ISO 100, F11 and Shutter 125
Jun 15th, 2008 by Neo
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Let me show you some photos which are taken by myself today. Yes, today so the photos are fresh from the oven… or rather my DSLR.
Hope you will like the photos.
To provide enough light to illuminate the two beautiful and sweet models, two flash lights were used. In a setup like this, the professionals always recommend a shutter speed of 1/125 seconds, F11 aperture and ISO 100. Why these numbers you might ask? Well, don’t ask me as I have no idea. I guess the professional photographers have tested and found that these numbers produce the best result.
Of course I followed and indeed the result is pretty satisfactory.
As usual, this was a free photography event and any photo enthusiasts could come and join. However, because of this, there was too many people lining up and before you knew the queue was quite long already. As a result these photos were taken without eye contacts – because I was shooting from the side. 
Oh, before I forgot. Our beautiful models for today were Niza, and Nini (purple color blouse).
Believe it or not, the following photo was also shot from the side but they noticed me and gave me a very naughty smile! It was heavenly!
I think it will look better if I crop it to their waist line, but I am not very sure. What do you think?
Anyway, just for your info, minor Photoshop touch-up were done on the photos, such as cropping, enhancing the colors, and blurring the less important parts.
Do check out my Flickr online photo album for more.
UPDATE: 17 June 2008
As promised, here are a couple of the sharp version of the above photos. I only applied some minor touch ups: curves, and levels.
Personally, I like this photo although they were not looking towards me.
And of course I just have to show this one to you. Love their big eyes.
A reader, Ehon was kind enough to spend a few minutes on one of the photos (albeit it was a low resolution photo) and turned it into a wonderful masterpiece. Hope you like it too!
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There are some great photos you took here, take more photos and enjoy yourself !
Interesting perspective and angles of the models due to their eye contact is with other photographers there.
Happy shooting with yr DSLR !
JH
…Believe it or not, the following photo was also shot from the side but they noticed me and gave me a very naughty smile! It was heavenly!…
i think they are eyeing someboday at your back la…perasan lol.The composition of photo okay,but i am not pretty sure with the light, and why there are some area its blur?
The blurring bit, I think was a little overdone? I think leaving it sharp would be nicer. Cropping.. I think it’s nice how it is, but filling the girls into the frame would be great
I really don’t believe in what the professionals say about ISO 100, F11 and Shutter Speed of 125. In the end it’s location, location, and location. Or should I say light, light, light. Without light, there’s no photography in the first place. Just my 2 cents, not to be offensive.
Were you using studio lights when taking these pictures? I have no experience on studio lighting.
By the way, you can always break the ‘rules’…
u so hiaw, 1 not enuff must have 2 in one time!
another good tip for beautiful pictures : make sure the models are pretty! no matter how u capture, sure pretty one lar!!!
JH,
Thanks. Are you into photography as well?
abeku,
I am absolutely positive they were looking at me because I was the only one taking their pictures from that angle. Niza first noticed me and she invited Nini to pose for me. I quickly clicked away without wasting even a split second!
Although the stage wasn’t big, but they were standing at one end of the stage while I was on the floor at the other end. Quite a few meters away!
Oh the blurring is purposely done in Photoshop. Later I will post the non-blurring version for comparisons.
Raymond Chan,
Maybe overdone, later I will post the sharp version. Please come back to check them out.
Of course the setting ISO 100, F11 and Shutter Speed of 125, are for normal/general setups. Depending on the amount of flash lights available, maybe you still need to adjust slightly on the aperture and shutter speed.
Khengsiong,
Yes, studio lightings. Lots of fun shooting.
Of course we can always experiment and break the rules, but I don’t have the luxury to do that yet, because the lightings aren’t mine. Haha…
wuching,
Wow, you are very greedy and hungry!
cbenc12,
True also. But with today’s technology, a good photographer can use good lightings and good photography gears to shoot fairly good pictures. Then they say Photoshop can do wonders, heal pimples, smoothen the skin and make it fairer, apply makeup, etc.
I think the blurring was overdone. Too much.
Che-Cheh,
Really huh? Never mind, stay tuned for the sharp version soon. Remember to tell me which one you like oh…
Just wanna ask, are they twins? Anyway, did you notice that the lower part of the pictures (their hands) looks blur.
i love that your header is still ‘Happy Chinese New Year’. haha. i love your blog by the way – with all the photographs.
well.. er.. i actually agree with Raymond that the blur effect is a bit.. unreal. erm. if you’re going for the ’soft’ feel, try duplicating the layer, give it a gaussian blur and erase the eyes, lips and eyebrow. try searching them on the web – there are many versions, and try one by one until you find one you like.
also, i think the rules don’t really apply in these photoshoots. maybe if it’s an elegant shot with not much details (read: background), and a fierce or elegant looking model then the settings might work, but in these photos, the models are bright and smiley, dressed bright and happy, and the background are so colourful – it looked almost like an underexposed photoshoot.
nonetheless, it’s not your fault.
and good try though! 
keep it up and keep the shutter firing!!!!! 
i never knew of those numbers but i have to agree with raymond, the location and light does make a lot of difference. personally i think the blurring effect was a lil too much
but like u have said in reply to che cheh’s comment, i shall wait for the sharper version. never experienced studio shooting before 
btw great shots 
where you can find those pretty model? short hair one prettier..
Did you switch of the flash of your camera when you used studio lights?
Ah… I hope I can learn studio photography too…
i like how blur the bg is! =P
really nice photos! sometimes it looks better if there’s no eye contact! =D
jam,
I am not sure of they are twins, didn’t cross my mind to ask them that.
ehon,
Oh yes, I haven’t got the time to sit down and change the theme’s design. It still looks good, right? Thanks for the photography tips, and the soft and color enhanced photo.
satkuru,
Those are the magic numbers in studio portrait photography.
keeyit,
The photography workshop was at Maju Junction. For me, both are beautiful.
Khengsiong,
No, no external flash was on my camera. Instead a trigger was used. Of course, the built in flash was off too.
huei,
Yes, sometimes no eye contact is better, but usually eye contact can make wonders! Glad you like the blurring effect.
Nice photos! I’m not expert in photography, but I can see why u r into it. Maybe it’s time I learn : )
Nice lighting you’ve got there. Good going!
Should also put purple one on the light ray more la…
Nice nice… Can I have their number at the same time? 
who is the girl wit the orange dress…she is hot…could i get her email adress pls……