Shots of my 1 year old at the park - Where to begin?

freshpot

Hi Moose! I recently purchased a D5100 with kit lens, an extra 55mm-200mm lens, and a polarizer filter. I realize there are other things I will need to expand my camera's capabilities, but for now this is what I am working with.

I have already taken a few pictures of a trip and a birthday party and I'm fairly happy with how they came out, but I'm still learning a lot of the settings. I have studied photography in the past, though it was not digital, and feel I have an eye for good composition, but I'm not getting the shots I want due to being unfamiliar with what I can do with what I have.

This weekend, I plan on dedicating some time to getting to know my camera and playing around with some shooting at the park. For now, most of my pictures will likely be outdoor, and featuring my one year old.

Do you have any general tips for how to get started with this camera?

Moose

Howdy @freshpot - Welcome and congrats on the new D5100! In the beginning I highly recommend focusing on one or two types of photography that interest you. This makes it easier to learn and remember settings that apply to those specific types of photography.

It sounds like right now, you're most interested in capturing portraits of your one year old outdoors. Fantastic! So, here's what I would start with...

1. Mount your 55-200mm lens
2. Adjust your lens to 55mm
3. Rotate the mode dial to Aperture priority (A on the mode dial)
4. Set the aperture f-number to f/4 (rotate the small command dial near the thumb rest)
5. Set the metering mode to 'Center weighted'

If your child is sitting or still, then...
1. Enable Single-servo AF (AF-S) - See page 39 of the manual (D5100 PDF manual)
2. Enable Single-point AF - See page 42 of the manual
3. Set your 'Release Mode' to 'Continuous' - See page 36 of the manual
4. Half-press the shutter, focus on the eyes, recompose the shot for better framing and then fully press the shutter and hold it down...this will rattle off a series of shots in quick succession

If your child is moving about, then...
1. Enable Continuous-servo AF (AF-C) - See page 39 of the manual
2. Enable Auto Area AF - See page 42 of the manual
3. Set your 'Release Mode' to 'Continuous' - See page 36 of the manual
4. Half-press the shutter to continuously focus on your child and when you're ready to take the shot, fully press the shutter and hold it down...this will rattle off a series of shots in quick succession

If you're under shade (tree, clouds, etc...) or it's late in the day, you might try enabling the built-in flash and using it as fill light. That should get you going in the right direction. Happy shooting! :)

FreshPots

Hi @Moose! Thanks for your instructions! I followed them and got some pretty good shots of my one year old. I did have one issue, though and I was hoping you could help me figure out the problem.

I used the 55-200mm lens and set the mode dial to priority A etc... as you suggested. Among some really great shots, there were also several where the background was really sharp and in focus, but my one year old (in the foreground) was blurry. I believe it has something to do with the aperture setting, but I'm not sure. How do I prevent this?

Moose

@FreshPots - It sounds like the focus locked on a subject in the background, which threw your primary subject (your child) out of focus. With the first situation (motionless subject) it's easy to lock focus on your subject and obtain accurate focus.

With the second situation (moving subject) it's much harder to obtain accurate focus all the time. The D5100 does a pretty good job for the most part, however, there will be situations where it will focus on something else when trying to capture a subject that's moving through the frame.

The other thing you'll have to be mindful of is the minimum focus distance for the 55-200mm, which is 3 to 4 feet. Make sure your child is outside of this radius, otherwise the lens won't be able to lock focus. Happy shooting! :)

erika

What would you recommend when taking pictures of four moving small children? Will four points of movement confuse the continuous focus?