Clarity Skin
skin definition/clarity with a dslr?
i have a nikon d5000 and an 18-55 lens still, and i don’t think i’m getting the best i can out of it right now. i have a friend who has a D60 and his photos seem way superior.
some of his:
http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa59/arcadiaishere/13965_304977145507_706290507_966477.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/49849927@N05/
what i’m curious about is the way skin looks, it’s more defined, full of more detail and is some others it’s really smooth and flawless. they’re edited i know.
so any ideas on how these were taken etc would be very cool
okay, so i was considering getting a Nikon 50mm f/1.8 D AF soon, would this be a good idea?
Lens quality, lighting and post processing will all influence the appearance of skin.
I have a 24-70mm f2.8 which gives slightly ’softer’ results than an 85mm f1.8 in the studio. In fact, the 85mm is TOO sharp for female portraits, but great for males.
Lighting can be used to slightly blow out highlights to make skin look flawless, as can blurring the skin or adding a ’skin softener’ filter in post.
I couldn’t see any portrait shots on the Flickr link & the one on Photobucket is not a particularly good shot. It looks overexposed & lacking in contrast to me.
The only way to tell which of the above is to do a shoot with your friend and swap lenses too. Look at his/her lighting & cameras settings and ask about the workflow/post processing.
Edit: a 50mm f1.8 lens is great, good value starter portrait lens. It is not an AF-S lens so it won’t autofocus on your D5000, you’ll have to manually focus it.
Review: Laneige, Skin Food and Max Clarity