I JUST CAN'T NAIL MY FOCUS! I'M SO FRUSTRATED!

[AMOMENT]

I'm just not nailing my focusing! GRR! I mostly shoot manual(when I mean manual, I mean Manual priority but auto-focus) with my 50mm f/1.8 lens (my only other lens but I love it so far) I have been advised to shoot totally automatic because cameras now today are so good at it, we should let them do their job, right? But, yet some shoot manual, adjusting the focus themselves for every shot and nail the focus. I stink at this. There are so many variables it seems like. Okay, so in your opinion (fellow photogs) what settings would you use for basic portraits? (mostly where the subject is changing positions frequently but not "in motion" photos.) Auto-area mode: single point,dynamic, auto, 3d? Focus mode: AF-A, Af-S (single) Af-C (continuous) , of MF? Metering: Matrix, center weighted, or spot? I have 11 auto focus points. Which ones would you choose? Normally I choose a center focal point. If I am shooting a portrait I tend to like to turn the camera vertical and then opt for a central top focal point. For a while I was targeting my point in the middle of my subjects eyes but now I know to at least hit one eye. This has become difficlut because my typical subject is my two year old and unwilling daughter. I had some really great WIDE OPEN f/1.8 but in focus shots of my daughter from about 2-3 feet away. (a while back) I tend to bump up my ap. to increase my DOF and avoid focusing errors.
Any suggestions? I know all of this is relative but perhaps you can give me an idea. It seems, as in most arts, that everyone has a contradicting opinion.
BTW, P.S. The following photos were of metryng some type of art deco' style that a friend of mine enhances in PSE. Not really my style, but gave it a whirl. You can still see the focusing flaws as well as many others. Just know that in alot of these, the contrast and saturation was tampered with in order to experiment with this affect.

 

[AMOMENT]

MY YOUNGEST AND U HAPPY DAUGHTER AT THE TIME.
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[rgregory1965]

Try not shooting wide open...stop back 2 or 3 stops and check the pics.....

 

[AMOMENT]

a few more........

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ORIGINALS TO FOLLOW. I know they are AWFUL but perhaps all you seasoned experts can help! I was shooting in manual priority with an f-stop of about 2 - 5.6 and a shutter of at least 1/200 and ISO of 200-800 during evening hours. My area focus type was wither automatic, dynamic, or single. My autofocus was on continuous and my auto focal point ( 1 out of 11 points) was either completely centered or a top central point.) My metering was either Matrix or spot.

 

[480sparky]

x2. You're shooting with your lenses at max. aperture. Dial them down 2-3 stops and get yerseff some DOF.

 

[AMOMENT]

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[480sparky]

.................. I was shooting in manual priority with an f-stop of about 2 - 5.6 ..........

f/3.2 is the smallest I can find in all those.

 

[AMOMENT]

( hangs head in shame )

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[480sparky]

You're also shooting with some very high ISOs (1600,3200) and some pretty fast shutter speeds (1/500, 1/320). Try trading some of the shutter speed for aperture.

 

[MTVision]

You are already shooting full auto focus! The lens focuses for you but you have to decide where to focus. You can choose automatic focusing which is when the camera decides what to focus on - this is what happens in the green Auto setting on your camera. Your camera may still not focus where you want it to. I'm sure your photog friends just meant to not manually focus your lens - which you don't do anyways. Obviously, you know that manual focus isn't choosing your focus points and focusing on the eyes. Its also really hard to manually focus when trying to shoot kids. Manual focus is when you spin the aperture ring (?) until the subject is in focus.

The reason you are having a hard time nailing your focus is because of what everyone else has said - your shooting wide open. You have to be pretty skilled at focusing to hit focus everytime at f/1.8 and 2. You can still get a blurred background @ f/5. The f/1.8 shots in focus were probably luck to be honest (mine are at 1.4). Even though you really like having the blurred background you need to close down a little to practice focusing. The DOF at f/1.8-2 is razor thin so any focusing errors become blatantly obvious.

 

[MTVision]

( hangs head in shame )

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The child looks a little underexposed which would be fixed in camera if you used your meter!

 

[AMOMENT]

THANKS! I know they mean manually selecting my auto focal point and yet it is still auto but this specific person doesn't even choose her point. She shoots COMPLETELY by direction of the camera and has INCREDIBLE SHOTS! I am going to look back at my actual settings to confirm. I set the ISO in all of those pics but I think I also had my cmera set to automatically adjust my ISO which could have overridden the settings I chose. Be back in a sec with confirmation.

 

[AMOMENT]

So the lowest F-stop I used was a 2.5 Indeed my camera was set to automatic ISO and was as high as 3200...YIKES! That would explin alot! I am still so new at this. And, as I've stated earlier, I've had had minimal opportunities to really work with a still subject and explore my settings/focusing. I tend to just set, snap, and hope to capture the moment because of the array of 2 years olds, lol, I know. They are not really ideal for learning on.

 

[AMOMENT]

However, I love to shoot them because they are so oblivious to the camera at times and that, to me, makes for priceless photos. =)

 

[480sparky]

...........but this specific person doesn't even choose her point. She shoots COMPLETELY by direction of the camera and has INCREDIBLE SHOTS!..............

Not necessarily. She may be using a single focus point, and aims the camera so that point is where she wants the camera to focus at. She depresses the shutter button halfway to engage the AF, recomposes the image by moving the camera, then takes the shot by completely depressing the shutter release. It's a technique that's hard for some to master. It is all but invisible to those who don't know it exists because they don't know what to look for.