If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Group portrait lens for DigiReb XT
A family member asked me if I could take a portrait of her and her
husband for mother's day, so (of course) I accepted. She'd like to take it in an outdoor setting where I know there's some room, but not *loads* of room. I called an equipment rental place and reserved a Canon 85 f/1.2, knowing that I'll have to back up a good bit with the 1.6 FOV-crop on my DigiReb XT, but figuring I'd deal with it. Well, last night she told me there will actually be nine people in the group... I think I'd have to back up about about 50-60 feet to get nine people and include any of the background! So... I'd love recommendations. My first thought would be to go with the 35mm 1.4L, if I can find one, or a 35mm 2.0 if I can't - but will those be too wide? I know that I can arc the group in toward the edges to keep them all in focus and avoid at least some of the distortion, but I don't know if I'll be asking for trouble. If I need to, I could certainly go for a 50mm 1.4. Thoughts or suggestions will be much appreciated! steve |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
I've thought about it, but the minimum aperture of f/4.0 won't let me do as much background blur as I'd like to have the potential for. I've also considered the 24-70 f/2.8, which I would probably go for if I were to use a zoom. |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
fraculator wrote:
A family member asked me if I could take a portrait of her and her husband for mother's day, so (of course) I accepted. She'd like to take it in an outdoor setting where I know there's some room, but not *loads* of room. I called an equipment rental place and reserved a Canon 85 f/1.2, knowing that I'll have to back up a good bit with the 1.6 FOV-crop on my DigiReb XT, but figuring I'd deal with it. Well, last night she told me there will actually be nine people in the group... I think I'd have to back up about about 50-60 feet to get nine people and include any of the background! So... I'd love recommendations. My first thought would be to go with the 35mm 1.4L, if I can find one, or a 35mm 2.0 if I can't - but will those be too wide? I know that I can arc the group in toward the edges to keep them all in focus and avoid at least some of the distortion, but I don't know if I'll be asking for trouble. If I need to, I could certainly go for a 50mm 1.4. Thoughts or suggestions will be much appreciated! steve No I think your choices of the 35mm 1.4 or 2.0 is right on. -- Joseph Meehan Dia's Muire duit |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
"fraculator" wrote in message oups.com... I've thought about it, but the minimum aperture of f/4.0 won't let me do as much background blur as I'd like to have the potential for. I've also considered the 24-70 f/2.8, which I would probably go for if I were to use a zoom. Background blur on a group shot? Does anyone have an example of this? |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
"fraculator" wrote in message oups.com... I've thought about it, but the minimum aperture of f/4.0 won't let me do as much background blur as I'd like to have the potential for. I've also considered the 24-70 f/2.8, which I would probably go for if I were to use a zoom. Background blur on a group shot? Does anyone have an example of this? |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
85 would be a bit long No.. What about the 50 1.4 or go cheap the 50
1.8. Nothing but good things said about these lenses. The 80mm equiv would be just right for a small group. Tom |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
85 would be a bit long No.. What about the 50 1.4 or go cheap the 50
1.8. Nothing but good things said about these lenses. The 80mm equiv would be just right for a small group. Tom |
#8
|
|||
|
|||
Well, if all goes well, I'll have some examples soon. : ) Like I
said, I'm a rank amateur - if the people in question had any sense at all, they'd find someone else to take their portrait. They've just seen the (very) few pictures I've taken that turned out very nice, and think I'm great. I checked out a couple of books from the library on group portrait photography, and they worked out nicely - one had almost nothing to say about posing the group, but a quite extensive analysis on positioning subjects to keep the entire group in focus (even with relatively small apertures), allowing the background to be blurred. The other had almost nothing to say on technical matters, but has some really extensive material on posing the individuals. I decided to just drag my lazy butt off of the couch and drive to the location to scout things out. I picked the best location I could see for a group portrait, and it just happens that there's a small (decorative) pond right in front of it. My choices would be to either use a VERY wide angle lens (say, 20mm), or to shoot from the other side of the pond. From the other side of the pond, 85mm will frame the shot just about perfectly. Getting even