My little 'un

[bramley]

I was at home all day yesterday, spied a big straw hat and thought I'd have a go at getting a shot of my daughter wearing it. She wasn't too happy about the hat, thankfully I just managed to get this shot before she had a tantrum.

5D, 50mm lens, big window on RHS. 1/400, ISO 200, f/1.8, exposure compensation +1.3. Not quite as sharp as I'd like tbh, but I think I got away with it.

Any comments/criticism welcome.

[Antarctic Mat]

That's a beautiful photograph there bramley, she doesn't look too unhappy at wearing it! It's a very narrow depth of field, I'd be tempted to open it up a bit as there is nothing in the background to draw your eye away, I think it'd be perfect if the front of the hat was in focus as well, the back is fine drifting away out of focus.
How do you get on with the 5D? I'm pretty close to buying one now.
Mat.

[_dobbo_]

Lovely picture!

If I had a time machine I'd go back in time and stop myself buying a D200, so I could switch and have a 5D instead. I don't think I've ever seen a bad photo posted by anyone taken with a 5D!

[Andy M]

It ain't the camera mate, 5D users are just massively more talented and intelligent than other photographers

[bramley]

Antarctic Mat said:

That's a beautiful photograph there bramley, she doesn't look too unhappy at wearing it! It's a very narrow depth of field, I'd be tempted to open it up a bit as there is nothing in the background to draw your eye away, I think it'd be perfect if the front of the hat was in focus as well, the back is fine drifting away out of focus.
How do you get on with the 5D? I'm pretty close to buying one now.
Mat.

I didn't want to use flash and the idea was I'd get the eyes pin sharp (failed!) but next time I will try using flash (or higher ISO) and go for a narrower aperture. It's quite interesting how the pattern on the hat came out with shallow DoF but I agree it would look better sharper.

I love the 5D tbh. I used to have a 350d and two cheap lenses, then upgraded to 5D and some not so cheap lenses! With good glass on it it does take fantastic pictures. The spot meter is also very handy, I didn't realise until the other day that not all of Canon's decent dslr's have one. It's very good at high ISO's too, I've just got back from shooting some floods here in Cheltenham and had to use ISO 3200 and was only getting 1/40th or thereabouts at F4 (damn F4 lenses lol) and you wouldn't believe the shots were taken at that ISO.

dobbo - trust me, I could show you a bad photo taken on a 5D - it just wouldn't be the cameras fault!

[stigmundfreud]

bramley I may be telling you the obvios but I always tend to do portrait with the center focal spot only and then focus on the eye then recompose. Works 9/10

Out of intrest why did you opt for the + exposure

[bramley]

I always go for the AF point nearest the eyes, but in this case I missed as I was concious she was about to move so I rushed a bit!

The wall behind her always comes out really dull and grey and tends to cause the camera to underexpose, that's why I've done +exposure - perhaps too much this time - what do you think? I must admit the last time I shot her there she was in a white baby grow and the combination of that and the wall behind really needed exposure compensation. This time round I didn't really get time to test the settings particularly, I had just enough time to get that shot witha guesswork on the settings.

We've got some really bright Gerbera (sp?) flowers in a vase and I'm thinking of shooting her in the same spot holding one of the stems. She'll probably eat the damn thing before I've even taken the lens cap off lol!