Stupid Question About Focusing

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Flash Pot

Senior Member
In auto mode. I took some really nice family pictures. The focus on them was perfect. That said, the background was out of focus. They looked spectacular, but there will be times when I want the full photo to be in focus. How do I achieve that?

(Sorry for the newbie questions)
 
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DraganDL

Senior Member
...or use the wider angle (e.g. you got the background blurred at, say, 55mm, now, after setting the lens's focal length at 18mm, without re-composing you'll "put" the background into the "sharp" area). Of course, the subject(s) (your family members in this case) will come out "smaller". Or, shoot from the greater distance (but they'll again come out smaller).
 
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nickt

Senior Member
That is a good article that Horoscope linked. You might want to take a look at the other tutorials on that same site. In particular, this one is good for beginners:
Camera Exposure: Aperture, ISO & Shutter Speed

You will want to get familiar these concepts so that you can venture off auto mode with confidence.

If you don't like reading that kind of stuff, here is a good video someone here found that takes you through changes in shutter, aperture and iso:
Aperture, Shutter Speed, ISO, & Light Explained-Understanding Exposure & Camera Settings - YouTube
 
hark

hark

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Flash Pot said:
I thought in auto focus mode this wouldn't be an issue. I have the 18mm-55mm kit lens.
Click to expand...

What you want has nothing to do with auto focusing. Depth of field setting has to do with changing the aperture--small numbers such as f/2.8 and f/4 represent shallower depth of field. Apertures such as f/16 or f/22 allow more depth of field. Part of it also has to do with how close you are to your subject and whether you are using a wide angle lens or a telelphoto lens.
 
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donaldjledet

Senior Member
Flash Pot said:
In auto mode. I took some really nice family pictures. The focus on them was perfect. That said, the background was out of focus. They looked spectacular, but there will be times when I want the full photo to be in focus. How do I achieve that?

(Sorry for the newbie questions)
Click to expand...
Flash Pot there are no bad questions.
There are a lot of people on this forum that are learning. Including me.
 
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Flash Pot

Senior Member
hark said:
What you want has nothing to do with auto focusing. Depth of field setting has to do with changing the aperture--small numbers such as f/2.8 and f/4 represent shallower depth of field. Apertures such as f/16 or f/22 allow more depth of field. Part of it also has to do with how close you are to your subject and whether you are using a wide angle lens or a telelphoto lens.
Click to expand...

Looks like I have more to learn than I thought! I just figured if I set the camera in "auto" it would take pictures like a point and shoot camera.


donaldjledet said:
Flash Pot there are no bad questions.
There are a lot of people on this forum that are learning. Including me.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the encouragement!
 
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Blacktop

Senior Member
Best thing to do is experiment.
Pick a subject to shoot. Maybe a flower pot or something.

Put your camera on aperture Priority, and start with the largest aperture. (smallest number). In your case that would be F/3.5 at 18mm
Then take a shot.
Work your way up with the numbers , at each step take another shot, all the way till the numbers wont go any higher.
Then compare each shot and see how the background is affected, just by changing the aperture size.
 
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