Portrait with the Macro

[WJT]

I ook this shot of my daughter with the 100mm macro. C&C welcome.

[Goldcoastgolfer]

I like the serious impression that she has. Is it me or does her phase not appear to be very sharp? I think there's also a bluish tinge to the photo.

[Fit]

I like the serious impression that she has. Is it me or does her phase not appear to be very sharp? I think there's also a bluish tinge to the photo.

Agreed. Seems sharpest around the edge of her hood whereas it's not as sharp through her face.

[John C]

Subject and composition trumps focus and exposure on any day (just take a look at some of the world's most famous photos). This photo has a great subject and is cropped to the face very nicely. The first thing I notice (after viewing the face and eyes) is the slightly bluish color cast, which I assume is due to the lighting. As pointed out in the posts above, the depth of field is a little too narrow at f/3.2. Given the low shutter speed and wide aperture, the only way to get more of the face into focus would have been to increase the ISO. If you are like me, I tend to use ISO 100 all of the time and am trying to break the habit a bit. You certainly should not have trouble with noise at ISO 200 and 400 and can probably go higher. You just need to have some good noise software such as Noiseware or Neat Image.

[revi]

...
You certainly should not have trouble with noise at ISO 200 and 400 and can probably go higher. You just need to have some good noise software such as Noiseware or Neat Image.

With such a modern camera? I wouldn't expect noise issues even at 800 iso, unless you underexpose and/or crop: when reducing to most common formats (screen, standard prints, etc.) you average over (a lot of) pixels, making the noise invisible. So no need to shell out $$ for extra software immediately

For what it is worth, with my sony A330 I took some shots from dancing, and very little noise was visible on screen, even less in the 4x6 prints, even though a lot had to cropped and were a bit iffy wrt exposition. Modern cameras have a lot of leeway.

Of course, you might have noise issues in special conditions, but I wouldn't hurry to get extra software.

Remco

[epmi314]

Wayne,

Firstly, your daughter is a beautiful young lady. There are thousands of wonderful photo opportunities in your future.

I agree the photo is a whisp soft even the edge of the hood when enlarged. In looking at your settings, I would guess it was probably a hint of camera shake. A shutter speed of 1/20 is a little slow for a handheld shot. If you are looking for that tack sharp image with this lens then a shutter speed north of 1/125 is worth trying perhaps even faster if your lens doesn't have image stabilization. Either that or grab a monopod to assist.

Kicking up the ISO to 400 in order to get little more DOF or faster shutter shouldn't noticably increase noise in the image.

I would make a little white balance adjustment to warm it up.

Frankly, a bit of post processing would probably do wonders.

[epmi314]

Wayne,

I was fiddling with the image a bit and it looks pretty good in B&W. Let me know if you would like me to post the re-edit. I've taken to asking these days as some don't like others to edit their images.

Let me know.

Cheers

[Goldcoastgolfer]

Wayne,

I was fiddling with the image a bit and it looks pretty good in B&W. Let me know if you would like me to post the re-edit. I've taken to asking these days as some don't like others to edit their images.

Let me know.

Cheers

Ah yes - i think this one would make a great black and white and might take the focus away from the softness of the capture a little.

[epmi314]

Here is my attempt. Hope you don't mind Wayne.

[Goldcoastgolfer]

Nice conversion I like it.

[John C]

This B&W conversion has added some course texture to her left cheek and near the mouth.

[WJT]

Wayne,

I was fiddling with the image a bit and it looks pretty good in B&W. Let me know if you would like me to post the re-edit. I've taken to asking these days as some don't like others to edit their images.

Let me know.

Cheers

Hi Scott, that would be good thanks. I havent tried editing this shot at all yet. its been good getting some feed back on the. orriginal.

[WJT]

Here is my attempt. Hope you don't mind Wayne.

Very nice thanks Scott, I will have a play with it myself.

[WJT]

Wayne,

Firstly, your daughter is a beautiful young lady. There are thousands of wonderful photo opportunities in your future.

I agree the photo is a whisp soft even the edge of the hood when enlarged. In looking at your settings, I would guess it was probably a hint of camera shake. A shutter speed of 1/20 is a little slow for a handheld shot. If you are looking for that tack sharp image with this lens then a shutter speed north of 1/125 is worth trying perhaps even faster if your lens doesn't have image stabilization. Either that or grab a monopod to assist.

Kicking up the ISO to 400 in order to get little more DOF or faster shutter shouldn't noticably increase noise in the image.

I would make a little white balance adjustment to warm it up.

Frankly, a bit of post processing would probably do wonders.

Good advice thanks Scott. I can general hand hold at as little as 1/4 but its harder with a moving subject.

[Photon Hacker]

Beautiful. The blue coloration makes it very artistic and intermediately identifies the time of day as night.