Sad news

Strangely, Google classified this blog as spam, virtually eliminating traffic. Until Google reclassifies this blog, I am essentially just shouting into the wind.  I've requested reconsideration and I'm hoping Google will resolve the issue in a month.  I plan to resume posting December 14.

Swing into focus (Basic)

Getting sharply focused images is a challenge for toddler photos. I want to capture shots of our toddler in all his joy and it is at those times when his movements are least predictable.  I tried out a few techniques to help improve focus.

Method 1: focus priority + hold down the shutter
I normally use the focus and recompose technique (select the focus point closest to the point of interest, half-press the shutter to acquire focus, recompose, then press the shutter all the way).  The problem with the focus and recompose technique is that there is an interval between the acquisition of focus and the release of the shutter.  When our toddler moves, as he frequently does, the focus is lost. 

Steps:

1. Switch to AF-S / activate focus priority. Some cameras like the D200 have a setting called "focus priority" (don't release the shutter unless and until the image is in focus). My D80 doesn't have such a custom setting but behaves as if it's on focus priority when I switch to AF-S (autofocus single).

2. Intentionally focus somewhere else first.  It seems the D80 has a threshold of acceptable focus that is not high enough for me.  In other words, sometimes it will consider the image in focus when I don't consider the image to be sufficiently focused. To avoid getting a shot that's not sufficiently focused, I intentionally put the image out of focus first by focusing somewhere else.

3. Put the focus point on the target and hold down the shutter. With the focus point over the now-blurred target, I hold down the shutter.  The shutter doesn't release immediately because it's on focus priority. However, as soon as the image is in focus, the shutter releases.

Method 2: AF-ON
The logic for this one is similar to the previous method but somehow, it seems I get better results with this method. I first customize the AF-L/AE-L button to AF-ON.  This means that pressing the AF-L/AE-L button will acquire focus. Pressing the shutter half-way no longer causes the camera to focus.

Steps:

1. Switch to AF-S / activate focus priority.

2. Intentionally focus somewhere else first.

3. Put the focus point on the target and hold down the shutter.

4. While holding down the shutter, hold down the AF-L/AE-L button. As soon as the image is in focus, the shutter releases.

Method 3: trap focus (aka focus trap)
Our toddler was playing with a swing and I used trap focus (which I read about at other sites) with some success to get shots of him on the swing. This one also requires customizing the AF-L/AE-L button to AF-ON.

Steps:

1. Switch to AF-S / activate focus priority.

2. Put the subject at the target distance and focus. In my case, I grabbed the swing with my free hand, held it in the position I wanted for the shot, then focused using the AF-L/AF-E button.

3. Allow the subject to move.  The subject comes out of focus.

4. Keep aiming the focus point at the same target you chose in #2. In my case, the eyes.
5. Hold down the shutter.  The shutter doesn't release immediately because it's on focus priority.

6. Wait for the subject to come into focus.  As soon as the subject moves into the distance where it comes into focus, the shutter releases.

Taking Halloween Pictures - Part 2

Part 1 here.

For Halloween, we took our toddler to California Adventure.  We had a great time.  We plan to go back next year.
The pictures weren't perfect but I was satisfied with some of the portrait shots, and overall, the pictures were noticeably better than those from last year's Halloween, thanks largely to better understanding of TTL flash.

What went right / suggestions for nighttime shots:

1. Handheld umbrella.

I used a handheld umbrella to take some posed shots. I used the umbrella as key and I got the light I wanted for the subject.

For this shot, I took the exposure in manual mode.  I set aperture at its widest at 2.8 because I wanted a shallow depth of field.  I started out with max sync speed to minimize the ambient on the subject, so the subject was lit only by the soft directional light from the umbrella, then would increase ambient from there as necessary (by using a higher ISO or slower shutter) but I liked how the shot looked so I left it there.

2. Using ambient backlight.

There were spotlights throughout the park.  I took advantage of these spotlights to use them as rim lights for drama (to the extent the subjects cooperated).  To do so, I just positioned the subjects where the spotlights were behind and above them.

In one area, there was a cool-looking spotlight shining through a "fog."  I positioned my wife to block the spotlight itself, allowing just the corona of light to shine around my wife and our toddler.

3. Off-camera flash.

Inside the park, Disneyland's security objected to my use of the handheld umbrella, at first claiming that it was professional equipment, then next arguing that it was a sharp object.  Not wanting to ruin the fun of the evening, I decided to put the handheld umbrella away and just used the bare SB-800 handheld, in wireless mode.  Using the flash off-camera helped avoid the flat lighting from using an on-axis flash as key light.

There were also some shots where I lucked out on chimping the exposure and got a soft-looking light, I believe because ambient was just at the right level (probably 1 or 2 stops underexposed) to act as an extension of the key light. I plan to investigate this further to do it more consistently.

4. CTO gel.

Especially when there is mostly yellowish ambient light, the bluish light from the flash is a dead giveaway that artificial light was used.  The 1/4 CTO gel that I taped to my flash helped the flash look much more natural.

5. Manual mode.

I've been using program, aperture priority and shutter priority but I tried out manual exposure based on Neil van Niekerk's suggestions. It wasn't as difficult as I expected, even with often-changing light conditions. I didn't do it the right way though. I chose exposure settings purely by guesstimating, looking at the picture taken, and adjusting accordingly.  For such an unscientific way of taking manual exposure shots, the shots weren't as far off as one might expect.  The benefit of using manual exposure was more consistent exposures.  I plan to practice using manual mode in the hope of being more aware of (and in control of) my exposure.

What could be better:

1. Chimping.

As discussed above, I chimped the exposure just using the LCD screen.  I was aware that there were better ways of setting exposure, such as spot metering the white portion of our kid's costume and setting that to +1 or +2 exposure comp, or using the blinking highlights screen, or using the histogram.  But I caved under time pressure and just adjusted exposure based on instinct and a quick review of the shots.  Next time, I have to discipline myself to use one of the more reliable methods (probably the histogram method).

2. Flash blur from excess ambient light:

I set the exposure for ambient light at levels that I guessed were appropriate.  What I neglected to take into account sufficiently was to underexpose the background.  I was too concerned with having the background lights show up to avoid the black hole look.  The truth is, with digital SLRs, I find it far easier to use postprocessing to correct background underexposure than overexposure. Next time, I will err on the side of underexposing the background instead of risking overexposure.

3. Flash exposure.

The TTL-based flash exposure wasn't as smart as I thought. It tended to underexpose white areas.  This wasn't very obvious just reviewing the shot on the LCD screen but could have been easily observed from reviewing the histogram.  Something to force myself to do next time.