Focusing is one of the most important aspects of photography. Without doing it correctly your pictures will not look good – there is no hiding a poorly focused photo, even with the help of photo shop.
As a general rule when taking photographs of people you should aim to focus on the subjects eyes. When using large apertures and with very small depths of field it is not always possible to have both eyes in focus as they may be different distances away form the lens – in this case always focus on the nearest eye to you.
Sharp Focus Can Make Or Break a Photo
Automatic (One Shot) Focus
On most modern digital cameras you can choose between selecting a single focus point or letting the camera select multiple focus point. Be careful when using multiple focus points as it is more than likely the camera will select a number of points, other than the subjects eyes.
To see which focus points are selected simply press the shutter button halfway down, the selected focus points will light up in the view finder. If you are unhappy release and press again and te camera will have another go at selecting different point.
By far the most effective method to achieve a good focus (especially when shooting people) is to use a single focus point. Always remember that when using a single focus point ensure it is place on your subjects eye. Also bear in mind that the way depth of field works is that there is always twice the amount in focus behind the focus point than there is in front of it. This is particularly important if using very big apertures with very shallow depth of field when depth of field can be as shallow as a cm or two.
Recomposing After Focusing
If you are using a single focus point it is usually easier to leave you camera set on the center focus point. This does not mean that you need to always have your subject in the center of the frame. First half press the shutter release button when the center focus point (or the one you have selected) is over the subject in order to lock the cameras focus. Then you can recompose the frame, the focus will remain locked onto the subject leaving you free to compose the scene how you want before fully pressing the button to finally take the shot.
This is an easy technique to master and one of the most common methods used in order to get an acceptable focus to your images.
Manual Focusing Your DSLR
Manual focusing is often he most feared of all skills to learn amongst budding photographers. It can seem virtually impossible sometimes to get a sharp focus. Problems usually occur when using large apertures where depth of field can be small.
One simple trick it to pre focus your scene. Using the distance scale on your lens you can pre focus on a particular spot before your intended subject arrives. When the bird or whatever you are shooting arrives in the frame all you have to worry about is firing the shutter when the composition is correct. In order to help with this you can simply switch your camera to continuous shooting mode so that your camera will fire off several frames per second, increasing your chances of getting a perfectly in focus shot.
Manual focus can be particularly useful in low light conditions when sometimes your cameras auto focus systems my find it hard to find and lock a focus. When this happens a light often blinks in the view finder and the camera will not fire the shutter when you depress the button. Your two choices in this situation are to either introduce more light to your subject or to focus manually.
In addition manual focus is virtually mandatory when using a macro lens combined with a very large aperture, making the depth of field very small. In the example below you can see that the depth of field is only a few millimeters.
Use Manual Focus When Using Very Narrow Depths of Field
Al Servio Focus Mode
If you are trying to photograph moving subjects such as wildlife or sports, AI servo, continuous or predictive focus will be your best chance of getting great focus in your shots. In this mode the camera predicts the focus point that the subject will move to, even while the shutter is fully pressed, providing the focus points are kept on the same area of the subject at all times.
Al Servio Focus in Action
Sharp results can be obtained using this method while panning. In this mode, however, your camera will continue to capture images regardless of whether your subject is in sharp focus so be sure to have plenty of spare memory.
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