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I just got my first 18% gray card. Usually a shot like this in dark lighting in my living room would be so orange. I like how the card helped balance the colors! Can’t wait to learn more …
1:47 pm
VIP Student
September 15, 2012
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Excellent color tone. The gray card really works.
If you are indoors with tungsten lighting and without the card set the white balance to tungsten.
You might want to try one with the card and one without, but with WB set to tungsten.
Always focus on the eyes or nearest eye.
Your camera details are not in this image’s properties file. Is that what you intend?
It makes it impossible to make suggestions re your settings.
-- Mandrake --
It was with my Canon 50mm, settings 1.8, 1/60, and ISO 800. I wish the quality would’ve turned out a little better cause I love the pic…It seems a little out of focus and grainy from the ISO i guess. I need a newer camera that handles the higher ISOs better … maybe for my birthday. I also need to try my tripod.
3:16 pm
VIP Student
September 15, 2012
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With an aperture of 1.8 you have very shallow depth of field
and it would be unlikely that you could get the whole depth of his face in very sharp focus.
That is why it is best to focus on the nearest eye, which I think you did.
1/60th of a second shutter speed is a bit slow at a 50mm focal length so probably resulted in some camera shake.
Ideally, shutter speed should be twice the focal length when hand held, or in this case 1/100th of a second.
I understand that you were already at ISO-800 and that your lens was already wide open.
Setting up a tripod for this shot probably would have lost the moment.
It might have been better to double the ISO and halve the shutter opening time.
Any resulting noise could be removed in post.
-- Mandrake --
Thanks. I really need to download that free lightroom (or if I buy Lightroom 4 does it come with free upgrade to 5?). I’ve never done any photoshop stuff yet. Ill do it this weekend!
3:34 am
VIP Student
September 15, 2012
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melissahall456 said
if I buy Lightroom 4 does it come with free upgrade to 5?
The upgrade from 3 to 4 cost $79.
-- Mandrake --
5:24 am
VIP Student
December 2, 2012
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Melissa
Good advice from Mandrake.
Pic is slightly grainy and soft but still a keeper.
I use Lightroom 4 and really enjoy what it can
do. Never used a grey card as my camera has
an uncanny ability to figure out the lighting conditions.
I’m not saying a grey card is a bad idea (Oksana has some
excellent information on their use in one of her videos).
Getting back to your pic – great colours and really like the
candidness of the shot.
Dale.
Mandrake said
With an aperture of 1.8 you have very shallow depth of field
and it would be unlikely that you could get the whole depth of his face in very sharp focus.
That is why it is best to focus on the nearest eye, which I think you did.1/60th of a second shutter speed is a bit slow at a 50mm focal length so probably resulted in some camera shake.
Ideally, shutter speed should be twice the focal length when hand held, or in this case 1/100th of a second.
I understand that you were already at ISO-800 and that your lens was already wide open.
Setting up a tripod for this shot probably would have lost the moment.
It might have been better to double the ISO and halve the shutter opening time.
Any resulting noise could be removed in post.
Mandrake is right about aperture. At f1.8 depth of field is very narrow and it is very easy to miss the focus even if you are focusing on the eyes, especially if you don’t have to much practice. Try to close your aperture a bit.
I have to disagree about shutter speed. The rule of thumb is to use 1/focal length to avoid a camera shake , so 1/60 should be fine. It also depends how still you can hold. Every person is different. I managed to get sharp pics at 1/15 sec. Also there are some body positions, which can help you to stay more sturdy. But you also have to consider if your subject is moving or not.
I feel like unsharpness in the image is due to f1.8 (your DoF is too shallow and focus is bad) and ISO 800. I see more noise in the photo then camera shake. I am not sure which camera you have, but some cameras can handle noise at higher ISOs better then others. For a newer camera ISO 800 should not be a problem at all. I also assume that you cropped the image. The more you crop, the more noise you see. Also image is a bit underexposed and noise is usually more visible in underexposed images.
Those are all limitations of the equipment we have to deal with. The best solution for this image with equipment you have is to get more light. Get the model closer to the window for example.
Also try to test your camera with different ISO settings and see which ones are acceptable for you in terms of noise. Some people even like noise, because is gives them that film look. Just try to expose the image properly and crop as least as possible.
Thanks you all! I still need alot of practice with focusing, as I notice alot of my images aren’t focused correctly 
When I try to use my manual focus even, it’s like I still can’t tell if it’s in focus. We have an old Canon Rebel 300D. I am ready to buy a new camera. This one is really bad with the ISO. Also I was just looking in it, and it looks like the only option in manual mode is that it automatically puts the camera in AL Focus AF. I’m wondering if once I push the button half way down to lock focus if in that mode it also locks the settings once I press it? Cause my meter moves around alot, and even after I put the button halfway I’ve been adjusting settings a little. Also, yea I cropped the image quiet a bit so that was an issue, too. Thanks so much for the feedback. I can’t wait to learn more. Oksana, you are the BEST teacher I’ve found!!
3:19 pm
VIP Student
December 2, 2012
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Melissa
I have an old Canon Rebel XSI that I have taken a LOT of pictures
with. It’s a miracle it still works at all lol! It is now acting strange in ways
like you have described with your camera so I seldom use it. Only reason
I take it anywhere is because I have a 70-300mm Canon telephoto lens.
For what it’s worth I can tell you the settings I have always used on my Rebel.
-2/3 on brightness scale, Landscape mode, One shot AF, Spot metering. 100 ISO
whenever possible, ALWAYS shoot in RAW.
Hope you can get your dream camera one day but always remember – It’s not so
much the camera as the person behind it that makes the shot great!
Good luck and hope to see lots more posts from you.
Dale
by -2/3 do you mean as far as exposure compensation? I’ve never used that yet. Thanks for the advice 
. I’m going to start shooting RAW once I get Lightroom soon.
5:55 pm
VIP Student
September 15, 2012
Offline
easyexposure said
Mandrake is right about aperture. I have to disagree about shutter speed. The rule of thumb is to use 1/focal length to avoid a camera shake , so 1/60 should be fine.
Oksana… The 1/focal length rule to avoid camera shake is, I believe, for full frame cameras. For crop sensors the rule is 1.5/focal length for Nikon and 1.6/focal length for Canon. Melissa’s 50mm lens would be equivalent to a full frame 80mm lens assuming a 1.6 crop factor. I rounded up to be on the safe side.
-- Mandrake --
Mandrake said
easyexposure said
Mandrake is right about aperture. I have to disagree about shutter speed. The rule of thumb is to use 1/focal length to avoid a camera shake , so 1/60 should be fine.Oksana… The 1/focal length rule to avoid camera shake is, I believe, for full frame cameras. For crop sensors the rule is 1.5/focal length for Nikon and 1.6/focal length for Canon. Melissa’s 50mm lens would be equivalent to a full frame 80mm lens assuming a 1.6 crop factor. I rounded up to be on the safe side.
Mandrake I would not argue about that. It is just a rule of thumb. I know that 1/focal length worked for me with crop sensor as well.Â
And sometimes I shot slower then that. You also have to consider how stable you are, does your camera have VR or is your subject moving.Â
But the best thing to do for Melissa is to try to take the same photo with the same lens at different shutter speeds and see how slow she can go without camera shake. Also try to use smaller aperture, so your DoF is not too shallow, so you can see the shake on the photo better.Â
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