Low Aperture Focus Issues | Photography FAQ

It’s January 1st guys!

I mentioned on Facebook yesterday how the move from one year to the next has begun to mean less and less to me over the years. Not to be a downer, but just expressing a thought I had. Mainly to say that you shouldn’t get too down on yourself if you find that you’re not yet seeing big improvements on things you’d like to change. Change takes time and you don’t need to wait for the beginning of a year, month, or week to start working towards your goals :)

And that made me think… I know folks have photography goals and I get asked a lot of photography related questions, so starting today, there will be a new feature to the blog! I will post the answers to photography-related questions! I’m sure others have wondered these same things, so I hope this will be a helpful new feature!

Today’s question? Low Aperture Focus Issues

“Hello Danielle!

I need some help if you don’t mind. I have attached two photos, both of which one or two people are in focus but not all and I really don’t know what I am doing wrong. I can never get everyone in the photo in focus. These where my settings for these photos: We were indoors ISO 640 50mm f 1.8 1/60. I have tried researching the issue but I don’t think I am coming up with the correct information.

Thank you for your time!”

-Dorothy 

Hey Dorothy!

So this is actually a fairly simple issue :) When shooting multiple subjects at such a low aperture, you’ll need to make sure they are all on the same plane or as close to the same plane as possible.

In the first photo, the father is too far behind mom & daughter, so he will be much more out of focus. If they were positioned so that the father & mother were sitting side by side (baby on their lap) and their faces down near hers, you could focus on the baby and since the parents’ faces won’t be so far back, they won’t be as out of focus. Similar to this:

Or both parents could have both been laying on their stomach on either side of baby girl and all 3 of their faces could have been on the same plane.

When I shoot small families like this, if the child is in the frame, almost always, they are where I focus and I just make sure the parents aren’t too far away or that they are positioned in such a way that their not being in focus is flattering. Maybe something like this:

Inevitably whoever is closest to the camera should be in focus so if you don’t want one person in the photo to seem more important than the others, either make sure everyone is on the same plane or raise your f/stop so that you don’t have as shallow a depth of field.

Hopefully this helped!

-Danni

If you have a photography-related question that you’d like to see answered here, email me! Let me know what you think of the new feature :)

2013: Year in Review | Part 2

Back with Part 2!

To view more from each session, the images/descriptions are linked if the session was blogged.

JULY
In July, I managed to convince my friend Andrew to step in FRONT of the camera for my blog’s artist feature and he reluctantly obliged lol. I also had a chance to work with several great folks for my summer minis and a managed to get updated photos of my nieces & nephew :)

AUGUST
August was a fun month! Headshots galore :) I also got a chance to work with Paul Carrick Brunson on a fun project and was able to work with Happy Girls Events on a beautiful styled elopement session that was featured on United With Love!

SEPTEMBER
Looking at these photos from September makes me so happy! I had such a good time with the sessions this month. Engagement, senior, family, anniversary, headshots, AND a styled wedding session!

OCTOBER
October was a month packed to the brim! Headshots, fall minis, engagements, families, and mentoring- all while prepping for my workshop at the Blink Conference!

NOVEMBER
In November, I had the privilege of speaking at the Blink Conference! It was an amazing experience and prompted me to want to hold my own workshops! As soon as I came back from Nashville, it was back to business with senior sessions, mentoring, engagements, and a special session with a brave little girl, Sydney, fighting cancer.

DECEMBER
Oddly enough, December ended up being my busiest wedding month of the year! I was supposed to have shot 3 this month but unfortunately one had to be rescheduled. The two we did photograph were absolutely beautiful! Mid-month I even snuck in a mini session with my bestie who just graduated from Bowie State!

Blazing through these 12 months in review has been… I don’t even know how to describe it… I am OVERFLOWING with thankfulness and appreciation for you guys!! Above all, I am beyond thankful to Jehovah for his patience with me and for my ability to be able to do what I love. I can’t thank my lovely clients enough, but also my family and friends who have supported me over the years in ways that they may not even know.

I need to stop before I get too misty-eyed lol… but seriously. I just… Words fail me. Just know that I appreciate you all ❤

See you next year ;)

-Danni

2013: Year in Review | Part 1

Can you believe there are only two days left in 2013?? These years are going by faster and faster the older I get :/ I’m glad to have had a great 2013 though, so it's time once again for our Year in Review!

To view more from each session, the images/descriptions are linked if the session was blogged

JANUARY
January got 2013 off to a great start and was full of just about every session type you can think of: engagement, family, corporate headshots, mentoring, fashion, editorial (featured in NeonV mag), creative professional headshots, and a fun “just because” lifestyle session!

FEBRUARY
February was a month full of firsts! My first commercial session with Dickson Wine Bar and my first time traveling for work! I visited Atlanta along with the DFinney Glam Squad and we had a blast! We need to do it again in 2014 :)

MARCH
In March, I shot my first “styled” anniversary session that was later featured on Munaluchi Bride! Began the Artist Spotlight feature on the blog, shot an amazing headshot session with Natalie in a beautiful DC home! Had a lovely mentor session with Tanashia- all the way from NYC :) And wrapped up the month with a combo session of senior portraits and family photos for Pam and her boys.

