We always talk about not having to “trust” editing programs or “I’ll fix it later” or even “I’ll re-frame it at home”. why a good one image is conceived in your head long before you press the shutter button. Then you make it happen through your camera, whatever it is, and through intuition, technique and photographic eye you get a result, which should look pretty much like the image you had in your head before you pressed the shutter 😉
It seems like a simple exercise, but the truth is that the challenge of imagining or conceiving an image and then making it come true is more difficult than it seems, especially because the conditions external to us are not always ideal. For example the light perception that you possess as a human being, is not the same as what a camera can capture; your eyes tolerate and “understand” contrast, light, and colors much better than probably any camera you’ll ever meet will ever do, or your eyes focus and blur with perfect skill whether it’s sunny, cloudy, or in a room dark. Fortunately or unfortunately, cameras are not nearly as perfect as our eyes. Unfortunately because its shortcomings will cause our images to sometimes be inevitably recycle bin meat 😉 and luckily, because if our camera did everything for us, there would be little room for passion or improvement in us, don’t you think?
And since the best way to solve a problem is to prevent it from occurring, we are going to try to avoid one of the worst mistakes that, as a photographer, you will come across along your journey: out of focus photographs (erroneously, it is understood 😉 ).
Learn the types of autofocus and what they are for
Just as there is life beyond the automatic mode of your camera, there is life beyond the autofocus that your camera comes with by default when you buy it.
Probably, whenever you have a digital camera, you will have several options of types of approachwhich we will normally choose based on the movement or the absence of it in what we intend to photograph.
Therefore, the first step is to know the focus modes that your reflex camera has, for which I recommend that you take a somewhat careful look at the focus section of the manual of your camera. Knowing the features of your camera (How many focus points does it have? What types of autofocus does it have? What is area focus and how do I use it?) will help you avoid most of the common focus mistakes. photographic.
If concepts such as “focus type, focus area or focus points” escape you, I recommend this article before continuing, which explains point by point how to set up your camera under the parameters that we have commented.
Use manual focus when needed
We cannot deny that all the advances make our lives generally more comfortable, and those that photographic technology offers us were not going to be less 😉 But these advances are not always valid for all situations. We have already mentioned that the type of focus is mainly determined by whether the subject to be photographed is moving or not.
The same happens when choosing between automatic and manual mode. There are many situations in which the manual mode is the most effective:
- Reflections where it is difficult for the camera to focus.
- Low light scenes (dark interiors or night photography).
- macro photography.
- Low contrast scenes where focus is lost because nothing stands out above the rest due to color or texture.
- Scenery.
In any of these situations, feel free to disable manual mode. You usually find the button to switch from one to the other in the same objective.
Do you know how your camera focuses?
through the shutter
In principle, and as preset By default, cameras tend to focus automatically when squeeze the shutter about halfway of your tour.
This is probably the system you know and have gotten used to. As long as you keep the shutter pressed halfway, the focus stays at the point you indicated. From here you normally shoot or re-frame as you please.
However, a slight movement of what you intend to photograph will make it lose focus, or a slight movement of your finger on the shutter, that you lose focus and have to refocus or that you simply do not notice and take the picture with the wrong focus. It is also possible that you miss the occasional unwanted photo, or that when working with small depths of field a slight reframing destroys the focus…
In short, you can survive with this system, in fact you probably already do, but I show you one that, although it will need you to get used to it, is infinitely better 🙂
Through the Back button focus or back focus button
On the back of your DSLR and normally designed to be operated with the right thumb, we usually find a button AF-L at Nikon or AF-On in Canon whose function is focus lock.
By activating this button, you will set the focus and it won’t change until you decide.
It is very useful for situations in which the distance between you and what you photograph does not vary and therefore neither does its focus. By not having to constantly focus between frames, taking pictures is much faster, and in all of them you will also ensure that you have a correct focus.
You can also forget about the camera being accidentally triggered while trying to focus, or being re-focused by an inadvertent movement of your finger on the shutter.
Unlink focus and shutter
It is true that not all cameras have this option, but some SLRs do. By decoupling focus from shutter, you specify each of the buttons for their respective functions while avoiding pitfalls associated with sharing functionality. Again I advise you to take a look at the camera manual if you haven’t already, it is very likely that you are missing not only useful functions to improve your focus but also for taking pictures and adjustments in general.
A good ally; the tripod
When we are looking for a perfect focus, any small variation can make us lose focus, especially if we work with small depths of field. If what you are presented with is a static scene (landscape, architecture, gastronomy, product, etc.) and you want a perfect focus, the ideal would be to work with a tripod to avoid slight movements that can affect the loss of focus in your image.
And finally… Do you know Live View?
If you have live view or live view, feel free to use it to make sure the focus is correct and precise immediately and without having to wait to see the focus “error” on your computer screen.
This system allows you to see exactly which will be captured on your sensor either because the camera lifts the mirror (in single-sensor cameras) or through contrast autofocus (in dual-sensor cameras) showing you the live image. In addition it allows you enlarge (up to 10 times) the image through the ‘magnifying glass’ symbol usually located on the back of the camera to make sure you’re getting the focus and detail you expect. And if you want even more, through Live View, you will not only be able to see the focus, but also check the exposition and even the histogram.
As you can see, there is a lot of theory regarding the focus, take a look at the article, the manual of your camera, configure it well and learn to know it, and from here, practicebecause practice is the only and easiest way to assimilate any type of content. really 😉
And you know, if you liked it, found it useful and think someone else might be interested in solving their focus problems, share it on Facebook, Twitter or Google+. Thank you very much, as always 🙂 .