Canon 50D with Tamron 17-50 F/2.8 len - How to take best pictures

[ahboy168]

How to adjust the background blurness of the picture taken with F/2.8 lens.
i am using 50d with tamron 17-50 2.8.

I take picture of my son most the the time.
;p

Is it correct technique to aim at the subject face (half press to focus), then move to the side
so that my son face is sharp & clear & backgound blur ?
What focusing point should i use ? there is 3 settings.

I also notice that my 50d always auto select f/2.8 unless i purposely change it.

 

[+evenstar]

read up on how aperture works

 

[kaikibbler]

Make the aperture smaller. Try f/8, the result will be self-explanatory in this regard.

There is more to aperture than background blurriness (ie. bokeh). Strongly suggest you read this http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showthread.php?t=309544

 

[kaikibbler]

Is it correct technique to aim at the subject face (half press to focus), then move to the side
so that my son face is sharp & clear & backgound blur ?
What focusing point should i use ? there is 3 settings.

You need to read about and understand what is DOF first, otherwise the answer to this question will not make sense.

The short version is no. If you're using f/2.8, better to change to the right or left focus point and put that on his face.

 

[pikapig]

hey bro,

keep trying on ur cam..and u shld get all the answers from the pictures..do remember to note down each pic, what u r aiming at..and the f stop...

 

[KsterK]

:bigeyes: 50D is ur first DSLR?
cool :bigeyes:

 

[Flaky]

http://www.kaleidoscopy.com/portal/aperturedof.html
http://www.kaleidoscopy.com/portal/BOKEH.html

Click on the link. I think that would help u.
IIRC i got the link from another CS member Sig sometime ago.

 

[rajahchindian]

http://www.kaleidoscopy.com/portal/aperturedof.html
http://www.kaleidoscopy.com/portal/BOKEH.html

Click on the link. I think that would help u.
IIRC i got the link from another CS member Sig sometime ago.

:thumbsup: for the links

 

[memorylane]

How to adjust the background blurness of the picture

spray your son with xmas dust and he will come out extra sharp...either that or he can take essense of chicken, it makes children sharp...

 

[ZerocoolAstra]

How to adjust the background blurness of the picture taken with F/2.8 lens.
i am using 50d with tamron 17-50 2.8.

I take picture of my son most the the time.
;p

Is it correct technique to aim at the subject face (half press to focus), then move to the side so that my son face is sharp & clear & backgound blur ?
What focusing point should i use ? there is 3 settings.

I also notice that my 50d always auto select f/2.8 unless i purposely change it.

Hi. First of all, Welcome to Clubsnap, and also to the world of photography.
You have a pretty darn good camera and lens combo there. Please do make the most of it.
Judging from the questions you ask, I would assume that you have had very little experience with serious cameras before your 50D.

I'll try to answer some of your queries before you kena shoot by more of the others In all honesty, you should read your camera's manual, and play with the different settings. It's much easier to take many shots at different settings and review, than post on Clubsnap and wait for a reply.

Your question mainly relates to depth-of-field.
As you reduce the f-number, the aperture actually gets larger, and the depth-of-field gets narrower. Thus the background will become MORE BLUR. This assumes that all the other variables stay the same.
* Experiment: Mount your camera on a tripod. Set it to Av mode (aperture priority). Take about 4 or 5 shots at F2.8, F4, F8, F11, F16. Review on your screen or monitor and see the difference.

Your technique of 'half-press and then move the camera' may or may not work, depending on whether you set the half-press to 'auto-focus lock'.

 

[tabako]

by default I think 50D half press is AF lock and also metering lock.

 

[NeTHaCk]

by all means... please oh please read this :
http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showthread.php?t=309544

look at the viewfinder... you see all the AF points ? "move" the af points to where u want it focused... far left, right up down middle etc. half press, autofocus ... then once u see its focus, snap. background will be blurry but not tat blurry.. focus wll be on what is it u focused on

 

[ahboy168]

I know there is this auto focus red point selection.
But it is not very practical.
I don't have "the focus selection time" to shoot a moving subject(like my son);p


Your technique of 'half-press and then move the camera' may or may not work, depending on whether you set the half-press to 'auto-focus lock'.
Hee ... How to "set the half-press to 'auto-focus lock'." ??


BTW, i just sold of my tamron to some buddy here.
So, should i buy Canon EFS 17-55 F/2.8 ? $1600 ... to continue my experiment.
Wah, 18-55 kit lens cannot make it(blur becasue of slow shutter) for night shot even with IS ...:angry: Don't suggest to use a tripot to take moving objects ...

