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Never done this before. Hoping for sound advice on how to get a group of people into focus. The original can found on my Flickr account here. As you can see before I photoshopped it I had some real issues with white balance and focus. I don't think the photoshopping helped all that much, but it was fun experimenting!

Here are the SOOC photo stats that might be relevant:

Camera: Nikon D40
Aperture: F/5.8
Flash: None
ISO Speed: 400
Focal Length: 18.3
AF Area Mode: Dynamic Area, Closest Subject
AF Point: Center
AF Points in Focus: Center
Light Source: Natural
Exposure Mode: Auto
White Balance: Auto

For Full Details: Check the Flickr metadata page.


Photoshop CS3
Sharpen Edges (duplicate layer with Mask to erase overly sharpened sections)
Adjusted Curves
Added burnt edges.

Fire away, ladies & gents! I really want to get group photography down and focus seems to be the biggest challenge. I'd love to hear what settings everyone else uses and whether or not they use manual focus (something I'm just staring to experiment with).
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Comments

  1. Skeller1:25 PM

    twelve kids in one photo. lotsa luck to ya! that's, ummm, quite an undertaking. I've really only got a couple pieces of advice: use a much quicker shutter speed (little ones move fast, thus they blur), fire off a whole bunch of pictures rapid fire and hope and PRAY that one doesn't completely stink (I'm being irreverent, but you get the idea, I hope. capturing that many kids at once is TOUGH!). Feel free to use a wider aperture (so you can get a faster shutter speed) and move back a bit so you'll have a deeper focus plane.

    Ummm, another bit of advice ... perhaps only have one person taking photos at a time. seems to me these kiddos were looking at different photographers at the same time.

    lastly, be prepared to be a complete CLOWN to get all these kiddos captivated by and looking at YOU!

    oh yeah, and lots luck. did I already say that?!?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Skeller1:27 PM

    oops forgot: I RARELY ever use manual focus (my viewfinder isn't bright enough and I don't have one of those split circle thingies that film cameras have). What I do use is autofocus points. check your camera manual to see if those are available to you...

    ReplyDelete
  3. alesha3:54 PM

    groups are hard, especially when they are all kids. I have 4 kids and yet to have a good shot of them altogether. So keep practicing. Also I agree with the above poster, that you need a bigger aperture that way your DOP is bigger and more of the picture is in focus.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous4:59 PM

    Besides what a couple of drinks will do, hmmm. lol. Groups of children are probably the hardest to photograph. I don't care what anyone says, that is just plain tough.

    So I agree with Skeller, go with a fast shutter speed. You might want to use the Shutter priority mode.

    I would try to get their focus, be a clown, do something. Start making crazy noises. I think even continuous fire is a good thing to try as well. I'm not sure with D40 how many contin. fire shots you can do, but it will only help.

    But as far as editing, I would even look at messing around with highlights, shadow, brightness and contrast some in photoshop as well.

    I'm a big fan of the burnt edges, I think it always adds a crispness.

    Happy Mother's Day

    ReplyDelete

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