# what settings do y'all use for studio portraiture?



## jdramirez (Jul 24, 2014)

I'm a fan of bokeh... but when you have a single color backdrop behind your subject... shooting at a thin depth of field just seems like a dangerous game to play. This is the shot... if only the eyes were in focus. 


Stopping down to f8 solves some of the thin dof issues... and since you can control the lighting, the images won't be under exposed... but then we don't want the images to sharp to show how fugly our subject is...

So I think... 100L for really sharp eyes, but 85 f1.2 for softer blurred skin, but maybe my in home studio isn't that big... so just go for a 35 L... 

I make my decisions based on how I feel at the moment... some at f8... some at .11 inches of dof...


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## Besisika (Jul 24, 2014)

I rarely shoot in my home studio these days, but when I do I shoot only at f8-f11 on 100mmL, on a tripod, tethered - very basic. 
I don't do shallow dof, too much work to remove the background.


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## mackguyver (Jul 24, 2014)

Usually f/8 or f/11 at 1/200s, ISO 100 unless there's a need to get more or less DOF. Lately, I've been using my TS-E 24 II (+/- 1.4x III) a lot for product shots where I shift the lens to avoid reflections or tilt for more DOF, which has been a really fun use of the lens.

Also, sometimes I'm lazy and I bump up my ISO to 200 or 400 instead of adjusting the lights


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## JonAustin (Jul 24, 2014)

I'd err on the side of "too sharp," rather than risk an OOF subject. It's relatively easy to smooth wrinkles, clone out blemishes, etc., in post. It's impossible to bring OOF areas into sharpness.

I keep the backdrop out of focus by positioning it at least 6' behind the subject. I usually shoot at f/5.6 - f/8, 1/90 and ISO 400, which is quite clean on the 5D3 (and extends speedlite battery life).


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