My first post.... a few kid shots for c&c and I need focusing tips

MichelleP · Jun 17, 2011

I have enjoyed taking pictures for awhile but admit I have a long way to go in learning what I need to. People have asked me to take pictures and offered to pay but I don't think I'm good enough yet to charge anything. That is a goal eventually though. I'm learning about exposure and trying to get the hang of getting it right. My main frustration right now is focus. I can tell when pics are sharp and crisp and a lot of mine are not. Can you give me your best tips for getting great focus? I use a Canon 28-135mm IS lens. Could I get better focus with something else or is it probably just me that's the problem? #1 is an example of one I wish had better focus. As for the others, I could use any C&C on all of them. Thanks for your help!

#1 I'm not a huge fan of this pic but I wanted an example of my focus issues.

#2

#3

#4

KmH · Jun 17, 2011

For tips on how to get sharp focus visit my blog How Do I Use My Digital SLR?: How to Get Sharply Focused Images

subscuck · Jun 17, 2011

How you have your AF set up can make a difference as well. Are you using all AF points, or have you selected center point only? Your camera looks for contrast when it AF's. If you have all points selected, it will choose the AF point with the best contrast under it to AF. This may not be where you want focus, however. Many people, including myself, advocate turning off all but the center point. This way you tell the camera where to focus, you remove the choice from the camera. This will sometimes cause you to have to "focus and recompose", and with shallow DOF can be an issue. In that case, you can use single point AF, and switch on the fly between AF points to select an AF point that covers your subject.

MichelleP · Jun 17, 2011

Your blog link was very helpful. THANK YOU!

And I was using center point focus for awhile, but found that when I was trying to take quick shots of the kids I was missing the focus because I was trying to compose the shot before they moved. I have found it very challenging to get the shot I want with kids because by the time I focus, compose, check manual settings they are already long gone doing something else. I will have to practice more with center point. Thanks for the tips!

Does anyone have an opinion if the lens I have (28-135mm) is a good lens for portraits? Or is there too much zoom to get a good sharp focus? I know my technique is important too I just don't know much about lenses.

MichelleP · Jun 17, 2011

Does anyone have C&C for #2,#3, & #4? I can take it! Are they good? Do they suck? Composition? Exposure?

WesternGuy · Jun 17, 2011

Michelle, some things for you to consider...since you asked...

#1. The focus looks okay on my monitor, but you did crop her legs off, not a fan of cropped body parts, but that may just be me. Also, watch the background composition, that "hole" in the vegetation with the sky showing through tends to be a draw for the eyes. It took mine away from her eyes which is really where you want the viewer's eyes to go, at least I would hope that was your intent.

#2. Not too bad, again watch the background - big brown patch tends to be distracting. I am curious why the "orange thing" on the right hand side (as I look at the image) is so out of focus and again, it takes your eyes away from the the boy's face. Also, the bottom part of his forearm is cropped...see comment in #1.

#3. This is interesting because it takes the viewers eyes into the picture because both children seem to be looking at the same thing. I wasn't sure at first what the "white stuff" was behind them...when I first saw it (quick look), I thought it was water, but then I realized it was vegetation...not sure how you got it "white" (something in the conversion I assume), but it does provide a nice frame for the two of them and tends to "hide" the background a bit.

#4. This one is neat - my opinion. The young boy taking one last glance back at you looking like he is trying to decide if he should really go where the little girl wants to take him. I am wondering if this is a crop and whether or not there is more of the "dark" part at the top that you cropped. If not, I would think about cropping the dark part at the top and maybe some of the right side to get rid of a lot of the "brown" grass (if that is what it is). Alternatively, you could crop more of the left side off, so that they appear to be walking into the right side of the picture. Check out the "rule of thirds" for composition if you are not aware of it. Placing things "dead-centre" is a very neutral placement, whereas placing things off-centre can give the indication of action.

As far as focus goes, I have found that I can sometime lose a bit of the "sharpness" of some of my images when I shrink then down for posting on the web. I am assuming that you shoot raw, because if you don't, then a lot of the image is already processed in the camera and this processing is out of your control. The other question I would have regarding "focus" is whether or not you do any sharpening of your images, because if you do shoot raw, then most raw images do need some sharpening when they come out of the camera. HTH.

Cheers,

WesternGuy

MichelleP · Jun 17, 2011

Thank you WesternGuy! Helpful C&C thanks for your time!

#2. Not too bad, again watch the background - big brown patch tends to be distracting. I am curious why the "orange thing" on the right hand side (as I look at the image) is so out of focus and again, it takes your eyes away from the the boy's face. Also, the bottom part of his forearm is cropped...see comment in #1.

The "orange thing" is a post on a railing. It is out of focus because I focused in on his face and then re-framed. I think that's what I did anyway

As for chopping of body parts that is definitely something I need to pay more attention to.

#3. This is interesting because it takes the viewers eyes into the picture because both children seem to be looking at the same thing. I wasn't sure at first what the "white stuff" was behind them...when I first saw it (quick look), I thought it was water, but then I realized it was vegetation...not sure how you got it "white" (something in the conversion I assume), but it does provide a nice frame for the two of them and tends to "hide" the background a bit.

I did not do much to this pic besides make it b&w and I think I lightened it a little. The kids were in the shade and there was bright sun behind them which I though made a cool looking effect.

#4. I think I will do some more cropping. I see what you are saying about the darkness at the top. I did not crop this photo at all so this is all I have to work with.

Oh and I am not yet brave enough to shoot in RAW cuz I have no clue what to do with it after. YET. I am learning. Thanks for you tips!

WesternGuy · Jun 18, 2011

MichelleP said:
Thank you WesternGuy! Helpful C&C thanks for your time!

Oh and I am not yet brave enough to shoot in RAW cuz I have no clue what to do with it after. YET. I am learning. Thanks for you tips!

Michelle, you are more than welcome. I have received so much help in these and other forums in the past and, hopefully, my learning will continue, so I am always happy to give back some of what I have received.

I would encourage you to learn about raw as much as possible because it will open up a whole new world to you. When I started about 5 or 6 ± years ago in digital, I also shot only jpeg, then I moved to shooting both raw + jpeg for a very short time and I moved to shooting all raw about 3 or 4 years ago and would not go back. There is so much more information available to you during your post-processing with a raw image than a jpeg. There is a lot you can learn from the web by simply Googling "digital raw images" or some variation on these words...for example here are a couple you could look at:

Understanding RAW Files Explained

Why use your camera's raw format?

and... Raw image format - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Don't be too worried if you don't understand it all at first, but read through just to get a feeling for what raw images can do for you (or not?). I don't know what software you presently use to process your images, but all of the Adobe products will do this - Photoshop Elements, Lightroom, and full Photoshop. I do not know about other products such as Corel. There is also a "freebie" available on the net called Gimp that I am pretty sure will allow raw processing. Also, your camera may have come with some software that allows you to process your images and in most cases these should also process raw images from your camera. If your camera is capable of shooting/capturing both a raw and a jpeg image at the same time, then you might try a few and experiment with post-processing. Any questions, you can post back here or in any number of photo-forums and I am sure you will get some good help. HTH.

Cheers,

WesternGuy