Breaking Away From All Those Focus Points
Most people (photography beginners who know very little about their cameras) set their camera to one of the many "auto" or "scene" modes (although, really, scene modes are also "auto" modes). Although using "auto" modes are the easiest to use, they are far from the most effective modes to use. An "auto" mode is one of the worst modes for getting the focus right where you want it to be.
I've mentioned in previous blog posts that focusing on a tiny bird in a thicket of branches can be difficult. When you are using all the camera's auto-focus points, this can be an impossible task.
In auto-focus, you are allowing the camera to choose what it thinks should be in focus. The camera chooses what it thinks would be the easiest to put into focus (to greatly simplify how auto-focus works). When trying to shoot a photo of a tiny bird in a thicket of branches, the camera will most likely focus on one of the many branches in front of the bird, not focus on the bird. This wrong choice in focus points can happen in any situation but it is worse when there are many things which can be put into focus.
This same problem pops up when trying to shoot through a window screen or fence. The camera will want to focus on the screen or fence rather than the thing we want in focus on the other side of the screen or fence... which is frustrating!
For this reason, I rarely... and I mean very rarely... I very rarely use all of the camera's focus points. I prefer to choose where focus will be set. This means I use the center auto-focus point only.
There are exceptions... for example, if I am shooting a landscape with the aperture stopped down (providing me with a deep depth of field), then I will sometimes use multiple focus zones (which are really groups of points). 99% of the time, however, I use the center auto-focus point only while using a type of auto-focus or manual focus.
I will put that center point on my subject that I want in focus... half press the shutter release button to tell the camera to focus on that point... then recompose (move the camera to the framing I want) while still halfway holding down the shutter release button... then, after recomposing the shot to get the framing I want, I continue my press of the shutter release to a full press to shoot the photo. So, focus---> recompose---> shoot.
This technique slows things down a little bit so it is difficult to use when shooting fast moving birds or for fast moving kids or when shooting fast sports. It is possible, but it is difficult. There are a few other options though...
The first option is often called dynamic auto-focus. You allow the camera to focus on something automatically and then you turn the focus ring on the lens manually to set the focus exactly where you want it. This focus mode is a combination of auto-focus and manual-focus. I use this focus mode for wildlife quite often.
The other option is to simply learn how to manually focus all the time. After some practice, you can get very fast at this. I actually use manual focus more often than dynamic auto-focus. Lately, I've been using manual focus quite often since a good selection of my lenses are old legacy lenses which can only be focused manually. (Truth be told, I can't afford new expensive auto-focus lenses and many of these inexpensive old lenses are outstanding!)
This photo, below, is a perfect example of a difficult scene for auto-focus. There are so many branches surrounding and obscuring the bird that auto-focus would most likely choose a branch to put into focus. The most effective way to resolve this issue is to shoot using dynamic auto-focus or manual focus using a single auto-focus point and putting that focus exactly where you want it by using the focus ring on the lens.
If you can shrink your auto-focus point to an actual point (rather than the usual box), you can use the focus-recompose technique by aiming the point for the bird's eye... that is what I did here. Other times I'll use dynamic auto-focus... or manual focus.
For people photos, I tend to turn on face detection to ensure the camera will focus on a face or group of faces. If I want more accurate focus, I can even set my camera to auto-focus on the closest eye if only one person is needing to be in focus.
For the most part, the only time I use all the focus points is for fast moving sports when tracking someone... so, in those situations, I switch to "continuous auto-focus", and a "burst" mode, and in a "tracking" mode... If you are wondering why I don't use a tracking mode for these birds, it is because these birds are far too skittish and fast for tracking at a 600mm field of view. Plus, I am using cheap, older cameras which lack effective tracking so I stick with traditional focus methods.
I've said this many times before and it is worth mentioning again here... I truly prefer a deliberate method to getting the shot I desire in one single, deliberate shot while avoiding the "spray and pray" modes at all cost. What did photographers do before continuous drive modes and before auto-focus was available? Sports and wildlife were still shot everyday... you simply must learn the proper technique for capturing beautiful images... you don't use the same technique, such as indiscriminately using all auto-focus points, for capturing all types of images.
