Tack Sharp Eyes
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- HijoDMaite
QBN Photogs,
I have been trying to master my Canon 50mm f/1.4 using a 7D.
I am very happy with color and sharpness of my everyday walk around shots but when it comes to portraits I get so frustrated.
I can not seem to achieve the level of sharpness in the eyes that I want. I know I have the tools but it just doesn't turn out the way I want.
Look at these four shots. All of them were shot using this lens and some were shot using cameras of less professional level. I don't know if they are using tripods or not but I doubt they would use one for a cat.
Anytime I get below f/2.8 I run in to problems. I am thinking that I need to memorize the distance of the camera and model depending on the aperture I am using. I have heard there DOF calculators I can use on my phone.
Any advise on how to help with this? I really want to offer girls I know portraits but I hate that I shoot 30 shots just to give them 4 good ones and the rest are shit because the eyes aren't tack sharp.
Thanks!
- albums0
don't use auto focus, use more light, also, nothing wrong with liking 4 of 30 shots, I'm used to liking about 10% of my photos
- do you always use manual focus?HijoDMaite
- in the studio yeah, out on the street, noalbums
- that makes sense, although I've hard the most professional photojournalists use manual all the time.HijoDMaite
- You can get fast at manual focus in time. I had some lenses that broke, so I only had to do manual focus.nikdaum
- HijoDMaite0
I always use auto focus, always use single point focus and I always focus on the eyes and recompose.
You're right I think most of the time it is a light issue combined with figuring out the exact formula of distance of mode land camera depending on aperture. Especially when I'm down in the 1s.
Fuck man the last shot of the girl was shot at 1.4 and I doubt they used a tripod. Actually it was shot at 1/320 so maybe they did.
- *model and cameraHijoDMaite
- more light = faster shutter. easier to darken a photo than recover italbums
- yupHijoDMaite
- I thought it was easier to pull some detail from dark shadows than detail from overexposed highlights?Amicus
- ok_not_ok0
I think images used a lasso selection with very soft edge on the eye area and then Smart Sharpened in Photochop.
- HijoDMaite0
@ ok_not_ok
I use a lasso selection for the eyes as well but I only use it for levels to brighten the white and then again to in the iris to bring out the color.
I use either unsharp mask or high pass sharp for the entire image which helps sharpen the eyes and then I brush away sections of the image that I don't want the high pass on.
Are you saying I should select the eye alone and sharpen that?
ok I just saw a tutorial on smart sharpen for the eyes right here and I am going to try this:
This is the best I have gotten and it was with my 85mm 1.8 so I am hoping I can get better results with my 50mm 1.4
- I just tried this guy's technique in this tutorial and I like it actually.HijoDMaite
- melq0
The best sharpening technique I've found is to (in PS) duplicate the image layer and apply the High Pass filter (filter > other > high pass). Use enough to show the important edges without adding a halo. Then set the layer to "overlay" and adjust the opacity.
Regardless of what you are starting with, you'll see an improvement using these steps.
Other post recipes, such as varying steps of dodging and burning, will contribute to exceptional results when trying to emphasize the eyes.
- autoflavour0
kind of hard to tell at the image size you uploaded at..
they look pretty sharp..
- scruffics0
HijoDMaite: "Fuck man the last shot of the girl was shot at 1.4 and I doubt they used a tripod. Actually it was shot at 1/320 so maybe they did"
i wouldn't be surprised if they "enhanced" soft focus and DOP on this shot in post production. that blur looks suspicious to me
- more than suspicious.Amicus
- I see what you meanHijoDMaite
- The lips look more in focus than the rest around themqTime
- Stian0
"I always use auto focus, always use single point focus and I always focus on the eyes and recompose."
That´s the problem right there. You focus and then recompose. When recomposing you move your focus as well.
- not if I keep the shutter button pressed half-wayHijoDMaite
- It´s not refocusing, you are moving your point of focus.Stian
- yeah, and it's only augmented by the large aperture.Chief
- Stian0
A quick google search..
http://digital-photography-schoo…- That's it. Not a problem at f11 for example, but on f1.2 it's a big problem.SimonFFM
- SimonFFM0
I somehow find post production sharpening with masks pretty wierd. The recomposing is a problem at apertures like 1.2, 1.4, 1.6, etc. because moving the camera only slightly changes the focus already.
- I see what you are saying. i didn't really know that at those apertures it changed. I try and elso moveHijoDMaite
- the focus point manually to get as close to the eyes so i don't have to move too much.HijoDMaite
- HijoDMaite0
@Stian
I still don't agree with the article in DP, if I focus on the eye and recompose then EVERYTHING that is that distance from my camera should be in perfect focus. Why would it change if I recompose, it's not like I am refocusing on the chest or neck I maintain the focus distance of the eye by keeping the shutter half pressed.
- HijoDMaite0
aaaaaahhhh! I see what you mean moving my point of focus not refocusing. meaning when I move my camera i change that distance due to the angle of movement!!
i think I get it now.
- vaxorcist0
50mm F1.4 at close distance at F1.4 = need very precise AF, I'd get a mannaquin head and practice like crazy, and fine-tune your camera's AF see below.... I shoot Nikon partly because I had issues with Canon AF, but Canon has since improved...
http://www.northlight-images.co.…
- vaxorcist0
sorry... second link above should be...
http://www.learn.usa.canon.com/a…
- 23kon0
3 of the images you posted are all very blurred and out of focus apart from the eyes - this will help to make the eyes look a lot sharper than an average photo (where everything IS in focus) too.
- antagonista0
It's very simple. Aim to the inside corner of the eye. If you're shooting wide open and not using high end glass, the image is going to be softer - stop down a little. If you're trying to get both eyes sharp and you are at 1.4, the lens must be parallel with the head or one of the eyes will slip out of focus and into the bokeh.
Basically, you're over thinking it. You can download any number of iOS apps or web tools to tell you the exact DOF for your les (and camera since you're on a crop sensor).
- yes.. parallel is true.,.. and shooting a 50mm F1.4 lens at F4.5 or so can give you insane sharpness compared to 1.4vaxorcist