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Category: New Answers

Photography Question 

Mary Quite Contrary 		 

Indoor pictures with Canon eos 40D


 
 
Hi everyone, I photograph in a space with little natural light and use a basic strobe and reflective umbrella. I usually set up my lights in the classic 3 point lighting setup with a silver reflective panel to reflect the umbrella flash. I use a canon eos 40d with no external flash but rather just my camera flash. I've included some pictures but my main concern is how every picture's light is different even thought the setup is always the same. I alter the settings, but even if I repeat the settings on a given day, the picture still looks different. I've included some below. Also, does anyone know why when I photograph far away, the shots are fuzzy. I met a wedding photographer who said this camera is great and that he had used it for years, but was shocked at how fuzzy the images were coming out on mine. Thanks in advance!


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June 12, 2008

 

W. 		 
"I use a canon eos 40d with no external flash but rather just my camera flash."

Looking at those images I find that hard to believe. The shadows are very soft and offset in such a way that it does not jive with an on-camera peanut flash. The main illumination must have been something else.

And where I CAN see a shadow that seems to jive with an on-board flash I notice you sometimes tilt your camera, for portrait mode, to the left, and sometimes to the right.


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June 12, 2008

 

Maryana Zagorodny 		  Hi! I use a table type of lamp as one of my light points with a softbox homemade panel on the front of it and I believe this somewhat softens the shadows. Still, it varies so greatly that I've stopped worrying about softening the shadow and just focus on getting my pictures to look alike.


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June 12, 2008

 

Charlotte K. Lowrie 		  Just to comment on the soft focus: Are you selecting the AF point manually, or are you letting the 40D automatically select the AF point(s)? If the latter, then that’s likely the problem—provided, of course, that the shutter speed you’re using is fast enough to prevent blur from either handholding the camera or from subject movement. Also if you’re using a very wide aperture, you’ll see some softness off the plane of sharp focus from a shallow depth of field. But it is hard to know without seeing the EXIF data for the images.

Regardless, the best way to get tack-sharp focus is to manually select the AF point, and in a portrait to select the AF point that is over the subject’s eye (the eye closest to the camera). If you need help manually selecting an AF point, let me know. (And, of course, you have to shoot at a fast enough SS to prevent handshake and/or subject movement from causing blur.)

(By the way, your wedding photographer friend must be thinking of a different camera since the 40D hasn’t been out a year yet. ;))

Best wishes,

Charlotte


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June 12, 2008

 
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