Last week, I received a question from a friend and fellow blogger who was wondering why her daughter was not in focus in some of her photos (but the stroller was!). I am asked this diagnostic question quite a bit, and the majority of the time the solution is the same.
Focus on your subject!
I know–sounds kind of silly, doesn’t it? Of course you’re going to TRY to focus on your subject! So why do so many photos turn out like this?
Nice, focused fence, horrible blurry kid. Doesn’t do me much good.
The camera automatically focused on whatever was in the center and completely missed the real subject. The fact is that cameras will typically chose one of two spots to automatically focus on: either the center of the frame or whatever is closest to the lens.
But sometimes your subject is not in the center of the frame or closest to your lens. (Sometimes the camera does NOT know best!)
Here are a few tips to help you achieve perfect focus. The best part? You can do this with any camera!
How to lock the focus on your subject:
- Frame your shot so that the object or person that you want in sharp focus is in the center of the viewfinder.
- Press the shutter button down half-way and hold it (keep holding it!)
- Move your camera until you have the composition that suits your fancy (remember when I talked about composition? Try moving your subject off-center every once in a while).
- Press the shutter release button down the rest of the way to take the picture.
Ahhh–now that’s better! I locked the focus on Twizzler, and now the fence is blurry. Wait! Why is he glaring at me?
One more thing to keep in mind: The eyes are the most important feature to be in focus. Who wants to frame a cute photo of their son, whose nose or shirt is in focus, but whose eyes are blurry? Focus on the eyes!
Note: My camera also allows me to select which spot to focus on (by choosing a spot in my viewfinder before taking a picture). Not all cameras have this feature.
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