Toddler on the move advice

[smoke665]

does single spot mean the same as single point af?

Sorry, didn't mean to confuse you, my camera may have settings that yours doesn't, but they are similar across brands. In my case I have a "spot" setting which places the focus area to a limited area in the center of the frame. I use this when hand holding to focus on the eyes. I also have a "select spot" which allows me to move the spot around the frame. I use this when on a tripod, again focusing on the eye. In "multiple points" the sensor is divided into selectable multiple point areas, used primarily on landscapes. "Tracking" tracks the subject when you half push the shutter, think moving car, and "face detection" automatically detects faces and tries to keep the majority of that face in focus.

I use the viewfinder when hand holding set to AF.S. Without confusing you more, the viewfinder uses a different means to reach focus (TTL phase matching) on my model, which gives a quicker, more accurate focus, especially in low light, than the contrast method used on liveview/screen. I'm not sure that having it set to AF.C would hurt. Again, though my personal preference is to use the eyes as the focus point, and any method that uses an area method generally ends up with fuzzy, missed focus around the eyes.

Metering options generally include "spot", "center-weighted", and "multi-segmented". Again, when I'm in manual mode I use "spot" choosing to "spot" meter areas myself and make adjustments as needed.

 

[robbins.photo]

Lots of good advice on the technical side, so thought I throw in my two cents on non-technical. We have a 15 month old granddaughter who must be a decedent of Speedy Gonzales because she's everywhere at once, touching everything in sight. I've had to totally readjust how I take pictures. First of all, my lights are set to light a zone. X marks the spot so to speak. Exposure and shutter is all set to manual for that zone. Auto Focus on (spot), so that when she enters the zone, all I have to do is compose and shoot. Secondly, at that age only one thing stops them cold in their tracks - something sparkly that they haven't seen before. We keep an assortment of shiny (the brighter the better) non-breakable objects so that just as she enters the zone, my wife makes sure they magically appear in the right spot. If lucky we get as many as 3 or 4 shots before she's on the move again.

Thank you, good advice about the sparkly stuff! I will try it. I have recently switched from using the auto servo focus mode (as a friend said it was no good) to using either single point (when she's sat still) or continuous servo, but I'm really having trouble catching shots with the right compostion now when my girl is on the move. I have been trying to keep the middle focus spot on her face as I heard that the middle focus spot is the most sensetive and I want to get sharp focus of her face. But then I'm trying to recompose quickly and it's all going wrong. Am I in the wrong focus mode? Is that a whole other thread question? There is dynamic mode on my d3300 is that what I should be in? It's hard to quickly move the focus points to track my toddler. Frustrated!!

Simple enough. Don't recompose. Shoot wide instead. If you shoot wide, meaning zoom out or back up and include more background, then you can adjust your composition in post. So leave your AF dead center and shoot wide, then crop and adjust in post to desired composition.

 

[gayle23]

does single spot mean the same as single point af?

Sorry, didn't mean to confuse you, my camera may have settings that yours doesn't, but they are similar across brands. In my case I have a "spot" setting which places the focus area to a limited area in the center of the frame. I use this when hand holding to focus on the eyes. I also have a "select spot" which allows me to move the spot around the frame. I use this when on a tripod, again focusing on the eye. In "multiple points" the sensor is divided into selectable multiple point areas, used primarily on landscapes. "Tracking" tracks the subject when you half push the shutter, think moving car, and "face detection" automatically detects faces and tries to keep the majority of that face in focus.

I use the viewfinder when hand holding set to AF.S. Without confusing you more, the viewfinder uses a different means to reach focus (TTL phase matching) on my model, which gives a quicker, more accurate focus, especially in low light, than the contrast method used on liveview/screen. I'm not sure that having it set to AF.C would hurt. Again, though my personal preference is to use the eyes as the focus point, and any method that uses an area method generally ends up with fuzzy, missed focus around the eyes.

Metering options generally include "spot", "center-weighted", and "multi-segmented". Again, when I'm in manual mode I use "spot" choosing to "spot" meter areas myself and make adjustments as needed.

Yes my camera doesn't have a spot setting but I have the select spot that I can move around when I'm in single servo mode so that's more for when a subject is totally still isn't it. I get what you mean about a method that uses an area method ending up with fuzzy missed focus around the eyes so how would I counteract that seeing as I don't have the 'spot setting'. Do you think my best plan to stick to single point (select spot) and just try to take shots when kids are still for a second? Would using the single point be stupid in Af-C mode? As mine is just a beginner entry level camera should I just be sticking in Auto focus mode! but I don't want to do that as I really want to improve and have more control. Thank you for your help.

 

[gayle23]

Lots of good advice on the technical side, so thought I throw in my two cents on non-technical. We have a 15 month old granddaughter who must be a decedent of Speedy Gonzales because she's everywhere at once, touching everything in sight. I've had to totally readjust how I take pictures. First of all, my lights are set to light a zone. X marks the spot so to speak. Exposure and shutter is all set to manual for that zone. Auto Focus on (spot), so that when she enters the zone, all I have to do is compose and shoot. Secondly, at that age only one thing stops them cold in their tracks - something sparkly that they haven't seen before. We keep an assortment of shiny (the brighter the better) non-breakable objects so that just as she enters the zone, my wife makes sure they magically appear in the right spot. If lucky we get as many as 3 or 4 shots before she's on the move again.

Thank you, good advice about the sparkly stuff! I will try it. I have recently switched from using the auto servo focus mode (as a friend said it was no good) to using either single point (when she's sat still) or continuous servo, but I'm really having trouble catching shots with the right compostion now when my girl is on the move. I have been trying to keep the middle focus spot on her face as I heard that the middle focus spot is the most sensetive and I want to get sharp focus of her face. But then I'm trying to recompose quickly and it's all going wrong. Am I in the wrong focus mode? Is that a whole other thread question? There is dynamic mode on my d3300 is that what I should be in? It's hard to quickly move the focus points to track my toddler. Frustrated!!

Simple enough. Don't recompose. Shoot wide instead. If you shoot wide, meaning zoom out or back up and include more background, then you can adjust your composition in post. So leave your AF dead center and shoot wide, then crop and adjust in post to desired composition.

Interesting advice, I will give it a go. You mean AF dead centre on a the single point area mode setting? What about for when kids are running about? Thanks.

 

[robbins.photo]

Interesting advice, I will give it a go. You mean AF dead centre on a the single point area mode setting? What about for when kids are running about? Thanks.

If they are relatively stationary I'd use single point, dead center, aim for the eyes. If they are flitting about like mad hatters - 9 point. Leave it in the center, and then track them yourself as they move. If your shooting wide and are far enough back you can usually keep them in the center of the frame pretty easily.

 

[Derrel]

Flash will stop the motion of foreground people. Slow shutter speed and wide lens opening is what allows weak little Christmas tree bulbs to "burn in" and actually show up. This reply written in response to a very uninformed respondent above.

 

[adamhiram]

Interesting advice, I will give it a go. You mean AF dead centre on a the single point area mode setting? What about for when kids are running about? Thanks.

Usually, you'll want to use the focus point closest to your subject, in this case, on the toddler's eye (whichever is closest to you). However the D3300 only has 1 cross-type focus point, which is in the center; using the other focus points may have trouble grabbing focus in low light. I concur with the above recommendation to use the center focus point, then recompose as needed.

AF-S focus mode will work well if you can find a way to distract the toddler and keep them still long enough to get the shot. For a moving subject, you may want to try AF-C focus mode, but again your best bet may be to stick with a single focus point in the center. On a D5100 (same number and type of focus points), I found that with only 11 focus points, most of them being non-cross-type, 3D tracking and other dynamic tracking modes don't really work too well.

 

[gayle23]

Interesting advice, I will give it a go. You mean AF dead centre on a the single point area mode setting? What about for when kids are running about? Thanks.

Usually, you'll want to use the focus point closest to your subject, in this case, on the toddler's eye (whichever is closest to you). However the D3300 only has 1 cross-type focus point, which is in the center; using the other focus points may have trouble grabbing focus in low light. I concur with the above recommendation to use the center focus point, then recompose as needed.

AF-S focus mode will work well if you can find a way to distract the toddler and keep them still long enough to get the shot. For a moving subject, you may want to try AF-C focus mode, but again your best bet may be to stick with a single focus point in the center. On a D5100 (same number and type of focus points), I found that with only 11 focus points, most of them being non-cross-type, 3D tracking and other dynamic tracking modes don't really work too well.

great thanks for that advice will give it ag

Interesting advice, I will give it a go. You mean AF dead centre on a the single point area mode setting? What about for when kids are running about? Thanks.

If they are relatively stationary I'd use single point, dead center, aim for the eyes. If they are flitting about like mad hatters - 9 point. Leave it in the center, and then track them yourself as they move. If your shooting wide and are far enough back you can usually keep them in the center of the frame pretty easily.

Thanks, I will look up how to get the 9 point thing to work on my camera as I haven't come across that yet. I have single point, dynamic, 3D and auto area modes. Maybe getting 9 - points active is set somewhere else on the camera? I will research.

 

[gayle23]

Interesting advice, I will give it a go. You mean AF dead centre on a the single point area mode setting? What about for when kids are running about? Thanks.

Usually, you'll want to use the focus point closest to your subject, in this case, on the toddler's eye (whichever is closest to you). However the D3300 only has 1 cross-type focus point, which is in the center; using the other focus points may have trouble grabbing focus in low light. I concur with the above recommendation to use the center focus point, then recompose as needed.

AF-S focus mode will work well if you can find a way to distract the toddler and keep them still long enough to get the shot. For a moving subject, you may want to try AF-C focus mode, but again your best bet may be to stick with a single focus point in the center. On a D5100 (same number and type of focus points), I found that with only 11 focus points, most of them being non-cross-type, 3D tracking and other dynamic tracking modes don't really work too well.

Thanks for that, I feel lots more informed now with all the advice, will give it a go.