better, there are some very attractive pillars/columns on either side of the group which will be in the same focal plane as the group, and I believe they'll add to the composition. About 8 feet behind what will be the focal plane is a wall that is beautifully colored, but which has some small wear marks to it. Well... at f/1.2 or f/1.4, it should provide a nicely colored background, but the wear marks should be well-blurred out. I think this is going to work out pretty well. I will probably have to stand on a stepping-stool to keep the focal plane of the camera nicely parallel with the plane of the group (so they're all in focus), or drop to 1.4 or 1.6, but that shouldn't be a problem. In fact, it's entirely probable that I'll make several exposures of each pose, at various apertures from about 1.2 to 2.0 or 2.8 just in case I miss someone that's out of focus. If push comes to shove, I can always blur the background in photoshop, but I much prefer the look of true bokeh to a gaussian blur. = ) I also walked around the grounds and found a couple of other places where the 85/1.2 will provide some good shots on the group, and some more places where it will provide excellent shots of one or two people. My mind is much more at ease now. All in all, there are more "average" places to shoot them where a 50 (or 35) would do a perfectly good job, but the *best* location needs the 85, so I guess I'll stick with that! On a side note, since I've never used anything but 35mm, it always takes a second for me to figure out what they're talking about in the portrait books when they talk about things like a "14-inch lens".... steve |
#9
|
|||
|
|||
Well, if all goes well, I'll have some examples soon. : ) Like I
said, I'm a rank amateur - if the people in question had any sense at all, they'd find someone else to take their portrait. They've just seen the (very) few pictures I've taken that turned out very nice, and think I'm great. I checked out a couple of books from the library on group portrait photography, and they worked out nicely - one had almost nothing to say about posing the group, but a quite extensive analysis on positioning subjects to keep the entire group in focus (even with relatively small apertures), allowing the background to be blurred. The other had almost nothing to say on technical matters, but has some really extensive material on posing the individuals. I decided to just drag my lazy butt off of the couch and drive to the location to scout things out. I picked the best location I could see for a group portrait, and it just happens that there's a small (decorative) pond right in front of it. My choices would be to either use a VERY wide angle lens (say, 20mm), or to shoot from the other side of the pond. From the other side of the pond, 85mm will frame the shot just about perfectly. Getting even better, there are some very attractive pillars/columns on either side of the group which will be in the same focal plane as the group, and I believe they'll add to the composition. About 8 feet behind what will be the focal plane is a wall that is beautifully colored, but which has some small wear marks to it. Well... at f/1.2 or f/1.4, it should provide a nicely colored background, but the wear marks should be well-blurred out. I think this is going to work out pretty well. I will probably have to stand on a stepping-stool to keep the focal plane of the camera nicely parallel with the plane of the group (so they're all in focus), or drop to 1.4 or 1.6, but that shouldn't be a problem. In fact, it's entirely probable that I'll make several exposures of each pose, at various apertures from about 1.2 to 2.0 or 2.8 just in case I miss someone that's out of focus. If push comes to shove, I can always blur the background in photoshop, but I much prefer the look of true bokeh to a gaussian blur. = ) I also walked around the grounds and found a couple of other places where the 85/1.2 will provide some good shots on the group, and some more places where it will provide excellent shots of one or two people. My mind is much more at ease now. All in all, there are more "average" places to shoot them where a 50 (or 35) would do a perfectly good job, but the *best* location needs the 85, so I guess I'll stick with that! On a side note, since I've never used anything but 35mm, it always takes a second for me to figure out what they're talking about in the portrait books when they talk about things like a "14-inch lens".... steve |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Lenses for D70 | Digital Photography | 3 | January 20th 05 05:01 PM | |
FS-- Sigma 28-80mm F3.5-5.6 AF II Lens Minolta + Camera Bag | James Cloud | 35mm Equipment for Sale | 0 | June 23rd 04 03:52 AM |
Fuji S2 and Metz 44 Mz-2 Flash | elchief | In The Darkroom | 3 | April 7th 04 10:20 AM |
Fuji S2 and Metz 44 Mz-2 Flash | elchief | Photographing People | 3 | April 7th 04 10:20 AM |
FS: Nikon F4, Nikkor Lenses, Filters and lens Shades etc. | FocaIPoint | 35mm Equipment for Sale | 0 | August 29th 03 04:01 PM |