Photography Friday – Focus

Focus = : directed attention : emphasis
— in focus : having or giving the proper sharpness of outline due to good focusing

(Thank you, m-w.com, for this definition; remember, I’m an English teacher by educational training, so I LOVE me a good dictionary entry! – and, yes, I realize the grammar is incorrect. I’ll often keep you guessing, just as I do the students in my classroom, “Did she do that on purpose or does she not know the rule?” If I’m really good, you’ll never know which answer applies.)

Can I admit this Photography Friday thing is t-o-u-g-h? I’ve started two other posts, and each time I have realized that you need to know something else before you can start with what I’m writing about. I think this one (try #3) is the one to start with.

When you take a picture, you want your subject to be in good focus. I mean, there’s a good reason people get glasses when their focus goes bad. More specifically, you want your subject’s eyes to be in focus (assuming you are photographing an object with eyes, and no, not your potatoes).

The first issue to decide is manual versus auto focus. I’m 99% of the time an auto focus gal. My camera is known to have an excellent auto focus system and the lenses I use are excellent at auto focus (minus the 105 macro), so I let them do their thang.

Go get your manual. Realize that I’m speaking from the Nikon vantage point from my D700 manual. I’m not sure what features your camera has, but your manual will. Sometimes they have different names, too. Don’t be afraid to do what I do: ask Google!

My camera has three choices for focus mode: single (single-servo), continuous (continuous-servo), and manual. In single I lock the focus on an object and that focus doesn’t change even if the subject moves. I use this for newborn sessions, senior sessions, and family sessions. In continuous mode, I choose the focus and as my subject moves, the focus moves. I use this one at my children’s sports events and when photographing toddlers and pets. Manual setting means that the camera will not focus for you – you have complete responsibility and control over focus.

My camera also has three choices for auto focus area mode. This selects HOW and WHERE I focus in the image. One choice I have is single. I choose one point (from 51 points in the D700) to focus. I use this 98% of the time. I compose my shot (using the rule of thirds because I crop in camera – another lesson for another day), use a dial on the back of my camera (you may have different settings) to toggle the focus point to the eye closest to me, focus (by pressing my shutter release halfway down, but there are other methods – see your manual), and take the shot.

Another choice of auto focus area mode I have is dynamic. Here I make the initial choice of where my camera focuses and when my subject moves, the camera moves the focus point to follow. I use this one (with a cool 3D tracking in my camera) at sports events.

The third choice I have is auto where the camera uses its face recognition skills to focus. I’m a control freak, so I don’t use this.

Tip to remember when focusing:

Your camera needs contrast to focus. If what you’re focusing on is all one color (red dress on red background) or in the dark (in a dark shade or at night), the sensor in the camera has a hard time distinguishing where to focus.

I run into this often with a close up shot of a newborn. I adore the shots of the eyelashes, but often the eyelashes are a light color lying on top of the light skin. The camera knows I’m telling it to focus, but can’t find a good way to distinguish between the light eyelash & the light skin. Option #1: I usually compose, focus, and then override my auto focus and tweak with manual focus. In the D200 & D700 (the only two DSLRs I’ve operated) you can focus by holding the shutter down half way and then manual focus using the lens – just don’t let go of the shutter in the process or you have to start over. Option #2: You can compose & focus on something near your focus point, recompose & shoot. For instance, the eyelashes won’t focus, but the corner of the eye has clear lines for the camera to read. I could focus on the corner of the eye, recompose (move the camera) to the eyelash & shoot. I shoot with large apertures (such as 1.4 on my 50 for a newborn session; and, yet, another lesson…) so even with such slight movement, I am likely to lose my focus.

Most likely there are other issues addressed in your manual, but this is the one that challenges me the most often.

Your challenge for the week is to practice with the different focus points your camera allows and really nail your focus. If you have a poorly focused picture, there’s not much you can do about it other than hit the ‘delete’ button.

Next week I’ll have a continuation on focus because this isn’t all there is to it. If you’re a member of ilovephotography.com, do a search for ‘How to Nail Your Focus,’ and you can get a sneak peek of where I’m heading next week.

