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  • #8744
    Stefany0219
    Participant

    Been working at the photography thing all day every day for months.  Currently renting the 85mm 1.2 lens and took some pics today.  What does everyone think?

    #8748
    cameraclicker
    Participant

    That lens has a seriously shallow depth of field!  It also has muddy colour or fringing on the white thing in her hair!

    The pictures are too small for me to be sure if you nailed focus on her eyes in the first one but the shallow DOF works pretty well for that image.  In the second one, I think all that out of focus foreground works against the image, as does the white blobs in the background which I assume are a rock wall of some sort.

    I have heard from some photographers that they love the 85 mm f/1.2, and I have seen some good shots from it.  I took Jeff Cable’s advice and got a Sigma 85 mm f/1.4 instead.  Some say the f/1.2 focuses slowly.  How did you find it?

    #8750
    Loke
    Participant

    Cute kid! Just a couple of suggestions…On the first, if you could just raise the lens up just a tad bit….I like cropping close too, but  I feel it just needs to be raised a little higher IMO….might want to remove the stray hair in front of her face too, and maybe the ones outside as well. In the 2nd one…I’d love to see her eyes a little more just brushing her hair a little to the side would work…as for the photography itself…I think you are doing well!

    #8752
    Stefany0219
    Participant

    Thank you both.  I do find the focusing on this lens a little bit slow, but as far as quality sooc, I couldn’t be happier.  The white blobs are actually the sky, which I really was trying to avoid as it was blowing out the shots a little bit.  I was also hoping to wait until closer to golden hour, but she was in a good mood, so just getting her when the getting’s good 🙂 I was constantly trying to move hair out of her face, but since she’s my daughter, she wasn’t standing for it from mom 🙂  Another issue I was having focusing was me trying to hold a reflector in one hand and the camera in the other( big no no I know).  I love reflected light, so I may have to buy a reflector stand as I’m sure I won’t have an assistant for this.

    #8756
    Loke
    Participant

    I have a daughter too around the same age so I understand 🙂 Should be easy to edit those  hairs out in PS. Reflector stand is a good idea.

    #8762
    stef
    Participant

    On the first, if you could just raise the lens up just a tad bit….I like cropping close too, but  I feel it just needs to be raised a little higher IMO

    Raising it up would chop the fingers, a big no-no. I think it’s a fine crop, but I don’t like the flower in the foreground. Most people find foreground objects to be highly distracting, like something is being poked in their eyes. It would’ve been fine in the plane of focus. Leading foreground space, like the grass on the second image isn’t an issue. Despite the uninspired bullseye in the second pic, I think I like it better due to the expression.

     

    The stray hair in the face and in the sun is distracting. The color temperature is different on both images. I’m not convinced it’s in focus, either… looks like the top pic may have focussed on her hair, not her eyes which are slightly soft. It is a difficult lens to use well consistently, but also easy to get some really nice shots from.

    #8772
    Stefany0219
    Participant

    Thanks Stef.  I’m picturing what the first shot would have looked like without the flowers so close, and you’re right.  The stray hairs are again editable in PS I know, but these were just for me as she’s my kid, so I didn’t really worry about that so much.  I actually like the sun/overall warmth of the top picture, but that’s just my opinion.  I think it brough out her eyes a little more.  And the lens/focus issue I feel would have been a little bit easier to accomplish if I wasn’t holding the reflector with one hand.  One more reason I need that stand.  Thanks again!

    #8781
    Loke
    Participant

    Let me clarify when I said raise it up I mean by maybe 1 cm, not cutting off the fingers…but then again you are using an 85 mm, maybe if you stood back just a little…..again..it’s aesthetics and nothing too distracting……

    #8787
    cameraclicker
    Participant

    Sky?  I would never have guessed!

    A stand can be helpful but a reflector or umbrella of any size becomes a sail in the breeze so you also need a sandbag or several water bottles to keep it from blowing over.

    I don’t mind her hair being cropped off at all.  I like the framing as it is in the first one.  Moving back a step or two to include all of the top of her head would give you fractionally more DOF but perhaps not enough to notice.  That’s a heavy lens to hold in one hand, more so when wide open so there is not much DOF.  I think you did really well.

    #8846
    Stefany0219
    Participant

    Thank you cameraclicker! It is a very heavy lens and I may have pulled a muscle trying to hold it with one hand 🙂  But thanks for the tip too about the stand.

    #8969
    Thom
    Participant

    Yeah, an 85, if you’re not shooting faster than 1/60 and not on a tripod (or a sandbag at ground level) and resting on your elbows, the slightest movement (such as breathing) will give you blur. Especially juggling a reflector as well.

    It’s nice light. And you picked a great time to shoot.

    Thom

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