Do yourself a favor and break away from all those focus points and learn to use more effective methods.
I've mentioned in previous blog posts that focusing on a tiny bird in a thicket of branches can be difficult. When you are using all the camera's auto-focus points, this can be an impossible task.
In auto-focus, you are allowing the camera to choose what it thinks should be in focus. The camera chooses what it thinks would be the easiest to put into focus (to greatly simplify how auto-focus works). When trying to shoot a photo of a tiny bird in a thicket of branches, the camera will most likely focus on one of the many branches in front of the bird, not focus on the bird. This wrong choice in focus points can happen in any situation but it is worse when there are many things which can be put into focus.
This same problem pops up when trying to shoot through a window screen or fence. The camera will want to focus on the screen or fence rather than the thing we want in focus on the other side of the screen or fence... which is frustrating!
For this reason, I rarely... and I mean very rarely... I very rarely use all of the camera's focus points. I prefer to choose where focus will be set. This means I use the center auto-focus point only.
There are exceptions... for example, if I am shooting a landscape with the aperture stopped down (providing me with a deep depth of field), then I will sometimes use multiple focus zones (which are really groups of points). 99% of the time, however, I use the center auto-focus point only while using a type of auto-focus or manual focus.
I will put that center point on my subject that I want in focus... half press the shutter release button to tell the camera to focus on that point... then recompose (move the camera to the framing I want) while still halfway holding down the shutter release button... then, after recomposing the shot to get the framing I want, I continue my press of the shutter release to a full press to shoot the photo. So, focus---> recompose---> shoot.
This technique slows things down a little bit so it is difficult to use when shooting fast moving birds or for fast moving kids or when shooting fast sports. It is possible, but it is difficult. There are a few other options though...
The first option is often called dynamic auto-focus. You allow the camera to focus on something automatically and then you turn the focus ring on the lens manually to set the focus exactly where you want it. This focus mode is a combination of auto-focus and manual-focus. I use this focus mode for wildlife quite often.
The other option is to simply learn how to manually focus all the time. After some practice, you can get very fast at this. I actually use manual focus more often than dynamic auto-focus. Lately, I've been using manual focus quite often since a good selection of my lenses are old legacy lenses which can only be focused manually. (Truth be told, I can't afford new expensive auto-focus lenses and many of these inexpensive old lenses are outstanding!)
This photo, below, is a perfect example of a difficult scene for auto-focus. There are so many branches surrounding and obscuring the bird that auto-focus would most likely choose a branch to put into focus. The most effective way to resolve this issue is to shoot using dynamic auto-focus or manual focus using a single auto-focus point and putting that focus exactly where you want it by using the focus ring on the lens.
If you can shrink your auto-focus point to an actual point (rather than the usual box), you can use the focus-recompose technique by aiming the point for the bird's eye... that is what I did here. Other times I'll use dynamic auto-focus... or manual focus.
For people photos, I tend to turn on face detection to ensure the camera will focus on a face or group of faces. If I want more accurate focus, I can even set my camera to auto-focus on the closest eye if only one person is needing to be in focus.
For the most part, the only time I use all the focus points is for fast moving sports when tracking someone... so, in those situations, I switch to "continuous auto-focus", and a "burst" mode, and in a "tracking" mode... If you are wondering why I don't use a tracking mode for these birds, it is because these birds are far too skittish and fast for tracking at a 600mm field of view. Plus, I am using cheap, older cameras which lack effective tracking so I stick with traditional focus methods.
I've said this many times before and it is worth mentioning again here... I truly prefer a deliberate method to getting the shot I desire in one single, deliberate shot while avoiding the "spray and pray" modes at all cost. What did photographers do before continuous drive modes and before auto-focus was available? Sports and wildlife were still shot everyday... you simply must learn the proper technique for capturing beautiful images... you don't use the same technique, such as indiscriminately using all auto-focus points, for capturing all types of images.
Do yourself a favor and break away from all those focus points and learn to use more effective methods.
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