Another C + C, try not to groan. :)

TMBPhotography · Jan 3, 2012

I think I nailed the focus on this. I do see some problems with it. Yes, its dead center and I cut part of his right arm off. But, I think I got the DoF right.... right? Yes, its not very interesting to those of you who aren't his dad.

but other than that...?

Geaux · Jan 3, 2012

Focus is definitely not nailed.

AsgerT · Jan 3, 2012

It looks like you focused on his hand, it would be better focus on his eyes.

TMBPhotography · Jan 3, 2012

I thought I did..... grrrrr.

tom_anderson18 · Jan 3, 2012

Yeah I would say the focus is far from nailed, its decent but as Asger said looks like the focus is on the hands and maybe should have been better on the face or use a lower aperture.

TMBPhotography · Jan 3, 2012

How about this one? did I nail this one?

TMBPhotography · Jan 3, 2012

heres a question for you guys. Does cropping a photo down affect its focus at all?

tom_anderson18 · Jan 3, 2012

It seems like you have enough light in the room so ISO 400 isn't really appropriate, personally if I were taking photos like these I would be using a higher aperture. The focus seems to be better on this one but with a higher aperture the background items such as the chair or the table would be 'blurred' more and bring more focus onto your son.

ManhattanShutterBug · Jan 3, 2012

AsgerT said:
It looks like you focused on his hand, it would be better focus on his eyes.

Agreed. The second one looks a lot more in focus.

TMBPhotography · Jan 3, 2012

sadly, the light bulb just went on about how aperture works. It was after these were taken though. I will have better pictures down the road.

cepwin · Jan 3, 2012

Were you using the writing on the card in the first one to focus?...I know writing is the easiest thing to focus on, so I can see one (inc. myself) gravitating to it as a focal point. The second one is definitely better..not just better focus but a more interesting picture IMHO.

MTVision · Jan 3, 2012

tom_anderson18 said:
Yeah I would say the focus is far from nailed, its decent but as Asger said looks like the focus is on the hands and maybe should have been better on the face or use a lower aperture.

Yes using a larger aperture (smaller f#) will give a shallower DOF this blurring out the background more. But.... If you are having troubles nailing focus you are better off using f/5.6 or smaller (higher f#). At close distances you will have a shallower DOF anyways. At 5ft away from your subject with f/5.6 you will have a little over 6" of DOF which is a lot better than 2.6 inches with f/2. 6" is still pretty shallow but it will probably be a little easier to nail your focus. Or put greater distance between you and your subject. The picture will probably need to be cropped anyways for print.

MTVision · Jan 3, 2012

tom_anderson18 said:
It seems like you have enough light in the room so ISO 400 isn't really appropriate, personally if I were taking photos like these I would be using a higher aperture. The focus seems to be better on this one but with a higher aperture the background items such as the chair or the table would be 'blurred' more and bring more focus onto your son.

ISO 400 isn't bad at all - shouldn't cause noise. It's been recommended on here that beginners use that ISO that way they can make sure their shutter speed will be fast enough. You can always keep it at 100 and boost it if needed or just keep it on 400.

TMBPhotography · Jan 3, 2012

cepwin said:
Were you using the writing on the card in the first one to focus?...I know writing is the easiest thing to focus on, so I can see one (inc. myself) gravitating to it as a focal point. The second one is definitely better..not just better focus but a more interesting picture IMHO.

honestly, I was using the focus "dots" on my lens and when the majority of them lit up, I took the pic. yeah, I have a long ways to go before I get this whole photography thing down.

But I am working on it.

MTVision · Jan 3, 2012

TMBPhotography said:
honestly, I was using the focus "dots" on my lens and when the majority of them lit up, I took the pic. yeah, I have a long ways to go before I get this whole photography thing down. But I am working on it.

Change your focus mode so that you only use 1 focus point. You will probably get better results. An when taking portraits/people shots focus on the eye.