My boy (help!)

[Kojihama]

hey all,

So following on from another thread (http://www.ausphotography.net.au/forum/showthread.php?85203-Looking-at-a-lens-to-take-pictures-of-my-6-month-old-wriggle-worm-%28my-son%29!) I took some more photo's today and also put up a few pics from a few days ago.

Like I said in the other thread he's a challenge to photo as he's constantly moving, plus I have a house that is fairly dark inside and is in constant low-light conditions which makes it very challenging to get a fast shutter speed without over-exposing.

As you can see in most of the tests, I didn't reach over 1/100s. My camera is a Nikon D7000 with the 18-105mm 3.5-5.6 lens.

Note: I took most photo's trying to aim for the exposure meter to be in the middle and also aiming for the widest aperture possible (low f number).

1. Late afternoon of my sleeping doggy - not moving - starting to test with reasonable ISO
http://www.plork.org/pics/tests/DSC_0517.JPG
Focal length: 105mm
ISO: 200
Shutter: 1/25s
F: 5.6

2. Starting to test on my boy with reasonable ISO again - moving / minor zoom
http://www.plork.org/pics/tests/DSC_0527.JPG
Focal length: 30mm
ISO: 200
Shutter: 1/10s
F: 4.2

3. Starting to test on my boy with reasonable ISO again - moving / zoomy
http://www.plork.org/pics/tests/DSC_0532.JPG
Focal length: 85mm
ISO: 200
Shutter: 1/20s
F: 5.6

4. Auto mode pic used as a control pic - did a manual shot next same focal length / position
http://www.plork.org/pics/tests/DSC_0534.JPG
Focal length: 62mm
ISO: 800 (auto)
Shutter: 1/60s (auto)
F: 5.3 (auto)

5. back to manual mode and upping ISO to get a different result of the image above
http://www.plork.org/pics/tests/DSC_0535.JPG
Focal length: 62mm
ISO: 1600
Shutter: 1/60s
F: 5.3

6. More manual testing at higher ISO - the images are coming out very grainy in bits now.. as a result of the ISO i'm guessing
http://www.plork.org/pics/tests/DSC_0538.JPG
Focal length: 42mm
ISO: 1600
Shutter: 1/50s
F: 4.8

7. Lowered the ISO now to see if it'd be less grainy - but now I can't get a faster shutter speed and he's turned out blurry
http://www.plork.org/pics/tests/DSC_0572.JPG
Focal length: 18mm
ISO: 800
Shutter: 1/25s
F: 3.5

8. Upped the ISO once more but getting grainy areas on the floor board / lounge. But I have been able to reach 1/100 shutter speed here. I did use the flash in this picture.
http://www.plork.org/pics/tests/DSC_0574.JPG
Focal length: 18mm
ISO: 1600
Shutter: 1/100s
F: 3.5

9. Upped the ISO again and the grain is getting worse everywhere - I used the flash again here
http://www.plork.org/pics/tests/DSC_0597.JPG
Focal length: 18mm
ISO: 3200
Shutter: 1/50s
F: 3.5

10. Last pic: lowered the ISO again to test and results came out slightly better but the wood grain is distorted - flash was used
http://www.plork.org/pics/tests/DSC_0597.JPG
Focal length: 32mm
ISO: 1600
Shutter: 1/60s
F: 4.2

Any help would be greatly appreciated as taking pictures of my boy is one of the main reasons why I wanted to improve my photography.

Mods: sorry in advance if I included too many pics. I checked the FAQ and it didn't say anything about it.

Regards, Kin

[markjaffa]

A lot here, but I will point out a few things that occur to me.

Are you running noise reduction on your images in PP? Pretty much every image should have some noise reduction applied - the higher the ISO the more it needs.
What Mode are you shooting in? Av would let you set the aperture at its widest - the camera would then select the shutter speed to correctly expose the frame - because there are a few shots where the Aperture isnt f3.5

If your aperture is maxed out and the resulting shots are too noisy because of high ISO settings, then your only choice is an external flash, or one of the new lenses you mentioned. A f1.8 lens would let #9 to have been shot at ISO800, at the same shutter speed. Or ISO1600 and 1/100. A f1.4 lens would allow #9 to be shot at ISO500, 1/50 or ISO800, 1/80 and so on.

You just have to make a choice I reckon - Flash or Lens? :confused013

[ricstew]

I am afraid I agree with Mark......you have reached a limitation of your lens/camera/flash combo. The 3.5-5.6 lens is just not fast enough without a flash in your home lighting. So its either faster lens or more light.....
cheers
Jan

[ricktas]

You also have an issue with focus point. Some of these show that the background is in focus and the subject isn't, thus not only is the subject blurred from movement in some, but others it is blurred cause it is outside the Depth of Field (area, front to back that is in focus at any given aperture).

For animal shots, get down their level..ie on the ground/floor and take the shot. Taking shots looking down on animals is boring cause that is how we see them everyday. Get in closer to your son and get rid of some of the peripheral stuff, it is distracting.

Bounced flash will improve these a lot. As said you are reaching the limits of your gear here. The alternative is to put more light on the subject either via opening blinds/curtains and moving the subject closer to the light, or setting up some more lights in the room to brighten it up. If you cannot afford a flash at this time, consider going to Bunnings etc and getting some spotlights/lamps that you can setup.

[Kojihama]

Ok thanks all. Unfortunately I can't do much about the lighting in the house.. well I don't need to change fix it and don't want to spend thousands on light fixtures and a sparky just for photo's lol Seems like a flash and lens would be the ultimate combo in this situation.

Off to investigate a lens!

Mark: No post processing has been done apart from resizing. I'm shooting in manual mode. I tried changing the autofocus to continuous and it made it worse. AF-S gave me some better results. Will bear in mind for future that higher ISO requires noise reduction.

Rick: in regards to focus point, the camera was mostly set to AF-S with the single point which I moved around to ensure was always on his face. Is there anything else I can do to improve that?

[ricktas]

You dont need to spend $000's. : Just go to Bunnings and get a flood light on a stand OR something like this continuous lighting from AP advertiser ProTog for $130.00 would be invaluable : http://protog.com.au/144-led-video-light-with-colour-adjustment-p-393.html

[PH005]

Hi Kin. When you focus on something useing AF you will notice that the focus will lock onto the subject when you press the shutter release button half way down . You MUST keep the button held down half way if you are moving the camera around to compose the shot, otherwise it will re-focus again when you fire and your subject may then be out of focus. Keep practising. You'll get it. And can I suggest taking your young fella outside on a nice day to make use of the wonderful natural lighting. Get down on the grass with him as Rick has suggested. :)

[Danielepaolo]

Off to investigate a lens!


Get the flash first. I have six lenses and keep putting the flash off. Don't make my mistakes.

[nanwu]

This thread has been very useful for me because o am battling with the lens/flash question at the moment also, think I might try the flash first whilst saving for a decent lens great thread

[crf529]

A simple manual speedlight is too cheap for anyone not to have really.