Every year Notre Dame does a "jump" photo to use
in the ad campaign. Knowing exactly how
to take the shot and what settings to use can be a bit tricky. The same is true for taking fabulous
portraits.
This assignment is two-fold.
Part 1: I want you to take a fantastic portrait shot of one
(or more) person you know very well.
Think about the set up, the lighting, the composition, the mood of the
final image you're after.
Part 2: I want you to go outside and practice your hand at
capturing an interesting jump image using first one person, then more than
two. Think about the location so you can
capture the whole person (or people), and not have any loss of feet...
Post your best portrait and the technical information and
your two best jump images, with technical information.
Due: March 24, end of
class.
Portrait Tips:
Quick Formula Rules:
Photographing one person, use the lowest aperture number
your lens will allow, which is normally f/2.8.
Photographing two or three people, change your camera’s aperture setting
to f/4. Four or more people, set your
camera at f/5.6 aperture.
The higher you set your aperture number, the more detail
you’ll see in the photo. This isn’t always good for portrait photography.
Wrinkles, pimples and other unwanted blemishes will suddenly appear multiplied.
Quick run down on those basic rules again:
One person, use the lowest aperture setting your lens will
allow.
Two or three people, set an aperture number f/4.
Four or more / group shots, set f/5.6 aperture.
JUMP!
Camera settings for one person jumps:
When photographing one person jumping, always set your DSLR
camera to shutter priority. This allows you to concentrate on the speed of the
shot and the camera adjusts other settings to suit. The shutter speed is the
most important setting for capturing the person nice and sharp. A speed of
1/400th of a second works every time.
Camera settings for groups of people jumping:
When photographing two or more people jumping, use aperture
priority, yet still keep your attention on the shutter speed. Why aperture
priority? There is no use photographing a group of jumpers if only one person
is sharply focused. Set your aperture to f/5.6 following the rules on aperture settings for portraits.
A technique for groups:
Set your camera to aperture priority and choose an aperture
of f/5.6. Before the group starts jumping, press your shutter button half way
down while looking through the viewfinder and you’ll notice camera settings
listed along the edges of the screen light up. Take note especially of the
shutter speed. If the shutter speed is 1/400th of a second or faster then you
are ready to shoot. If not, up your ISO to a higher number. Increase your ISO
by 100 at a time and try again, adjusting from there until the shutter speed is
showing as 1/400th of a second minimum.
Auto Focus:
Keep the focal switch on the side of your lens on AF.
Obviously you won’t have time to manually focus.
Focal Points:
Set a middle single focal point. This set up will ensure you
can easily find the focal point and focus on the person as they start their
jump. If you are not sure what focal points are, then read this article on how
to focus DSLR cameras.
Continuous Shooting:
Set your camera to continuous shooting, also called burst
mode on some DSLR cameras. Continuous
shooting will allow you to take several shots or more per second. Your camera
will keep shooting, as long as your finger holds down the shutter button. Note,
cameras do limit how many you can take in any one burst until it needs to clear
its cache. So if you hold your finger down on the shutter and it suddenly stops
shooting, this is perfectly normal. That is your camera telling you it needs to
catch up!
Pre-focusing:
If the person is jumping up and down in the same spot, what
you can do is pre-focus before they leap. It’s important that they don’t change
their distance from you when they jump. i.e don’t jump forward or back. For
these types of shots, sometimes press
your shutter button half way down to pre-focus, then ask them to jump as you
press the rest of the shutter and take several burst shots.
Should you move the camera up and down with the jumper?
Until you perfect the technique it’s best to keep your camera
steady in one place. Therefore don’t zoom in too far that you cut the persons
head off when they are at the top of their jump. Once you have perfected these
camera settings and technique, you can then try panning up and down with the
person to show motion in the background.
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