture it helps a lot...

Talking about rule...There is something said that "Never cut off someone joint..like finger,elbow,etc " but as I see in some magazine there are many picture that just not shown someone elbow (cut off from inside the frame) but it's still looks good, so the thing that I want to say is as long the "information" you want people to see and understand.. there is no problem... Just keep shooting !! Cheers

[nigel84]

I would say not bad of a first attempt. At least you know in mind what you wanted before you pressed the shutter. However like many raked up that to watch out for the cropping of fingers. Moving on would be understanding your gear, reading up from the nearest library, borrow some photography books. They are very very useful, bring ur cam along as well, try whatever knowledge you read and understand them. You might wan to take a look at some of my pics at: my flickr on kids

Should you have any doubts do feel free to pm me, I'd be most willing to share whatever humble knowledge i have. Err just a word of caution, i not pro.... Still learning... Anyways happy shooting. And enjoy ur fatherhood.

[sunboi80]

i was thinking whether it's possible to try a wide angle potrait shot? big hands, small head?
will be more dramatic/cute? Just my tots...
wonder if it can be done with 18mm... hehe

[mrhello88]

erm...if the eyes of the baby is falling on the line of The Rules of three will be better bring viewer eyes into the pic..sometime the rules tend to be broken ,but remember dun leave too much of blank background behind... try dun use flash and eliminate those shadow will make ur pic look pleasantly.hehe...

[viewwing]

Originally Posted by keanula thanks guys for your wonderful suggestion. will take note on the flash thingy... btw, will opening of aperture blur out the image since kids is constantly moving...

A quite tip, shutter speed of 1/60 is usually able to freeze normal movement. If your kid moves like the "flash" you may want to bump up the shutter to 1/100 or higher.

As for aperture, at your "longest end" which is 55mm. Your aperture can only "open" up to 5.6 due to the design of the lens. Lense wth "bigger" aperture usually cost more and are able to capture more light in indoor condition.

As for 450D. i've seen reviews that the iso800 is pretty usable. Why not try bumping that up? and don't pixel peep. it should be pretty decent when u view the picture.

Keep shooting! great capture of the moment