Stay Focused!

With more and more people out there with cameras, and very good cameras at that.  Everyone has become a "photographer", my 5 year old is even a "photographer" now with his Leap Pad having a camera.  But the more and more I see my friends post on Facebook and Google+ there is one thing I see over and over again.  Pictures being out of focus!  I know what you are saying because I was saying the same thing.  MY pictures out of focus? There is no way!  I mean just look at my photos... and then, I went and really LOOKED at my photos and I noticed something.  My photos were out of focus.  Not saying all of them were out of focused but some pictures that would have otherwise been pretty amazing, had enough elements in them for me to have not noticed that my subject was not clear.

Eye focused

It's something that is hard to hear and I even was a little set back when I made the discovery that one of my favorite images of my son was now one of the worst just because in reality I had overlooked something that is fundamental in taking a photo. The definition of focused for most of us is defined by the eyes.  I mean literally, the eyes.  If you look at a photo and the eye that is closest to the camera is blurry, then your photo is "out of focus".

Eye not focused

When it comes down to staying in focus, it is as simple as taking a  few seconds before you press the shutter button and make sure you have just a few bases covered.  Lets take a look at three camera systems starting with our smart phones.  Then lets look at the point and shoot camera, and for those of us out there who have DSLR's we will look a technique that I have acquired.

Smart Phone

There are two things to keep in mind when capturing an in focused photo with our smartphones.  One, try to make sure your subject is standing still, obviously. Or if they are moving, kids etc, then make sure you are moving in the same direction as them with the camera.  The reason you want to be moving in the same direction is if the camera and the subject are moving in the same direction at relatively the same speed, then when you take the shot, the picture will not be streaking and blurry.

Learning what you can do with your camera app is a plus also.  Most have a feature where you can touch and hold the screen of where you want the phone to focus and it will track the subject until you take the photo.  But the key thing her is you have to remember and use the feature.

Second thing to remember is that there is usually a delay from the time you push the shutter button till the picture is taken.  That's for camera phones and some point and shoot cameras also.  Something I do is before I take the picture I do a count down and on the last number I hold it out as the camera is taking the picture so everyone knows the picture isn't over yet.  Its something like this... THREE...TWO...OOOONNNN (HIT THE SHUTTER BUTTON) NNNNNEEEEEE.  That seems to work and if worst comes to worst just take the picture a second time.

Point and Shoot

Point and shoot cameras are not as bad as smart phones cameras but they still can have their issues. The easiest way of staying in focus with these is to use an on board face tracking system that cameras are coming out with.  For the most part you shouldn't have much of an issue using these cameras cause they are pretty fast and eliminate a good bit of the thinking that goes along with some other camera systems.  One key thing though is to make sure the camera didn't focus in on the Christmas tree instead of your subject standing just in front of it.  All of the motion blur issues we have with the smart phones still apply to the point and shoot though.  Point and shoots are great for simplicity and though they are getting better every six months they still are limiting when it comes to the art aspect of picture taking.

DSLR's (Digital Single Lens Reflex) 

We took my son to a local festival in October and I was blown away at how many people have DSLR's these days.  DSLR's are great cameras and have a lot of functions but most people who own them do not even use them on the "pro" settings such as manual mode, aperture priority or shutter speed priority but instead use the auto mode.  At this point you were better off just saving the money and buying a point and shoot.

When you use these cameras on "Auto" the camera just takes about three or four random points in the frame and sets an average focus point and hopes what you are taking a picture of is in that average.  Most of the time it is and little Johnny is in focus, but this "average" is what we don't want.  We want above average and we want to walk away with a great picture that is just really hard to get with auto settings.

I recommend at the least use your camera in the "A" mode.  This is Aperture priority mode and will allow you to set the focus point you want to use.  What this means is that you aim the camera at what you are photoing (if a person then 99.99% of the time you want this focus point on the eye closest to your camera) and press the shutter button halfway down while the camera engages its focus and while still holding the button half way down and after the camera has stopped focusing, you recompose your frame to include everything else in the photo and then finish pressing the button to complete the photo.

For example if Tommy is standing beside his new car near the front of the hood and front fender and you want to take a photo of him with the car also in frame.  You could set the focus point on your camera to the center point, then you point the focus point right at Tommy's eye and press the shutter button halfway down (so the auto focus engages) and now that Tommy is in focus (and you are still holding down the button) you can move the camera over to include more of the car before you press down and complete the photo.

With whatever camera/phone that you use just remember that by taking a few extra preparatory steps you can begin increasing the amount of great photos you produce. Hope some of this helps out and the most important thing to do is to read the manual of your system and see how your focus system works and how it recommends you to use that.

Don't forget the background.

OK, I understand that everyone out there is a "photographer", if for no other reason but because they have a camera on their phone and we take pics of anything and everything.  I will admit that by the shear number of photos we take with our phones we get lucky sometimes and take a picture that is amazing.  Then all of our friends (and ourselves) think that we were meant to be photographers and then we are expected to replicate the "amazing" of that picture with everything we take from that point on.  Well, ninety percent of the time, we disappoint.

In light of this bit of heart breaking news I would like to share a few things with you.  Even though every picture you take isn't going to be a masterpiece we can still follow a mind set (two simple things,) that will bring a consistency to your photos whether with your phone or point and shoot.  Pay attention to your background, and keep symmetry in mind, but if you only had to pay attention to one, make it your background.

Now don't get me wrong, this is just a mentality to have if you are looking to add something to your photos that does not take a whole lot of thought.  If you just take one second before you take a picture and look at the background and try to rid it of distracting things then do it.  It could be as simple as just shifting yourself left or right and that alone could add something to the photo.

I am not saying that you have to have your subjects backs against a wall, but what I am saying is that you can keep things out like kids toys, trashcans, cars, industrial power lines ext.  One of the easiest ways to fixing the distraction(s) is to fill your subject in the frame, (zoom in to the subject).  I mean it is the subject that you are taking a picture of right? Or did you mean to take a picture of your self and include the toilet in the background?  It only takes awareness before you snap the shot and you will be reaping the benefits in your images.

In looking at the photo on the right you can see that its a cute picture but there are two elements in the background that take away from the subject.  There is a sign post and a house.  So, something a simple as walking to the other side of the subject yields a photo the photographer can be pleased with and something that is a bit more tasteful for the observer to look at.

A quick note on symmetry in the event that you are thirsting for knowledge and can't get enough.  This one is simple.  The would is full of straight lines, so, straighten your camera to those lines as a guide.  You can also look at taking a picture of someone in an archway as an example.  It would make for a better photo if you have the frame filled with the archway with equal portions on both sides and then place your subject in the frame.  This not only place's your subject in an amazing environment, it also shows off a bit of architecture to the photo and that goes a long way when it comes to the wow factor.

There you have it.  Two simple things to keep in mind that will fill your photos with a little more wow.  If you have any questions feel free to let me know and I will answer asap.