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Have you ever snapped an amazing picture, only to get home and find out that your camera focused beautifully on the background, but the main subject of your shot is completely out of focus and blurred? These easy focusing techniques, tips and tricks will put this photographer’s common pet peeve behind you!
Cameras often times miss the mark when left to decide for themselves what to focus on. By arranging the composition of this image and then pressing the shutter down, the camera chose the wrong focal point.
Focus Point #1: Get the BEEP with Focus-lock
Most digital cameras are designed to look for the main subject in the center of the frame. This is because most camera users don’t think too much about composition, they literally just point the camera at what they want, and shoot! What happens though, when your subject isn’t directly in the center of your picture? You get a pin-sharp background and an out-of-focus subject. Modern digital cameras are getting much better at this issue by using multiple focal-points. Your camera then decides which element in your frame it thinks is the most important. Better but not perfect.
The answer is to lock your focus before you take the shot. By simply holding your shutter button half-way down, you will hear a ‘beep’ when the camera has focused and an indicator will light up in your viewfinder showing you where the camera has focused. Once you have heard the beep and the focus is locked, compose the shot you have in mind and finish pressing the shutter all the way down.
By pre-focusing on his eyes and then composing the image, the boy stays in focus even though he isn’t centered.
My camera has 9 focal-points but I have set it to use only the center point. This way I use the center point to focus exactly where I want it and then compose my image to finish. This eliminates any element of chance.
Portraiture Tip: Focus your camera on the eyes of your subject, and then while holding the shutter button half-way down, compose the image how you would like. Once you’re happy with the composition, press down fully to capture a pin-sharp ‘eye-catching’ image! This especially helps with a shallow depth-of-field on extreme close-ups so that you don’t focus on the nose instead of the eyes.
Click on Page 2 below for tips about action focusing and going manual!
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Both good tips that we teach at our beginner photography classes. So simple but makes a lot of difference!
a few years back i was a gues at a magic show in the back room of a dirty bar in las vegas,i met the man of the hour early because we arrived early,to me he was just a 97 year old manlater i found out he was the very last student hudini ever trained.jon calvert.i ended up getting to be on stage as part of 2 illussions,and took some awesome pics...the room had mirrors on both sides and i took 1 shot that if it hadnt fuzed up would have been an infanite number of reflections of jon.it would have been a classis ...you tube him...he has an amazing story.
Love the tips! Now I just need to get a camera lol.
On a side note Dan you've inspired me to give my own blog a go! http://mymanymonsters.wordpress.com/2012/07/31/anewbeginning/
Great tips, Eric! Love it. I photograph horses a lot for fun, and I'll be trying some of these tricks the next time I head out to the barn.
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I love your photography tips - I really look forward to the next instalment! Thanks for sharing all your great ideas :))
@AmandaHatfieldPye Thanks Amanda! I take that as a fantastic compliment having seen a bunch of your amazing photos! It's nice to have you here! If you haven't yet, there are a couple ways to subscribe at the end of each post. That way the next instalment will be delivered right to your inbox!
I've been shooting in manual mode for awhile now, but rely on the autofocus all the time. Pre-focusing is definitely something I need to keep in mind. Thanks for the tips!
@ZachWhite Its a pleasure Zach! Let us know how you get on!
Excited! My camera comes in on Monday!
@Frances Veronica Soctomah Awesome! What kind of camera are you getting?
Ta, great tips :)
@Samantha Ghoti-Gheac Norman I'm glad you like them, thank you Samantha!
I'm going to make one more comment but not about your tips. I'm giving you one instead. Just over the photo of the boy with his foot on the wall, you said "You're camera will be much quicker ...". You should have said "Your" camera. You're = you are. When you want to use it in a sentence, change it to say "you are" and see if it fits. You wouldn't have used it up there if you'd thought to do that. "You are camera will be much quicker ...".
Love your tips! Hope you like mine. :)
@Cheryl49 Ha ha...thanks Cheryl. I'm surprised I let that one slip. I proof-read the post 3 or 4 times before I sent it out. I appreciate your comments...their always welcome!
(Misspelling of 'they're' intended! lol)
Oh man, do I have photos out of focus? Yes, I sure do. One memorable (or not) one was the one and only shot I took of my niece with her new baby and her two older sons, one on either side of her hospital bed. It was a perfect group shot, everyone looking at me and smiling big happy smiles. The camera focussed on the room behind them and the people were all blurred. I could have cried when I saw it developed.
That is one thing I love about my digital camera. I know right away whether or not I have a blurred shot. Of course, that doesn't help if it was a one-of-a-kind shot because you can't do it again.
Thanks for the tips!
@Cheryl49 That is so frustrating! Especially when you know in the back of your mind that you took this amazing shot, and you're excited to see it and then.....POP...when you see it's out of focus it's like someone took a needle to your balloon and popped it!
It is nice with digital to be able to see the display instantly. My example above is a drastic difference, but a lot of the time, the difference is not so great and that's difficult to see on the back of a camera until post-production.