 

[MarkNKL]

I know there is this auto focus red point selection.
But it is not very practical.
I don't have "the focus selection time" to shoot a moving subject(like my son);p

Try switching you AF mode to AI Servo and continously track your son while firing off shots... you'll probably get 1 or 2 sharp ones.
If you're worried about composing an unpredictable moving subject, try zooming out then cropping in later to get rid of the portions you don't want

Hee ... How to "set the half-press to 'auto-focus lock'." ??

AF will automatically lock once it finds enough contrast on subject when you half depress your shutter button. I think he's talking about AF tracking which will be AI Servo or AI focus modes.

BTW, i just sold of my tamron to some buddy here.
So, should i buy Canon EFS 17-55 F/2.8 ? $1600 ... to continue my experiment.
Wah, 18-55 kit lens cannot make it(blur becasue of slow shutter) for night shot even with IS ...:angry: Don't suggest to use a tripot to take moving objects ...

Why did you sell your Tamron away? The whole point of the Tamron is that its a cheaper alternative to the Canon 17-55 f2.8
During night shots, use a tripod for cityscapes or non-moving subjects... if you don't have one, find some place to rest your elbows on and hold your camera very steady if the shutter speed is not slower than 1/8 or sommat.
And using a tripod will not stop movement blur, it only prevents camera shake due to your hands moving or jarring the camera as the shutter is open.

 

[sherchoo]

Just 1 advice.

Better lens does not necessary equates to better pictures.

 

[ahbian]

I know there is this auto focus red point selection.
But it is not very practical.
I don't have "the focus selection time" to shoot a moving subject(like my son);p


Your technique of 'half-press and then move the camera' may or may not work, depending on whether you set the half-press to 'auto-focus lock'.
Hee ... How to "set the half-press to 'auto-focus lock'." ??

Then why not set your AF point first? Then there is not much need to recompose.

 

[Shen siung]

As you have sold your 17-50, the next most close to the quality lens will be 17-55, however with about 2 times more price...

 

[night86mare]

How to adjust the background blurness of the picture taken with F/2.8 lens.
i am using 50d with tamron 17-50 2.8.

once again, since this is turning up everyday in newbies corner;

how much of background is blur depends on 3 things

1) focal length - longer focal length, keeping EVERYTHING ELSE EQUAL, means narrower DOF, means more of background blur

2) aperture - the bigger the aperture, keeping EVERYTHING ELSE EQUAL, means narrower DOF

3) subject-background distance - if your subject is nearer in relation to background, assuming you can focus on your subject, then narrower DOF

so how to take picture of your kid with minimum DOF, i.e. more background blur..

go to 50mm, select f/2.8 (maybe stop down a little), find a wide open field, adjust yourself so that background is far far away, and snap

that said, just because background blur does not necessarily mean good portrait. there are so many other things to consider:

1) composition (read up)

2) lighting (quality of light, flash to compensate for poor lighting, if needed)

3) expression, this depends on your timing of taking the picture, whether the expression is appropriate

among other things.

 

[night86mare]

BTW, i just sold of my tamron to some buddy here.
So, should i buy Canon EFS 17-55 F/2.8 ? $1600 ... to continue my experiment.
Wah, 18-55 kit lens cannot make it(blur becasue of slow shutter) for night shot even with IS ...:angry: Don't suggest to use a tripot to take moving objects ...

you need to read this

i also borrow uncle catchlights' fable, it is a very good fable

Ah Beng bought D90 with kit lens, he is new in photography,
one day he ask his girl friend out for portrait taking,
he was not please with the results, cos the Bokeh wasn't nice on the kit lens.
so he asks in Clubsnap and somebody recommended 85f1.4,
he got the 85f1.4, took some portrait of his girlfriend,
He is very please with the bokeh this lens produce,
so he post the photos in clubsnap,
one person ask who is the model and what lens he use,
Ah Beng replied my girlfriend and shot by my new 85f1.4,
this person post "OIC, thanks for sharing",
The thread has one thousand over views and no other comments.

Ah Seng bought D90 with kit lens, he is also new in photography.
one day he ask his girl friend out for portrait taking,
he was not please with the results, cos the Bokeh wasn't nice on the kit lens.
So he go research and understand that is the limitation of the lens,
at the same time he also found out that there many things to make a good portrait,
and he start thinking of how to make the portriat nicer with the kit lens,
by study the composition, the lighting, the posing, the expression, the mood etc...
after many months of hardwork, he is please the results,
so he post the photos in clubsnap,
one person ask who is the model and what lens he use,
Ah Seng replied my girlfriend and shot by my kit lens,
People relied, "Don't bluff!", "Really?" "Are you sure?" "Wow!" "can share with how you shoot this" "I tot kit lens CMI" etc etc....

should be stickied :thumbsup:

 

[Daedalus Trent]

hahaha, great story! :thumbsup:


I think it should be stickied too :think: