After talking about setting focus points in the previous post "The Importance of Focus" I thought I would do a quick search and see if there was a handy video that would show you how to set your focus points. Turns out there is!!!
(for RSS subscribers, you can see the video on YouTube here)I came across this video on YouTube that is a quick and simple explanation of how to change your focus points. The guy in the video is using a Canon 40D but I think it is the same on any of the Canon cameras. One thing I wanted to note is that towards the end of the video he talks about setting your focus and recomposing the picture. I will say that I did that ALL the time with my Canon 50mm 1.4 lens with fantastic results. At the time I just left it on center point focusing and always recomposed. However, my Canon 50mm 1.2L does NOT like it if I try to do that. I had a really hard time with missing my focus when I first got it because I tried to use the same way that I did my 1.4 but now that I just change the focus point frequently and don't recompose my photos has been much sharper! Your results may vary.
If you are shooting at open apertures, you MUST get you focus down. When you have such a shallow depth of field, letting the camera choose what to focus on will WILL will result in unfocused faces and eyes. The camera is usually going to focus on the closest poing which may be your subject's arms or nose...in either caes, the eyes would not have the sharpest focus. In most cases you are going to want the eyes to be in focus! So this is a skill that is essential for you to master!
Hi - just found your blog through Fernando Gros.
A quick question - does no-one manually focus any more?
These days I just take pictures for myself and for web use using a compact, but when I was a bit more serious using film cameras I would always manually focus for everything but action shots (sometimes even then). In a situation like a portrait session where there's no hurry, it seems curious to rely on autofocus; to me at least.
Posted by: Toni | September 29, 2009 at 07:00 AM
LOL, you've obviously not tried to photograph a 2 yr old boy outside. Sometimes you only have a split second to get the shot. While I will occasionally use manual focus on adults or non-portraits I definitely think it would be harder to use with kids. And to be honest, I have trouble setting my focus to be perfect with manual-I just can't see well enough in a viewfinder and shooting at 1.8 there is no room to be off even a tiny bit. Would love to know what others have to say.
Posted by: Jessica G | September 29, 2009 at 08:03 AM
Agreed!! I am so glad you said that about the 50mm 1.2L and recomposing! I couldn't figure out why my shots have been slightly out of focus recently and that is what I do on every shot!! I thought I was going crazy! Thank you so much for pointing this out!!
Posted by: Jenny Widmaier | September 29, 2009 at 08:47 AM
Hi!
Firstly, I love your blog it's very helpful!
I've only recently started to learn the technical side of photography and lately, my stuff looks really good on the LCD screen but not great at all at 100% zoom (I thought everyone viewed their work this way...) I don't know why this is happening, maybe it's my highly critical self or whether my only lens (a standard) is giving me a hard time.
Anyway I've tried playing around with the focus points but they look worse. I think for the time being I'll stick to centre point and recompassing.
Your photos are inspiring.
Posted by: Claire | October 05, 2009 at 03:47 PM
That video was done by Michael Andrew (aka "Michael the Maven")- He is an outstanding photographer and instructor. Has a whole ton of videos on his blog and school. Very helpful stuff!
Posted by: Jody Harrel | October 25, 2009 at 03:37 AM