How to take sharp head-to-toe photo?

[nachon]

I'm using a D5000 and 35mm/1.8. When I was taking photos of my baby (sitting with his legs stretched in front of him, like all babies do), I usually focus on his eyes. However I realised that quite a few of my pictures have his feet out of focus.

How do I rectify this problem?

 

[J-Chan]

use a smaller aperture like f/8 or smaller to get sufficient DoF..

 

[limwhow]

I'm using a D5000 and 35mm/1.8. When I was taking photos of my baby (sitting with his legs stretched in front of him, like all babies do), I usually focus on his eyes. However I realised that quite a few of my pictures have his feet out of focus.

How do I rectify this problem?

Hi, nachon!
Babies are always beautiful subjects. Especially our very own babies. We never tire of shooting them day and night.
In your case, to ensure total head to toe sharp focus, don't use f/1.8 on your lens. Not even f/2.8. Use aperture of f/5.0 and smaller (even f/8) to shoot. But as you will be using a smaler aperture, then you may have to slow down your shutter speed. In that case, you may want to increase your ISO so that the shutter speed is not slowly than 1/50 (for your 35mm lens (1/[35 x 1.6crop]).

 

[ridasobana]

Hi Nachon, you must have been shooting wide open. Try stop down to f5.6 or f8.0 and move back a little bit from your baby. However, personally i prefer shallow depth of filed, most of the time. Keep shooting!

 

[xintothezonex]

I'm using a D5000 and 35mm/1.8. When I was taking photos of my baby (sitting with his legs stretched in front of him, like all babies do), I usually focus on his eyes. However I realised that quite a few of my pictures have his feet out of focus.

How do I rectify this problem?

The depth of field at f1.8 will make yr baby's face sharp while his feet will be blur. Try to take abit further away from yr baby or in the same position, increase yr aperture to f5.6 to f8 perhaps?
Try around with different set-up.
Cheers..

 

[kuanwk]

use a smaller aperture like f/8 or smaller to get sufficient DoF..

use PnS cam..

 

[xintothezonex]

Hi Nachon, you must have been shooting wide open. Try stop down to f5.6 or f8.0 and move back a little bit from your baby. However, personally i prefer shallow depth of filed, most of the time. Keep shooting!

wah..
there wasnt anyone post a reply yet but whn i submit my post, u and me got the same idea for the solution.

 

[catchlights]

very simple, just make sure the head and toe are in same distance with the camera lens if you want to use wide open aperture.

 

[Dream Merchant]

Besides stopping down, move yourself such that baby's entire body is more parallel to the sensor plane ... but that makes for boring shots after awhile.

 

[nachon]

Thanks guys for the reply. So I gather I pretty much cannot shoot wide open if I'm taking full body shots.

Catchlights,
Interesting suggestion there...how do I get my lens to be equidistance from my baby's face and feet? Cos in sitting position, his feet will stick out and land nearer to the lens.

 

[Cartman2000]

Moving back would help. Make sure his body is aligned nicely towards the camera and you might get a sharp shot even at f1.8

 

[Octarine]

...how do I get my lens to be equidistance from my baby's face and feet? Cos in sitting position, his feet will stick out and land nearer to the lens.

Are the feet so important that they need to be in focus as well? Also, if they stick out towards you they might appear bigger due to perspective distortion. Read up about Depth of Field and the contributing factors (not just aperture).

 

[Racing Turtle]

Thanks guys for the reply. So I gather I pretty much cannot shoot wide open if I'm taking full body shots.

Catchlights,
Interesting suggestion there...how do I get my lens to be equidistance from my baby's face and feet? Cos in sitting position, his feet will stick out and land nearer to the lens.

Shoot the face and feet at an angle thats is parallel to the sensor

 

[baggiolee]

focus stack? i'm still learning this and when combine together...there will be unforsee blur in certain area, not sure why.

 

[Legoz]

If you shoot from 10m away, even at f1.8, it would be mostly sharp from head to toe.
But if baby is sitting directly infront of you, its going to be hard to get sharp pics from head to toe with f1.8

 

[Diavonex]

A compact camera will offer better DOF.