Question A Day: Capturing Bright Eyes
Q: Love, love, LOVE your blog! Thanks for all the tips. I’m hoping you can help me… I bought a Canon Rebel T1i and the 24-105 LS lens (big splurge!) so that I could take photos of my new baby. It’s amazing… but I’m just having a hard time consistently capturing the vivid blue of his eyes. How do professional photographers get those crystal clear, bright eye shots of kids? Do they use a polarizing lens? And what lenses would you recommend I use? I like to take crisp, clear close up shots with lots of bokeh. Thanks!
A: Thanks! And this is a great question!
I’m going to show you a picture out of the camera, and you’re not going to believe me, his eyes are that incredible.
Manual | f/2.8 @ 1/125 ISO 250, 50mm fixed lens under a shady tree on a sunny (sweet mother on Earth) hot and humid day. By a lake. Lake Ontario, to be exact.
This handsome jam-face was from a family session I did the other week. Could his eyes get any more ridiculously ahhhhhh-mazing?!
Settings same as above.
Now, look at this one. Still totally going to be a heartbreaker once he discovers girls in a decade, but just that ever so slightly less piercing and blue.
The difference? He moved his head. And there’s a slight squint. But the main point is that he moved his head ever so slightly to (my) right.
Shucks, the boy is allowed but there is definitely a difference. If you look into his eyes, you can really see the catch lights of the sun through the trees.
By using the shade of the trees as nature’s soft box and having him look up to catch the light in his eyes, that is the best way to capture the true vividness and brightness of eye colour, no matter the shade. You want it to be bright enough to let the eyes sparkle but not so bright that you blind your little one.
And you don’t have to be outside, either, especially with cooler weather on its way. Setting up by a window will produce the same effect if you catch the sun on the right angle. Just play with the various times of day!
Then, let the camera do the heavy work. I could have made this aperture in the 1’s for some serious bokeh blur, but went with a high 2 and would have even gone into the 3’s because i wanted his face completely in focus. My focal points hit on that triangle between the eyes and the nose, and I could get away with a 1/125 shutter speed because he wasn’t on the move.
Hope that helps!
xo,
Tamara
Search
