Need feedback/tips regarding focusing

chills4u

Senior Member
Hello All,

We went to Denver in July and i was going through pictures when I noticed that in few pictures i didn't get the focus right as i had intended and would like to get your feedback on how to improve that for future shots. Here are the two shots that i took one after another.

1st picture was with keeping wife at the center (came out better but not what i wanted)
2nd picture was with first focusing on her and recomposing using rule of third (didn't work out, wife is out of focus)

I would really appreciate if you could provide any tips for these kinds of scenes where i want to capture her with the background in good focus as well as keeping it sharp.

DSC_1950.JPGDSC_1949.JPG

Both pictures had the same settings. Thanks in advance for your help!

Regards,
Lalit
 

Bikerbrent

Senior Member
What focus mode were you using? Did you use AF-S mode, focus on your wife using the shutter half press, then hold the half press while you recomposed, then press the shutter all the way? The other option would be to use manual focus, focus on your wife, the recompose and shoot.
 

chills4u

Senior Member
What focus mode were you using? Did you use AF-S mode, focus on your wife using the shutter half press, then hold the half press while you recomposed, then press the shutter all the way? The other option would be to use manual focus, focus on your wife, the recompose and shoot.

Thanks for your reply, Brent. I might have left the focus on AF-C mode since we had our 9 month old with us as well and we tried to include him as much as possible in pictures except while he was asleep. Do you think AF-C mode could be the reason for her being out of focus?

Yes, i focused on her using the shutter half press then recomposed while holding it through and final press when i thought i got the frame that i was looking for. Do you think it would be better to frame according to rule of third and use the scroll pad to select focus point instead of focus & recompose technique?

I have noticed the above issue in about 30% of my pictures so want to fix it as soon as possible.
 
Back button focus set up correctly would help a lot. No holding the shutter down halfway to maintain focus.

Back Button Focus is a great tool for so many photographers and is something I think everyone should try at least once. Below are a few sites that talk about the how and why of Back Button Focus.

Benefits of Using the AF-ON Button for Autofocus by Nikon USA


BACK BUTTON FOCUSING – EASIER THAN YOU THINK! by Improve Photography


Here is a good YouTube video that goes over the why and how of Back Button Focusing.

You can do a search of the forum on "Back Button Focus" or BBF and see the many threads that have been created on this subject.

Try it, You will like it.






 

chills4u

Senior Member
Thank you, Don. Yes, i am familiar with the BBF and i like it a lot. In fact, i had set it up on my Nikon D5500 prior to Denver trip but unfortunately when my friends wanted to capture our family, they never got the hang of it and i had to reset it to default setting. Usually, when i am the only one using the camera, i set up the back button focus but when i know it's going to be used by my wife and/or friends as well then i switch back to default.
 

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
Thanks for your reply, Brent. I might have left the focus on AF-C mode since we had our 9 month old with us as well and we tried to include him as much as possible in pictures except while he was asleep. Do you think AF-C mode could be the reason for her being out of focus?

Yes, i focused on her using the shutter half press then recomposed while holding it through and final press when i thought i got the frame that i was looking for. Do you think it would be better to frame according to rule of third and use the scroll pad to select focus point instead of focus & recompose technique?

I have noticed the above issue in about 30% of my pictures so want to fix it as soon as possible.
I would tell you to keep your shutter-speed a little higher... 1/60 is good when shooting handheld assuming your technique is good, but 1/125 would have been better in my opinion. Look back over your old shots, specifically the ones where the focus is blurry, then look at the shutter-speed you used. Do you see a correlation between using a slower shutter-speed and a blurry photo? If so, you may have found your solution.

Another thing that can't hurt is adjusting the Sharpness setting in the Camera Profile (this assumes you shoot in JPG primarily since the setting will not affect raw files. To make this adjustment...

Press the Menu button and highlight the "Shooting" menu (the camera icon).
Scroll down to "Picture Controls" and click right one time.
Highlight "Standard", or whatever Profile you're using, and then click right one time.
From this settings menu, increase the "Sharpness" setting to "7".
(Optional: Drop down and increase the "Saturation" setting +1 notch on the slider).

Press the "OK" button a few times to exit the menus and you're done.
 

chills4u

Senior Member
I would tell you to keep your shutter-speed a little higher... 1/60 is good when shooting handheld assuming your technique is good, but 1/125 would have been better in my opinion. Look back over your old shots, specifically the ones where the focus is blurry, then look at the shutter-speed you used. Do you see a correlation between using a slower shutter-speed and a blurry photo? If so, you may have found your solution.

Another thing that can't hurt is adjusting the Sharpness setting in the Camera Profile (this assumes you shoot in JPG primarily since the setting will not affect raw files. To make this adjustment...

Press the Menu button and highlight the "Shooting" menu (the camera icon).
Scroll down to "Picture Controls" and click right one time.
Highlight "Standard", or whatever Profile you're using, and then click right one time.
From this settings menu, increase the "Sharpness" setting to "7".
(Optional: Drop down and increase the "Saturation" setting +1 notch on the slider).

Press the "OK" button a few times to exit the menus and you're done.

Thank you for the suggestions, Paul. The more i am looking, i am realizing that i need to work on my technique because even with higher shutter speed, i am seeing some pictures that are out of focus (included one example below). I have the sharpness and saturation set up in the beginning so that's covered. Any suggestions on how to go about my technique?

DSC_1675.JPG
 

kevy73

Senior Member
If I am reading and understanding your issue correctly....

AF-C won't work if you are going to recompose. AF-C means that the camera will continue to focus "Continiually". So you are focusing on your wife, then moving the camera to compose - hence moving the focus point to something else, then the camera focuses on that.

If you want to focus, then compose, change it to AF-S. This of the S meaning "Single" focus - meaning it will focus and keep the focus locked while you keep the focus button depressed (either BBF or half pressed shutter)
 

chills4u

Senior Member
If I am reading and understanding your issue correctly....

AF-C won't work if you are going to recompose. AF-C means that the camera will continue to focus "Continiually". So you are focusing on your wife, then moving the camera to compose - hence moving the focus point to something else, then the camera focuses on that.

If you want to focus, then compose, change it to AF-S. This of the S meaning "Single" focus - meaning it will focus and keep the focus locked while you keep the focus button depressed (either BBF or half pressed shutter)

Thank you, Kevin. My understanding was that AF-S works for stationary subjects and AF-C for moving subjects. Given that we had our toddler with us which pushed me to keep it on AF-C but that obviously didn't work well for capturing my wife using recomposing technique. What would you suggest for the above situation where I want to capture the moving subject and still get sharp focus, keep it on AF-S and increase the shutter speed?
 

kevy73

Senior Member
If you want to leave your camera on AF-C - mine never leaves AF-C for what it's worth and I shoot both stationery and moving objects - just move the focus selection square in your viewfinder with the toggle thingo if your camera has that ability. If not, you will have to just keep changing it based on what you are photographing.
 

mikew_RIP

Senior Member
If i remember correctly the multi selector thing :D on the back will move your focus point then pressing the button in the center returns the focus point,you should have a lever with a L on it that locks the movement if you want to.

I dont know your camera but is there any way to set modes in it,then you could perhaps have BBF for you and a simple way to change it back to normal for others to use.
 
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