Better Group Shot Techniques Needed!

jeremy.photographer · Dec 12, 2007

Hi guys,
as you probably noticed, I'm new to the forum and will try be on more.
Anyways, my problem is that when I go out with a group of people and take group photos of them (with my canon eos 400d), i use the A-Dep setting as it has f22, so I can see everyone's face properly. However, when I upload the photos to my computer, the faces are still blurry? I can't seem to get sharp group photos!

Are there any special setting on the focus...etc?

your help would be appreciated

Jeremy

dpolston · Dec 12, 2007

Try a tripod and a shutter release (or you can set the self timer to 1 second). You might be dealing with a camera shake thing. And this might me the most simple thing, make sure the camera tells you it's focused in the first place (it has an indicator). Also, check the auto focus switches on the cameras and the lens and make sure they're on (unless you shoot the focus manually, which might be a whole new set of issues).

Fiendish Astronaut · Dec 12, 2007

Could it be the shutter is open for just too long? What speed are you shooting at? f22 sounds like you have a tiny aperture so your shutter will probably have stay open for quite a while to let the right amount of light in.

jeremy.photographer · Dec 12, 2007

Thanks for the replies, I forgot to take note of the shutter speed, however I don't think handshake is the problem; the camera focused well and all that, when I zoom in though the people's face are a little blurred. I guess it's hard to tell if you don't have a sample.

Well I recently made a site, it's www.dropshots.com/jeremyphotography

Scroll down until you see 3 shots with a blue background, magnify it and you can probably see the faces blurred; I would like to know how it could be more clear, like the details of each face, crisp sharp.

Thanks

Jeremy

JIP · Dec 12, 2007

I did not see your pictures but I xan almost guarantee you you are having a shutter speed issue because if you are shooting at f/22 unless you have alot of light you are probably getting really slow shutter speeds. If you are shooting at f.22 and have some of the image in focus all there is no reason the rest of it should not be as f/22 is going to pretty much give you infinity depth-of-field.

jeremy.photographer · Dec 14, 2007

Hi,
I checked with my camera again (With A-DEP) and the Aperture was f5.6 (now that's more reasonable), however I think my problem doesn't have much to do with the aperture now... Do you think it's the focus setting? There are three settings ( I forgot the names but one is Al Servo, One Shot...etc), I think they'll change the picture so that a lot of people's head could be sharp at the same time.

Does anyone have any comment?

Jennyboo7481 · Dec 16, 2007

I found this post on another forum. I am not sure if I am allowed to link to other forums, so I won't.

"Canon recommends one-shot for maximum performance in extreme low-light situations. It can take as long as a full second to achieve focus in extreme low light situations without AF assistance. Even with AF assist, low-light AF will be slower than bright-light AF... AF with AI Servo in very low-light may result in hunting and/or inability to achieve focus. In those cases, switching to one-stop will allow the camera to AF."

JIP · Dec 16, 2007

Why don't you post a sample???

jeremy.photographer · Dec 17, 2007

Here's a sample:

The details on each face are kind of blurred, I'm not sure how I can get the focus to the whole shot, like everyone's face is sharp...

hyakuhei · Dec 19, 2007

Its not the focus mode, unless your tracking something any one of the focus modes will do. When your using really tight apertures like f/22 you are drasticly reducing the amount of light that is allowed through the lens. As a concequence of this the camera will increase the amount of time that the shutter is open for, this in turn introduces some camera shake...by the by, camera shake won't effect focusing.

Also, is it possible that your just using crap glass?