The *Official Photography Thread*

Thats what I have been having trouble with. getting the right focus shooting in Manual. More practice I guess lol

 

I rarely do manual focus. Just not as fast as auto focus in most cases.

See if your camera will do trap manual focus. That may help

 

I second what @Blackdawg said. Most cameras/lenses allow for autofocus while shooting in manual mode. Then you just have to be sure the camera's focus point is aligned where you want it.

 

Fog rolling into the canyon this morning. Both shots taken on fully auto. No time. Had to get to work.

 

Focus, like others have said.
Try manually picking your focus point. In my experience, letting the camera decide where to focus doesn't work very often. Unless I am shooting at a really wide aperture, I leave the focus point in the middle of the frame and focus and recompose. If I am dealing with a very shallow depth of field (like f/1.4 up close), I will move my focus point to the subject and keep the framing steady. With a really shallow depth of field, sometimes just recomposing will move the plane of focus enough make your intended subject unsharp.

 

I know I'm a new here and just starting but when in manual how do you pick a focus point. sorry if its a really dumb question(I know you want your focus point to be where you want to focus on but how do you set that) dew to nice dslr cameras) like how do you pick that focus point when in say aperture priority mode

 

It's different for every camera but your manual should be able to show you how. On my D5100 it's as easy as using the arrow keys to move the focus point around. My focus point lights up red in the viewfinder when the shutter button is depressed halfway. You can also see it on the lcd screen where it displays all the settings

 

In this photo using the auto focus would be simple. Just focus on the head lights. Any cameras autofocus could do that. Focus on it with auto. Then switch to MF and recompose.

This varies by camera model and make. Id look into your manual for that

 

Ok thanks everyone, I appreciate all of your input! I like posting here and getting feedback from you all. Will try some new things tonight and post some more! You all are great!

 

I just wanted to point out, that manually selecting your focus point is totally separate from manual exposure controls. You can set your camera to use all, some, or just one of its focus points in any exposure mode (program, aperture priority, shutter priority, full manual.) You don't even need to use the manual focus mode to recompose, just put the focus point on what you want to focus on, half press and hold the shutter button, recompose and press the shutter button all the way. Most cameras have the autofocus mode selection labeled something like Wide(Area), Zone, and Single. You want it on Single for the technique we have been talking about.

 

^^^This @woodystacoma05

Turn off all those beautiful 51 focus points. Use one and don't use the continuous focus function. Focus with a half press with the single focus point on what you want in focus then without letting your finger up recompose and then finish pressing down to take the photo.

Also when taking photo's of people use the single focus point and focus on the eye closest to you. Nothing bugs other photographers more than an OOF eye.

Like Paleus said it doesn't matter what you are in P,S,A,M or 1/30 whatever it has nothing to do with the lens being in AF/M focus. They are separate controls.

 

Tried to take some new photos this evening and tried to implement your all suggestions. what do you think. working to get better.

 

I really like the composition of the second one. Overall I would just suggest to keep working on the focus point in combination with the depth of field. Keep at it

 

Thank you very much. I took this of my do last night too lol he wasn't too thrilled

 

I like the second one, too!

something I've always tried to do is keep weird/distracting things away from my main focus. the shadow lines on the doors and the shadows on the bottom 3rd of the tires kind of take away from the lines of the body.

heres something I read when I was younger and always tried my best to follow when photographing cars/trucks: http://www.hotrod.com/features/0506phr-get-your-car-phr/


thats a great picture of your dog!

 

This is a sweet photo of your dog!

 

thank you! and I will definitely take a look at that.I always seem to take pictures of the things i love my truck and my dog. my wife doesn't like me taking pictures of her lol

 

I think this one most of kind of emphasis what the other pictures show. When your shooting in low light and extended exposure and trying to keep ISO low it is common to have a shallow DOF due to a fast aperture setting. A good tripod would help here, and a remote release. I am no expert to say the least but that has been my observations and experience. Shallow DOF lead many to think out of focus, and motion blur is really evident in this picture.