Aim for the head?

[Lightsped]

Just curious, when taking a photo of a person (or an decent sized animal such as a cat or dog), do you aim for the head? I am talking about when at distances of 10 feet or so. Not close ups with shallow depth of field. There have been so many photos that I have missed and the subject came out blurry while the background was super sharp.

Anyways, so do you guys aim for the head or torso when taking people photos at medium distances? I also assume you use single point AF?

 

[Braineack]

I want sharp eyes if I'm shooting faces, so yes, I aim for the head.

 

[Designer]

.. the subject came out blurry while the background was super sharp. I also assume you use single point AF?

I am not sure what you mean by "single point AF". The camera can focus on only one point.

If you are using AF-S, then you place the one AF area ON the part you wish to be in focus.

If because of missed aim or whatever, the focus area misses the subject, then your camera will focus on whatever the AF area is on, like the background.

 

[sm4him]

More specifically, I aim for the EYES, whether it's a person or an animal.
And then use a sufficient aperture for the focal length to ensure that the entire person/animal is in focus, and not JUST the eyes or nose.

 

[tirediron]

.. the subject came out blurry while the background was super sharp. I also assume you use single point AF?

I am not sure what you mean by "single point AF". The camera can focus on only one point.

If you are using AF-S, then you place the one AF area ON the part you wish to be in focus.

If because of missed aim or whatever, the focus area misses the subject, then your camera will focus on whatever the AF area is on, like the background.

True; there is only one point of focus, but the camera can utilize it's array of focusing points in multiple ways; for instance with Nikon you have 3-D tracking which allows the camera to anticipte the movment of a subject and focus accordingly, Dynamic Area AF, allowing the user to select the number of points from which the camera will select focus, or SINGLE POINT AF, where the camera will focus on only that point, which the user can place where they choose within the viewfinder.

 

[Mike_E]

.. the subject came out blurry while the background was super sharp. I also assume you use single point AF?

I am not sure what you mean by "single point AF". The camera can focus on only one point.

If you are using AF-S, then you place the one AF area ON the part you wish to be in focus.

If because of missed aim or whatever, the focus area misses the subject, then your camera will focus on whatever the AF area is on, like the background.

True; there is only one point of focus, but the camera can utilize it's array of focusing points in multiple ways; for instance with Nikon you have 3-D tracking which allows the camera to anticipte the movment of a subject and focus accordingly, Dynamic Area AF, allowing the user to select the number of points from which the camera will select focus, or SINGLE POINT AF, where the camera will focus on only that point, which the user can place where they choose within the viewfinder.

I aim for the eye and press the af lock button and recompose to make sure the sensor plane is level and square.

This saves a lot of time in post processing both in straightening and making architecture look right.

 

[TCampbell]

For focus, yes. For composition, no.

 

[weepete]

Sometimes. Occasionally the head is too small to focus on accuratley or they are moving too fast to pick out a head do I just aim for the body and try to make dure I have enough DOF. But if I have time for the shot sure. Sometimes I'll go for a first shot on the body and after I'vd got that I'll try and pick out the head in subsiquent shots.

 

[iolair]

For focus, yes. For composition, no.

This.
Almost all of the time, nail the focus on the eyes (the nearest eye, if you've got shallow depth of field). For a few creative shots, I'll focus elsewhere, but generally on the eyes.

But, that rarely means you want the head/eyes in the centre of your frame.

 

[table1349]

I generally compose the shot and then select the focus point that is on the part of the photo that I want most in focus. This is often on the head/face/eyes. I don't as a rule use focus and recompose.
Why Focus-Recompose Sucks
Pretty much the same story here as well.
The Problem With The Focus-Recompose Method - Digital Photography School

 

[chuasam]

Practice.
a lot
and yes.
Aim for the eyes.
Single point focus,
continuous tracking. 3D if possible.View attachment 105233