DSLR Shots and Discussions

onzedge

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onzedge

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happytheman

My first submission to the thread. This is straight out of the camera w/ the nifty fifty.

Our girl, Luna:

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blackcherry20

Great photo of Luna!!

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happytheman

Thank you! I need to get out and shoot more.

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saber

so i'm most likely going to a convention soon, i'm a little lost and haven't shot in a while. i know the LA convention center is a little lacking in terms of light sources, so i'm curious for those of you who do some portrait photography, what would you bring to a convention?

i shoot with a DX camera (nikon d5100), and i have a 35mm/1.8 prime and an 18-55 kit lens (3.5-5.6G), and an SB-700 speedlight. mostly, do i need the speedlight, or should i know something about the settings?

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6spd

What kind of convention?

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saber

AX people shooting, mostly. hence mostly portraits, but i dunno what else could come up. some group shots i guess too?

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6spd

What you have should be all you need really, except maybe some kind of light modifier for your flash.

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Cmike2780

There really isn't a straightforward answer. Those lenses are fine, but controlling the light source is a different story altogether. With the speed light, you'll want a sync cord to move it off camera. This will allow you a bit more control and they're relatively inexpensive. I use a portable diffuser I place on my sb900 to even out the light which can also be had for around $20-$30. Other than that, your settings will be what you'll need to work on. I'd try some test shots in a low light area and see what works best for your gear. Since you're using a flash, I'd stick to aperture priority or (P). You'll also want to test out the cleanest, lowest ISO you can work with, with some practice shots in the field. If you shoot in jpeg, setting a custom white balance with a gray card will make it easier to get the proper skin tones.

Also, it's a not critical at this point, but a 35mm isn't really the most flattering for portraits because of the slight distortion. It may work okay for full body shots, which I assume will be what the majority of shots will be. Otherwise, you should use a 50mm or higher. The kit lens is okay at 55mm, but you may have trouble because of the small max aperture at the length in low light.

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saber

35mm even with a 1.5 crop factor? i figured it would be serviceable for portaits, no?

the kit lens at 55x1.5 gives me a rough focal length of 80, and i figure the speed light should give me enough light to get away with it for now.

thanks for the link for the sync cord though, i'll look into it. i was struggling trying to think of where i'd bounce my light off of on those stupid high ceilings

instead of the portable diffuser, i sometimes end up using the diffuser dome that came with the flash; any difference in operation, or with the orange/incandescent filter that came with the flash? (i'm really really not good with flash lol)

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Cmike2780

It's not so much about what you see in the frame as it is the distortion associated with the wider lenses. A 50mm lens is still 50mm on a crop sensor. When they refer to DX equivalent or crop sensor equivalent, they're talking about how much of the shot is in the frame. It just cuts off the outside edges because of the smaller sensor. You're literally "cropping" what you'd normally see on a full-frame sensor camera. This is one of the advantages of going full-frame. Us DX shooters have to make do with the distortion or take a few steps back to get the same shot in the frame.

It really depends on what you're shooting, but here's an example of how it can make or break a shot. Same face, same frame, different lenses:


The kit lens has is f/5.6 @ 55mm. It might be okay with the flash and getting the right exposure, but you won't get much in the way of bokeh @ f/5.6. Again thought, there are no set rules for anything. It depends on the shot you're after.

The diffusion dome works okay, but not my favorite. It's still a bit harsh. The filters are more for matching the type of lights in the space you're shooting in. It works well, but you need to set a custom white balance or shoot in RAW to get the most out of them. I either use a softbox like the one I linked to or bounce the flash off the ceiling. I don't know if the sb700 has it, but I usually pop up the white catch light card thingy also.

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saber

I've seen that, so close-up portraits are definitely NOT on the list of things to do. Like you assumed previously, it's probably going to be more group-based or full body shots. I was thinking I could use the 35 for groups, then switch to the kit lens for single full bodies. I guess? I can work with the raw file later (I always shoot in raw no matter what)

Ugh, the only other lens I have is the 55-200 kit lens that also is pretty bad in terms of F-stop. That thing gets no light! I want a tweener lens that goes in the middle, but can't justify ponying up the cash for good glass like that until I actually reach some kind of limiting / breaking factor on my current set of lenses. Don't feel confident enough I've maximized my use out of my current equipment.

Sounds like kit lens and some flash photography will be in line. We'll see how they come out. I need to buckle down and take a class or something on this, I'm horrible -_-

SB700 does have that white popup thingy.

Any tips for full body shots, I guess? Newbie friendly? <_<;

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Cmike2780

You can pick a 50mm f/1.8D for around $100, but it's manual focus only on your camera. No real trick to full body shots. You kind of have to work with what you have. Less clothing on women usually improve any shot I take You'll be fine with the hot cos-play chicks.

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Nailzs

A backyard weed.

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