Seeking a little help with lighting/motion blur

[stephaniekscott]

Hey Guys,
I'm working on motion blur, and I am struggling a bit. Last night I sat with my back to the window and tried shooting my daughter as she banged away on the piano. My objective was to have her face in focus, the keys in focus, but her hands in motion.
This was the best I could come up with, remember, my subject was a very squirmy toddler.

I shot this at f/5, 1/20, ISO 500.
I had set the focus on her face, but somehow the keyboard is what is the most clear. I shot it over and over again, continuing to re-focus on her face, then shoot. Every time, the keys would be clear, her face somewhat clear/somewhat muddled. The hands are cool but I'm losing the crispness I'm seeking.
Aside from the light from the windows lighting the room (it was around 5pm,) I also had all the recessed lights in the ceiling on.
Is my ISO wrong? I was trying to keep the ISO as low as possible to prevent noise, but I felt like I had to boost it a little because of the light.
Here it is @ f/4.5...her face is much brighter and more crisp, but then I lose the blur in the hands. Also the color looks wonky.

So what do I do to get the blur in the hands but the crisp face? I know I'm doing something wrong...
Any suggestions are most welcome.

[bob_r]

Stephanie,

The way to get more movement in the hands could normally be accomplished by increasing your exposure time, but I doubt that this would work here. When your daughter is moving her hands, she is also moving her body and head. Any extended time delay will result in more movement, not only in the hands, but also in the head. I think you've done a terrific job getting it as sharp as you have.

Bob R

[gldiana]

I think the photos are great and you have achieved what you wanted... but you want perfection, which is the essence of the true photographer
For that you will need either:

- a lens with Image Stabilization/Movement Reduction that allows you to keep the same settings, or use a higher f/stop, but help eliminate the movement you create handholding the camera.

- a tripod. That will make the photo fall into the trap that Bob mentioned. You will have to shoot a lot of photos bracketing the speed (Tv mode) until you get the result you want. Since your subject (the face of your child) is on the right I would recommend using only the focus sensor on the right).

[stephaniekscott]

Thanks guys,
Let me tell you a few more things,
I was shooting with my Canon 28-135 IS lens.
I was also only using the focus sensor on the far right, and I was putting it on her eye or nose; which is why it is so annoying to me that the keys on the left continue to be the most crisp in the shot....
I will try the tripod and the bracketing thing, I've never shot with bracketing before, so that will take some learning/messing with.

[bob_r]

Thanks guys,
Let me tell you a few more things,
I was shooting with my Canon 28-135 IS lens.
I was also only using the focus sensor on the far right, and I was putting it on her eye or nose; which is why it is so annoying to me that the keys on the left continue to be the most crisp in the shot....
I will try the tripod and the bracketing thing, I've never shot with bracketing before, so that will take some learning/messing with.

Personally, I don't think that's going to help. If any part of the picture is sharp, it's because you were not moving or that the IS on your lens compensated enough for your movement. The keys were sharp, so the problem was not your movement, but your daughters. As for the keys being sharp and your daughter not sharp, even though the focus point was on your daughter, this would happen any time something is on the same plane as your focus point. When you have a long keyboard, part of it is almost guaranteed to be on the same focal plane.

If you are going to continue your pursuit of a perfect shot of this scene, I'd suggest that you do a few things - lower your ISO setting to 100 or 200 and choose AV priority and close your aperture to f/11. The lower ISO setting will help reduce noise and the smaller aperture will help keep more of the scene in focus. These 2 actions will automatically lower your shutter speed and extend your exposure time. I'd also suggest that you turn off the IS and put the camera on a tripod and use a remote shutter release just to eliminate any possibility of your movement ruining the image.

Good luck with the shot, Stephanie and be sure to post more results.

Bob R

One other thought, if you have a reflector, you might try putting it on the bench next to her. Judging by the shadows on her face, It looks like most of the light is coming from overhead rather than the window. A reflector might help bounce some of the light back to reduce the shadows. A small lamp on the piano might help too.

[gldiana]

Hmmm 100 ISO f/11 for those light conditions will drop the speed considerably below the range of the IS, I think, but it's worth a try.

Ok, last post from me for a little while, on my way to the airport. Will drops some photos from New England (if I shoot something decent).

[bob_r]

Hmmm 100 ISO f/11 for those light conditions will drop the speed considerably below the range of the IS, I think, but it's worth a try.

Ok, last post from me for a little while, on my way to the airport. Will drops some photos from New England (if I shoot something decent).

You're right - she may have to adjust the ISO settings, but I'd try to keep them as low as possible. I may try this to see what I can come up with, although our window by the piano may not be the same size (large double windows) or face the same direction (ours face East).

Hope you have a great trip and I'm looking forward to your seeing your pics.

Edited to add a test pic. I did have to increase the ISO settings to 400 in this image. I used f/11 and the resulting shutter speed was 1.6s. I think this may have been better if I had adjusted the exposure to -1/3 or -2/3. The white keys are a little blown out. I did have an overhead chandalier on and a small lamp on the piano on. BTW, since this was just taken and it's afternoon here, the window didn't provide much light. It would have provided much better light had I had taken it in the morning.

Stephanie, my little one isn't nearly as cute as yours.

[stephaniekscott]

Bob,
That's hilarious.
But I appreciate the ideas. I'm going up to the mountains this weekend to shoot some fall leaves and celebrate Oktoberfest in a local Bavarian village. (our annual tradition for my husband's birthday.)
When I get home, I'll see what I can do with this. I don't have a reflector, but I'm going to get a piece of poster board an some silver spray paint.

[bob_r]

Stephanie,

You can probably pick up a large piece of foam-cor board at Hobby Lobby for less than 5.00 (if you have a Hobby Lobby in your area). They work great as reflectors.

Bob R

[stephaniekscott]

No Hobby Lobby here...is that a craft store? We have Michaels, I'll try there.

Thanks for the suggestion.

[bob_r]

Yes, Hobby Lobby is a craft store, but a lot of places could carry it.

[Bonish Photo]

Another thing you might want to try Stephanie is to set your flash to rear curtain sync.

It'll be in your Cutom Functions setting. If you have an off camera flash, then you can set the flash to pop just a bit and act as fill flash which will stop the movement and give you a crisp shot of the little ones face. Once you set it to rear curtain sync. it makes the flash pop at the end of your shutter accuation. What this accomplishes is it allows you to record the movement of the toddlers hands at the beginning of the shutter, but when the flash pops, it'll freeze the face.

Cant remember which camera you're using, so I'm not sure if your body will allow you to use that setting on the little pop-up flashes that come on the camera? Besides, if you have that 28-135 IS lens, the little pop-up flash will get in the way and create a halo effect at the bottom of the image.

I honestly thinking you acheived what you were after in your first few images, but I understand with wanting the image to be tack sharp. Have you tried not using the auto-focus and hand focusing for the childs face, this way the camera might not be re-ocusing a hair when you reposition? Just a thought

[stephaniekscott]

Thanks Pat,
I don't have an off-camera flash yet, so I just avoid flash pretty much at all costs; I'm shooting with a 30D.

I'll try manually focusing to see if that will help. I had left the auto on as she was so wiggly, but I agree, it may have thrown things off a bit.

[Farmerj]

I shoot a Nikon D90 and am not familar with the Canon.

Have you tried it with the AF on continuous focus instead of single? On my Nikon, it would be AF-C instead of AF-S.

And yes, Micheals is the same as Hobby Lobby.