Focusing Tips

For those of you who don't Know I am a co-founder for a group on deviant art called Canon Users.
This group was founded as a 2 part process. One being a place to share photos with other Canon Users and the other a place to share tips etc.

I have been asked by numerous questions by members. I thought I would go ahead and start sharing my tutorials I have made for the group on my personal blog as well. If you are a Canon Shooter and would like to be a part of the Canon User Group, here is a link to that Group found on Deviant Art. Canon User Group

Tutorial: Focusing Tips

We have recently experienced an abundance of submissions that are out of focus. Knowing that we allow almost every level of photographers in our group, I thought it might be a good Idea to make a short and sweet tip sheet about focusing.

I am going to skip over manual focus for this set of tips, I figure if you are actually taking advantage of your manual focus, you more than likely know what you are doing.

Starting with holding your camera. If you watch T.V. at all you have seen many people hold the camera in many different ways, and many different styles. My goal here is to give you some general Ideas.

Take your neck strap off your neck. Put your feet shoulder width apart for a good stance. Holding your camera with both hands, (firm, but not squeezing the life out of it,) (your right hand on the camera body so you can work the controls, the other at the base of your camera and or the the left side of the camera body and or the barrel of your lens pending on your lens length. Bending your arms at your elbows, bring the camera up to your face so you can see through the view finder.

As you look through the view finder, you can squeeze your elbows next to your body for even more stability. If you are in a sitting position, you can put your elbows on your knees, and or lay flat and use your elbows on the ground for even more stability.

Control your breathing, you will want to hold your breath as you shoot for that one hundredth of a second or so. You will also want to "follow through." Think of it as shooting at a target, you do not want to move your bow until the arrow has hit the apple, same with your camera, you do not want to move your camera until the image has been captured.

Focal points are found on most DSLR's. From the Rebel to present, you will have several focal points inside your focusing screen. (read your manual to find how to change the point from the center to the point you need) If you cannot find your camera manual canon offers downloads on most camera manuals at this link [link]

It is pretty easy, put the focusing point on your subject and hold your camera shutter button half way down and then after you have the conformation that the subject is in focus, squeeze the button, not jerk the button.

One of the most common mistakes happens when you want to recompose the shot. To avoid this mistake, look at the top of your camera and make sure you are on "ONE SHOT" not "AI FOCUS" or "AI SERVO" these are for moving subjects, this tip sheet is for stationary subjects.

Once you have the main subject in focus and still holding the shutter button half way down, and focus has been made, you can recompose your shot, the camera will stay focused on what you "locked" focus on, (as long as you don't let the shutter button back up.) When I say recompose, I am talking about moving your camera slightly for composition, ie rule of thirds or what ever rule you are wanting to use or not use. DON'T WALK AROUND, THE FOCUS WILL NOT BE RIGHT.

With the focal point discussion, a general rule of thumb for anything with eyes, focus on the eyes, your camera will pick up the eyes because the live eye has a natural amount of reflectiveness. If you are shooting really close to the subject, focus on the eye closest to the camera, it will help the image look like it is in focus.

Tip: As a good general rule of thumb when you are shooting hand held you will want your shutter speed to be at least as fast as your lens focal length. I.E. if you are shooting with a canon 200mm zoom, you will want your shutter speed to be at least as fast as 1/200 for hand holding. Obviously if your shutter speed is faster, it will be better with in reason.

Next Tip: If you cannot get the shutter speed up high enough, then you will want to mount your camera on a tripod or mono pod. If you plan to take your photography to the next level, you at some point will want to invest in a tripod and or a mono pod pending your shooting style. I good tripod will help ensure that your camera will not move as much as if you were hand holding your camera under low lighting conditions. No money, I understand, use whatever you can to help hold your camera steady, use a tree, put your camera on a large rock, picnic table, or what ever else you can use to help steady your camera. If you are using the IS lens, don't rely on it solely. It was designed to help, not fix all.

I am not going to go into the long exposure times, and other things to consider when shooting in bulb or lengthy shutter times for artistic creativity, I figure if you are doing that you are already familiar with those things to consider. These tips are basic and I will keep this tip sheet basic.

I hope that these tips will help some of you.

Now get up off the couch and go and do some shooting, don't wait for your family pet to walk up to you, go out and shoot and have fun with your camera, after all that is why you have it. Shooting regularly will do two things for you. It will help you know your camera to the point you do not have to look down to make changes, and it will make you a better photographer. The more you shoot the better you will be.

Have fun.
Dale