I feel as if I’m on a huge stage, all by myself. My palms are actually sweating as I type, and I can feel my heart racing – no lie.

See, Go{4}Pro has a contest for the Self Portrait to challenge photographers to actually have a self portrait and even an ‘About Me’ page. I realized this summer that if you’re going to allow me the honor of photographing your newborn (your naked newborn, no less) and tickle your children, you probably should see me and know a little about me before you show up at my studio/house. Shortly after this realization,  I gulped and asked my amazing friend and photographer (and, by that, I mean she’s both an amazing friend and an amazing photographer) Ashley of Double Knot Photography to take some head shots for my web site when she was doing our family portraits. So, here I am: (only moderately Photoshopped, for those of you who are wondering…I mean, if you have the tools, you should use the tools…wink wink).

So, who am I? Aren’t we all super complex? Here is a not-so-brief wrap up of me with lots of rambling along the way (because that is who I am!):

On the surface, I’m a wife (about to celebrate my 13th anniversary), a mom of two amazing children (a girl and a boy – both in elementary school). I am in my 13th year of a teaching career, currently teaching AP English III at our local high school. My husband is pastor of StoneWater Church. Here’s my family:

Digging deeper, I have placed my whole faith in Jesus Christ as my Savior. I cannot begin to tell you the journeys of where my faith has taken me, but one of the biggest was surrendering to the call to follow my husband as a church planter. I cannot begin to express the humility and awe that that single act has brought to my life. I love that I am constantly learning new things about God and that He is constantly working in my life.

Photography has always been a desire of my heart, but it wasn’t until December of 2007 when my journey began with one of the most amazing gifts I have ever been given – my first DSLR, a D200. I was eager to learn (still am), and devoured the manual to the camera, took pictures of my kids and water bottles (yes, water bottles) until I understood the basics. In April of 2009 I became an official business with my DBA and Sales Tax License. Since then, I’ve immersed myself in studying some of my favorite photographers, attending workshops, participating in forums, and reading books. I find myself studying magazine layouts to look for the lighting and examine the posing. Can I tell you that I still get butterflies before a shoot because I’m SO excited?!

As far as education, I have my BA in English and psychology from Texas A&M (can I have a WHOOP!), my Master of Education in Curriculum with an emphasis in Gifted Education, and my National Board Certification in Adolescent English. I have taught for 13 years – 8th grade English, 8th grade gifted, English III (junior year), and AP English III. In the last years I’ve seen that I need to focus on being a wife and a mother, so this will be my last year teaching. Recently I have decided that this is definitely going to transfer into my photography journey as well. I’m the photographer who may have her two assistants at a shoot at any given time; my assistants are 8 and 6. I’m not the “strictly professional” photographer when it comes to my family. They happen in and out of the house at any given session, and that’s just me. The positive note of this is that by summer 2011,  I should have my very own studio room that will keep interruptions to a minimum (but can I add that they can sometimes get the most stubborn smile-giver to give the biggest smile EVER?!!?). But, that’s my shtick – I’m the photographer who’s a mom first, so my cherubs may be around for your session; my kids will keep their hands off of your newborn, but they might gaze from a safe distance

My favorite session, I can’t and won’t hide it, is a newborn session. Whether it’s the sweet memories of my own newborns or the fact that I have so few sweet memories as the result of some awful postpartum depression, I just cannot get enough of newborns. They are the longest & often the messiest of sessions, and I L.O.V.E them! As I’ve grown in my journey (and as the newborns I have photographed have grown older), I’ve discovered that I also enjoy capturing new smiles, and milestones of sitting and first birthdays with a good cake smash. I love ticking (and admittedly bribing) children for a smile; you should hear some of the funny noises I can make! Of course, after spending time with parents as we cajole their little one into smiling (you should see the things I’ve heard parents do for a smile – shhhh, I won’t tell), I can’t help but say yes, yes, yes! to a family session. I think, probably because of my background teaching high school, I adore seniors for their wit and excitement for life and the future. Lest I forget or make pregnancy seem less than important, a glowing mommy with a beautiful belly full of life makes me giddy (and it makes me want to be pregnant again just to feel the baby move inside).

I guess you get the idea that I adore capturing memories for you.