Elizabeth Halford Photography {the blog} » pho•to•gra•phy {in real.plain.english}

the final shot of all 3 kids is beautiful!

Wonderful tips!  Thank you!

love the photos and the bokeh..wondering when you shoot these and use the 1.2 lens what is the actual f stop that you shoot at? 

i know that lens is expensive… do you really love it? i love the bokeh you get…i have the 1.4 what do you think is the difference and is it worth it?

I LOVE the details you give about the shoot.  I love hearing how you get the expressions you get and how you get them to liven up.  Thanks so much for sharing!!!!

Your number 1 favourite shot is awesome!  Love the emotion in it!

Love the inspiration you have here. Can’t wait to read more about the beloved idea.

All natural smiles. Love it!

I have read other site that say you only need to take a limited number of shots because you should know what you are doing from the first shot to the last. That info has always made me nervous when I have tried to photograph people. But reading your blogs and any post you have on DPS has taut me more and has shown me the photography is not perfect every time and there is always a set up test shot. Thank you for sharing and all of the info you give. I’ll always be a fan.

Hi Elizabeth, Thanks so much again for another wonderful post!  If you have time and don’t mind answering my question.  I am struggling with getting good focus sometimes with my Mark II.  I don’t want to live with mediocre.  I went from 51 point focus in my old Nikon D300 to NINE  in the markII (sob!)  I miss all those extra focus points!  Could you please share, when you are doing a family like this one, do you you put your focus on auto focus (where you let the camera decide what it focuses on)  I always use center point focus and then recompose the shot for singles but haven’t had my Mark II long enough to figure out what to do for families.   So when you were shooting wide open for the shot five up, did you let the camera grab the focus or did you place a focus point over one of their eyes?  I tried this once and I had one person really in focus and one really out so I am trying to get this straight.  ( although they may not have been in the same focal plane as my camera, thus the blur) I would love to do an experiment sometime where I shoot wide open vs. small and draw a line around exactly how deep the focus area is and where the focus point was placed.  Thanks for your help and hope I haven’t rambled too much here!  =)

Hi! I manually toggle my focus point for every shot and try to keep it on the face if there is one in that location which we know that sometimes with the mkII, there isn’t. I just get it close to the face. 

Elizabeth, I absolutely LOVE you.  Thank you for this post it is fantastic!!  Thank you for sharing your gift with us and business savvy.  You have changed the way I operate my own business and I’m forever grateful.  <3  Thank you.

Thank you again.  I enjoy reading how you work through your sessions.  The images are gorgeous as usual.  I just wanted to tell you that I got choked up looking at them and reading your info.  You can tell a difference from this and a ‘normal’ session.  Seeing those boys interacting with their mom was beautiful.  I seriously had tears running down my cheeks.  I am totally sold on the Beloved concept now.

Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience!  I’d like to use the ABC idea this weekend in a family session. 

You are very giving, sharing everything like this, Elizabeth.  I’m sure I don’t just speak for myself when I say it is much appreciated.  I keep forgetting about Av mode, even though a photographer I know (who shot the royal family) says many pros use it frequently.  It’s interesting, too, reading about zooming in on images shot with your 50mm 1.2 and having so much clarity. Makes me wanna run out and buy one right now :)

Oh you really wouldn’t regret it. It’s mind blowing. So is the price but ya know…who needs food? :) I can’t remember if you shoot with a 7d or 5d? I think you’ve got a 7d. Really need to try this lens out on my 7d I think I’ll do tomorrow’s session with it

i LOVE the tire shot Elizabeth! Thanks so much for sharing all that you do :)

Thanks for sharing!  I am Team Nikon and have been getting VERY frustrated lately with my 50mm/1.4 for the exact reason you described – fuzziness when shooting back from the subject or with negative space.  Grrr….

I really love these pictures. Well done. 

I love the shot with the tire too! Also love the way you edited it. Elizabeth, could you give more specific details on why you prefer the 5D for backlit photography? Backlighting during the golden hour is becoming my signature I think and I’m curious why you feel the 5D handles it well. I’m currently shooting the T2i and just starting out, but when I do upgrade…you think the 5D is worth the price tag? Thanks for your thoughts!