Digital Macro Photography - Tips needed

[thereds]

I know about dpreview.com and I am going to post a thread similar to this one here, but I'd like some ideas from some of you guys as well.

I have a Nikon Coolpix 995 and want to take some close up shots of my girlfriend.

The setting will be during mid day here in London, and the its usually (more like always) cloudy.

Any body got ideas about what the optimal camera settings are in such a scenario?

 

[DurocShark]

photo.net is a great place to start.

 

[Ornery]

Close up shots of your girlfriend's what? 😕

That's NOT macro. Stay back from her about seven to ten feet, then zoom till her portrait fills the screen. That will give you a shallow depth of field and throw the background out of focus. Try not to be in direct sunlight, which would be too harsh.

Post pics when you're done!

 

[thereds]

Originally posted by: Ornery
Close up shots of your girlfriend's what? 😕

That's NOT macro. Stay back from her about seven to ten feet, then zoom till her portrait fills the screen. That will give you a shallow depth of field and throw the background out of focus. Try not to be in direct sunlight, which would be too harsh.

Post pics when you're done!

Of her face 🙂 Honest!

for shallow dof and acceptable out of focus background, you recommend fstops of...?

 

[DurocShark]

Low f-stop numbers=shallow depth of field (and also give you higher shutter speeds).

But focussing gets more critical as the DOF gets shallower. You may want to manually focus in that case.

 

[thereds]

bump

 

[KenGr]

Originally posted by: DurocShark
Low f-stop numbers=shallow depth of field (and also give you higher shutter speeds).

But focussing gets more critical as the DOF gets shallower. You may want to manually focus in that case.

Also, you should use the telephoto zoom position. Wide angles tend to distort facial features. So zoom out to the equivalent of 100 mm.

On your camera, I don't think depth of field is a concern and you shouldn't have to go to manual focus. f/stop settings won't go low enough for that to be a problem.