Learn Your Camera on Manual | Infant Photography Ideas

project february: day three

Friday, February 3, 2012

Day three: My seven year old

Manual camera settings and the why behind them:
ISO – 200 (outside in the afternoon, cloudy but bright)
aperture – F 2.2 (I wanted to blur out the background and focus on him. The background was only wintery dead grass anyway.)
shutter speed – 1/1250 (what was needed for correct exposure)
distance from subject (rough estimate) – only 3-4 feet away
focal point – on one of his eyeballs (just picked one)
lens – 50mm 1.2L
Camera body – canon’s 5D mark II**Oh and in case you wondered… he kind of melts my heart in sweet pics like these. :)

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by Cori Derksen

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project february: day two

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Day two: In ‘n Out

Manual camera settings and the why behind them:
ISO – 500 (inside, needed a bit more brightness)
aperture – F 3.5 (didn’t want my lens opened up too too wide. I was only across the small table from him. Didn’t want everything to be out of focus.)
shutter speed – 1/160
distance from subject – sitting in the chair on the other side of in n out’s little table
focal point – my boy’s eyeball
lens – 50mm 1.2L
camera body – canon’s 5D mark II

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by Cori Derksen

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project february: day one

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

February is the shortest month of the year. Yes, this year happens to be one day longer, but still. So this year in 2012 I am doing a project in February. This project is for me and for you.

For me… the most fabulous part of this is that I am going to take a picture of my boys or my family every single day during the month of February (the pics might be taken the day before or so but posted every day here). I will be photographing every day life, not a photo session, and usually not even a posed moment. My kids may have spectacular bed head or there may be unimpressive laundry in the background. I want to photograph a real moment, a memory. So that’s my goal. And as a result, I will have lots of precious images … for me … of my boys.

For you… I will be posting my settings and some details as to how I shot the pictures every day as well. And that is for you. Hopefully it will contribute to helping you understand your camera and a bit of photography even more. Who knows, maybe it will even inspire you to take more pictures of the people in your world… for you. So, here we go…

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Day one: rain puddles

Manual camera settings and the why behind them:
ISO – 200 (outside, bright even though it’s cloudy)
aperture – F 2.8 (why not? cause I don’t necessarily need everything in focus behind them and they’re on the same “plane” in regards to their depth of field)
shutter speed – 1/320 (the shutter speed needed for proper exposure)
distance from subject (rough estimate) – approx 10 feet away
focal point – on one of my boy’s heads (just picked one)
lens – 50mm 1.2L
camera body – canon’s 5D mark II

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by Cori Derksen

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February 1, 2012 - 7:58 am

Carolee - Thanks for doing this, Cori-love the pic! Since the boys aren’t close together, where was your focus point and about how far back were you standing? Would it be too bothersome to post these two tidbits with the rest of your specs as well? Not to worry if you don’t–as always, all that you do for us “learners” is appreciated!! :)

February 1, 2012 - 8:13 am

Cori Derksen - sure. i can do that. :)

February 2, 2012 - 12:12 pm

TK Goforth - This is a GREAT idea, and so appreciate it! So looking forward to what you have in store! I love your website! I just bought a new Sony camera the other day and can’t wait to do some magic with it. God bless!

shooting inside near a window

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Sweet little miss inside near a window. Serious precious-ness…

Manual settings for the image below:
ISO – 1000
aperture – F 2.8
shutter – 1/160
lens – 100mm macro 2.8L
camera body – canon’s 5D mark II

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by Cori Derksen

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February 1, 2012 - 8:21 am

Chrissy - Beautiful!
Sometimes when I shoot with an F stop lower than 3.2 I get one super sharp eye and one that is a little less sharp! What gives? How can I stop this from happening?
Thanks!!!

February 1, 2012 - 8:34 am

Cori Derksen - It’s all about your depth of field. One eye is probably farther away than the other eye. Try to get them on the same plane…think geometry. :)

perspective and aperture

Monday, January 16, 2012

I love this picture of my little guy. Captures his silly personality in one of his mellower moods. My perspective is that my camera is almost resting on the table, so I’m looking straight into my little guy’s eyes, but coming in a bit from below him. Love how the table in front of him is out of focus. Fun, huh? :) That’s a result of my 2.2 aperture.

manual settings for the shot below:
ISO – 1250 (inside, in the evening, under just the lights from above the kitchen table)
aperture – F 2.2 (needed light and i wanted the blur factor)
shutter – 1/160 (slow, but not too slow that my wiggly guy is out of focus)
lens – 50mm 1.2L
camera – canon 5D mark II

Then I change my perspective and look down on my other little guy from above. I wanted to tell the whole story of how this little guy plays. He loves bananagrams. :)

manual settings for the shot below:
ISO – 1250 (inside still, same table, same lighting)
aperture – F 2.5 (needed light but not quite as much as the light was reflecting off the table a bit)
shutter – 1/160 (slow, but not too slow)
lens – 50mm 1.2L
camera – canon 5D mark II

bruises and bandaids »

project february: day three

project february: day two

project february: day one

shooting inside near a window

perspective and aperture