APRIL
April was full of mentoring and minis!! Stephanie and I made our second travel stop in NYC for Spring Minis and then came back home for our DC Minis! 

MAY
So much pretty to be captured in May :) Senior session, headshots, gorgeous styled wedding shoot (featured on Munaluchi!), fun family session, and a couple “just because” lifestyle sessions!

JUNE
The slower pace of June was welcomed as it gave me a chance to regroup a little :) After shooting this gorgeous wedding, there were just a couple headshot sessions to shoot before I prepared for the second half of the year.

Whew! I feel like that was a lot, but the second half of the year blows this away lol. Stay tuned for Part 2 tomorrow!

-Danni

Truthy Tuesday | Inefficiency

Truthy Tuesday oh how I’ve missed thee!

It’s been three months since my last Truthy Tuesday post and boy have a lot of things happened since then! I’ve been debating about writing this for some time now, but never felt like it would come across the way I wanted to… While considering the topics I had lined up for my next few Truthys, I had this nagging feeling that I couldn’t shake and realized it was because I needed to write this.

This year has been an amazing one! Full of new adventures, new opportunities, new people, new responsibilities… and realizations that I have allowed my bad habits to flourish for way too long. Owning my own business has unfortunately made it very easy for these to continue unchecked without discipline. 

What do I mean? For one, I am horribly disorganized. I like to think that I have a bit of order, but honestly my “order” consists of several notebooks and ongoing to-do lists… which is probably not the best way to go about things when you’re responsible for so much. I am a chronic procrastinator & perfectionist… which leads to a lot of wasted time and missed opportunities because things aren’t “perfect”. Nothing is going to be perfect, but that sure hasn’t stopped me from trying and driving myself crazy in the process!

And one of the results of that? I am horrible at replying to emails. Depending on how you catch me, you may get a response in as little as 3 minutes, other times it may not be for another few days… There are only but so many times you can write “please forgive me for the delay” before realizing something needs to change. Responding to comments on my blog and social media? Even worse :(

It’s crazy how you can be comfortable operating in a space of disorder and chaos simply because it is familiar and be fearful of change (even for the better) because it’s different and unknown. I think that’s where I’ve found myself. I feel like I’m laying myself bare saying all this… I know none of these are problems unique to me, but I do feel like they are some of my “hidden secrets”. 

I talk heavily about the importance of consistency, yet I struggle with the very same thing. My photography may be consistent, but how long does it take you to receive a response to your email from me? There are always improvements to be made and my goal is to be better.

As artists, we can be sensitive, so we’re affected by life happenings, the feelings of others, and just our own emotional makeup, but as business-owners, there is no time for that! Learning how to balance the two when you answer to yourself is not easy because being a professional means “going to work” even when you don’t want to.

I guess I say all this for 2 reasons: One, I know things need to change and I am on the quest to do so… endeavoring to take practical steps to improve my self-discipline and become more balanced. I do also want to say thank you to my clients for hanging in there with me despite my inefficiency! I’ve shared my struggle, so now I have accountability. Two, I wanted to share that things aren’t always what they seem. The fact that I hear from others that I inspire them is humbling because I still (and will always) have a lot of things to work on. Sometimes I feel like you can look at somebody and wonder “how do they keep it all together?” Well I don’t have it all together lol. And when I look at someone who does seem to have it all together, I ask! There is always room to grow and learning from others is a great way to do that.

I want to get better at being a more efficient business-owner, but I don’t have all the answers and I’m okay with that. We don’t operate in life by ourselves so gaining help from others is a much-needed part of the process. I will share any helpful resources I come across in my quest for efficiency and hopefully can help others along the way as well. And please, if you have any books, tips, suggestions that have helped you, please share them in the comments (that I will reply to lol)!

P.S. For those interested in my shirt, you can find it here!

‘Till next time,

-Danni

Clare & Ali | Cleveland, OH Engagement Photographer

Happy Friday loves :)

The weekend is here finally and it will be a beautiful one!

I don’t understand this weather… The first weekend of winter and it will be in the 60’s and 70’s -_- Oh well, I definitely plan to get out and enjoy it lol.

Before I bid you farewell, I wanted to share a special engagement session with you! Last month I went to Cleveland to take engagement photos for my former coworker and his fiancé! We had such a good time and their photos turned out beautifully!

One week from now, we will be traveling down to VA Beach to photograph their wedding! It will be much different from any we’ve shot just yet as it will combine both Afghan and Philipino traditions so I’m definitely looking forward to it!

For now, let’s take a look at their fun engagement session!

If you’re interested in a session and would like to have the DFinney Experience yourself, email me and schedule yours today! Currently booking: February & March 2014.