Shooting Kids
- Thread starter jylam
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To take active kids indoors, you need:
1) Cam set to High ISO ~ ISO 400 to 800
2) Large Aperture ~ F2.8 and below
3) Focus set to AI Servo
4) Use Burst mode to take the pics
although its indoor, it still depends on the lighting inside... Try shooting in Aperture mode, and allow the shutter speed to be chosen automatically. After taking a few shots check if its the exposure u want.
just my 2cents :]
Based on my experience, fast focusing and high shutter speed help to improve capturing of children in action. To get to fast focusing and high shutter speed, you need one or more of the followings
-- ultrasonic based auto-focus lens (USM or AF-S or SWD or HSM type of lenses)
-- fast auto-focus processing of DSLR bodies
-- high shutter speed (typically more than 1/100 seconds shutter speed) to "freeze" a child action or motion
-- big aperture lens (F2.8 or more, like F1.4 or F1.8)
-- DSLR with high ISO capability to keep digital noise in check while photographing children in low light
Essentially, ultrasonic based auto-focus lens and fast auto-focus processing are geared towards getting a "in-focus" shot captured upon releasing the shutter button on the camera body. Big aperture lens and high ISO capability usually help to maintain the high shutter speed mentioned earlier.
Lastly, leave adequate empty space on each side of the photograph when photographing the child to cater for the rapid change in child's movement & unexpected actions and increase success rate in capturing the a child in action.
-- ultrasonic based auto-focus lens (USM or AF-S or SWD or HSM type of lenses)
-- fast auto-focus processing of DSLR bodies
-- high shutter speed (typically more than 1/100 seconds shutter speed) to "freeze" a child action or motion
-- big aperture lens (F2.8 or more, like F1.4 or F1.8)
-- DSLR with high ISO capability to keep digital noise in check while photographing children in low light
Essentially, ultrasonic based auto-focus lens and fast auto-focus processing are geared towards getting a "in-focus" shot captured upon releasing the shutter button on the camera body. Big aperture lens and high ISO capability usually help to maintain the high shutter speed mentioned earlier.
Lastly, leave adequate empty space on each side of the photograph when photographing the child to cater for the rapid change in child's movement & unexpected actions and increase success rate in capturing the a child in action.
Lens does make a difference. E.g. if you use a 50f1.4 lens, then you will probably be able to get more shots than using your kit lens which has a smaller aperture and thus you will need to boost ISO setting on your cam to get the same shutter speed. The drawback of a prime lens like the 50f1.4 is that you need to zoom using your feet meaning if your child runs towards your direction, you might have to move back quickly in the opp direction otherwise you might not be able to take the pic.
If using Kit lens, then I would suggest using ISO 800 to test out first. The kit lens does not have a large aperture, aperture ranges from f3.5 to f5.6 if I am not mistaken.
If you want a new lens to replace the kit lens, then probably the Tamron 17-50f2.8 lens would be a good choice.
When you say you're using flash, I assume it's the built in flash. Often the pics turns out quite poor. If you're going to invest in something, I would suggest getting an external flash. With some diffusion or bouce, you'll get excellent indoor photos. I wouldn't worry too much about the kit lens at the moment.
I used an external flash but have not acquire the skill in using it yet. Photos appear over exposed most of the times. I think I shd try it with 'diffusion or bounce' like u mentioned.
try doing metering of the background, and let the flash take care of the exposure of the kid.
u can try locking the exposure to the background using spot metering. I guess this way it should resolve the problem.
How do we know among the canon lens, which is fast and which is slow? What's the diff btwn prime and macro lens? and EF vs EF-S? I heard a bit abt L lens, are they good?
Sorry i'm absolutely zero in this game
L lens = Luxury lens = $$
Suggest you try these out to minimize her movement:
1) Get a bumbo seat if she can fit in
2) Turn on her fav DVD
3) Give her a new toy to explore
4) Bring her to a playground with kids bouncing seats.
5) Standby a tripod, use a remote to trigger shuttle while you or your wife catch her attention behind the camera.
Suggest you try these out to minimize her movement:
1) Get a bumbo seat if she can fit in
2) Turn on her fav DVD
3) Give her a new toy to explore
4) Bring her to a playground with kids bouncing seats.
5) Standby a tripod, use a remote to trigger shuttle while you or your wife catch her attention behind the camera.
Read up here: http://photonotes.org/articles/beginner-faq/lenses.html
Don't get confused by the term 'fast' - it can have two meanings.
1) Focusing speed: Time to achieve focus. Lenses having ultrasonic motors (Canon: USM; Sigma: HSM) are faster here. The difference is within fractions of a second.
2) Aperture: Maximum opening (aperture) which defines the amount of light passing through. More light passing through enables using faster shutter speed (if all other parameters are constant), hence the term 'fast lens'.
All your questions are answered in the respective Canon documentation. Follow the link and you'll find more.
Be careful how the flash system works. I know that Nikon has a mode where all these fill flash settings are done automatically. Canon fill flash works differently in P, Av/Tv and M mode. Also, not all cameras have spot metering. Bounce flash to ceiling with additional bounce card is a good start.
Metering the (darker) background will result in long exposure times (in Av and Tv), good chance to get blur pictures of the child. P will set the exposure time to 1/60 fix, could be fast enough. For more finetuning use M, set the shutter to 1/100, aperture f/4 or f/5.6 and adjust the flash output (Flash Exposure Compensation). Take a few test shots and see how it goes. Try to maintain a constant distance to the child.
Canon Flash: http://www.photonotes.org/articles/eos-flash/
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