Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Cara (055) Clemency


Clemency is a mathematician from New Zealand who was traveling in Kerala for a couple of months with her young family before taking up a sabbatical in France. She had these beautiful silk clothes made up that drew appreciative glances from tourists and locals alike.

Despite the fact that I am in love with that little 50mm f1.8 lens, it doesn't do Auto-Focus on my little D40 so I have found some of my shots are a bit soft to say the least. I think it likes to be closer to the subjects.

8 comments:

bitingmidge said...

I love the jangly rhythm of the swing in this photo. (Have you tried sharpening in post processing? Perhaps the "softness" is a camera algorithm?)

Ann said...

If you are using the 1.8 wide open, ie at 1.8 or close you need to be very careful where you focus because the only thing fully in focus will be where the focus point is set. The wider open the lens the less of the shot will be in focus. Although this shot doesn't look like it was taken wide open. I find my 1.8 is much sharper than the 18-250 and the problem is me not focusing in the right spot. I'm sure you know this but set focus to the centre focus point, focus on the eyes and recompose. What is your camera on Manual or Portrait. As Peter says, Portrait may be set to do that, although I thought you shot manual. Having said all that, she is lovely.

cara said...

Thanks for the advice... I try to shoot in manual and with this lens it's manual all the way. I'm not sure if I can set the focus point if I don't have auto focus. If I can that would be good to know! I have to agree with you about getting the focus point right. The balance and benefit of having a wide open lens has to be weighed against the need to keep your subject at the exact distance from your camera from when you set the focus to when you shoot. If you sway a few mmms forward or back then it swims out of focus. I have come to realise I am a bit of a swayer.

Ann said...

I have an older camera (Canon 400D)and I can certainly select one of the 7 focus points, its pretty simple, can't remember which button I push but once I get the focus buttons in the viewfinder I can move around them using the up/down/sideways controls. You just press the button until it lights up the centre point (which is always the strongest focus point)then press the set button to select it. You can either leave it set that way and use it all the time, remembering to always put the point over where you want the focus and then recompose, or change back to using all the points. Quick and easy once you get the hang of it. I think you've got a more recent camera than me so I'm sure its possible. Check your manual.

PS are you back or posting remotely?

Ann said...

Just reread what you said. Are you using manual focus as well? I only focus manually when auto focus won't pick up what I want -usually in dark conditions or when the tones are very similar. Other than that, for portraits I'll use auto with the centre focus point.

cara said...

Yes my camera doesn't have an inbuilt focus motor so if I am using lenses without inbuilt motors, like this one, I have to manually focus. Very difficult when taking shots of people on swings!

cara said...

By the way - I'm back in Brisbane. And being so disconnected for so long was wonderful.

Ann said...

Ah, you must have the camera I decided not to buy because it wouldn't auto focus with the lens I wanted. My film SLR was Nikon and I loved it but switched to the Canon DSLR because at that time the Tamron 18-250 wouldn't work with the Nikon.

Now I understand your problem. I find manual focus hit and miss sometimes. Guess its just practice.