Dude you shoot a group shot with an 85mm f1.4 you wont have anything but one persons eyes in focus. Not even their nose too…What sort of advice are you giving! Rhetorical hence no “?”…..🤷🏿♂️
no i won't use one of these. it is too heavy that i can only take this one lens, which means I can't take my 24-70 and 85 with me , i can't afford not to take 24-70 and 85
Thank you! I wish there was a similar guide for videographers. I sometimes have to film dance videos of groups and I still have no idea where to set the focus and how narrow to go with F-stop. I have found that unlike with photos, it's not necessary to get everyone into the focus to get artistically good result. Neither have to be everyone fully in the frame all the time. I'm more bothered with noise from cheap led lights at higher ISO settings. Regarding the focal length, I have the same 50mm view since I prefer to use 25mm on a MFT camera with crop factor of 2. The largest aperture would be 1.4 (2.8 full frame equivalent) but there are MFT lenses that are faster (do I need them?).
when shooting on film the latitude is different where highlights hold more information and shadows. Same with shooting log video on modern cameras. Underexposing raw log footage is pretty catastrophic for grain when you try and lift everything
I only had a 50mm lens when I first started weddings as an amateur with a film slr..I used to use an aperture of F5.6 or F8.All your tips are good. One thing I always do with sizeable group photos is to get people to look at each other and interact a bit for a more natural and fun look. Also they are not so conscious of you and less likely to shut their eyes.Thanks Geoff
These were with a DSLR so I typically used single point focus for portraits. But with the new mirrorless cameras, the Eye AF feature is so easy to use its basically cheating.
One doesn't *need* any lens of f/1.4 for family photos; those are for special purposes. For the cost of an 85/1.4, you can easily acquire an 85/1.8 AND a 35/2. Those two, plus your 50/1.8 comprise a very nice and economical set for everyday photos.
With that many people and rows, don’t worry about getting a blurry background. Use f/8 or f/10 to make sure you have enough depth of focus. If you’re unsure, try the depth of field calculator in the Photo Pills App to calculate it.
Thanks for the video. Nice to see someone on the Asbury Park boardwalk. If you’re going to shoot portraits and don’t want to be so far away shooting at 200mm, why not use a shorter focal length, move closer to your subject, and shoot wide open if it’s background blur you’re after? There’s always a tradeoff involved (sadly).
Thanks for this video! I had been using a Tamron 24-70mm zoom lens, but came across a Nikon DX 55-200mm zoom lens at a reasonable price: It's going on a Nikon FF camera, so that gives e a perspective of 85-300mm lens! Your information is VERY helpful,. Again, thanks,,
The one in the front, but I made sure I used an aperture that gave me enough depth of field no matter who I focused on (because I didn't need to blur the background)
I'm a firm believer in sticking to name brand batteries. It's not that there aren't good after market/generic batteries because I've had a few, but there are so many bad/unreliable ones out there and I've been burned so many times that I just opt to save myself the hassle.
There are some more tools in LR now that make it easier to mask out the subject, but the overall technique is the same. Unfortunately, RU-vid doesn't let me update existing videos, only create new ones.
When ever i take a group photo with apreture 2.8 on 35mm sony lens (sony a7c) I never get everyone in focus. I have to go for at least f 5 and above to get everyone in focus. And I wont be getting that f 2.8 bokeh effect with this f5. I dont know what technique im missing😢
Don’t you find it frustrating that the “thank you” and “great video” comments get a response on videos like this (definitely not only this creator), but no response on honest to goodness questions. I realize the video is 2 years old, goodness knows where the creator is now, but still frustrating.
Minimizing the distance of the subject from the camera and maximizing the distance of subject to background is the key here. Using a small enough aperture to ensure focus is the first priority. After that, try to put your subject in a position where the background is as far away from them as possible. That will increase the bokeh (blurriness). But also remember, the whole reason we blur the background isn't so we can brag about the creamy bokeh, its to help the subject stand out against the background. So with groups where a very wide aperture isn't workable, then you can do other things to accomplish that. Here are some off the top of my head. 1) Light your subjects so they are brighter than the background 2) Find a less busy background 3) Make your own background (backdrop or wall) 4) Use color contrast to have your subject stand out. Photography is often just problem solving to get the best result under the circumstances.
You say in larger group photos to stand in a so called soft circle. But i guess still need to focus on the ones on the sides then since they are closest to the camera. Im new to this by the way.
