How do you actually focus when shooting portraits

[XenoPhoto]

I have been shooting weddings, events and many other portraits for years. Just curious... how do you focus your subject?

There are a few ways and different photographer told me different techniques. All of us know that we have to keep their eyes focus, not the nose, ears, forehead, etc...

So how do you focus. there are 3 ways which i heard of.

1) using centre focus - focus the eyes from where you are, pan with your camera to cover subject into the frame and shoot.

2) using other focus point - focus technique is the same as above but the focus point is nearest to the eyes.

3) using centre focus - focus the eyes, moving your body to fit the subject into the frame while keeping the camera in position. (very tiring to do this)

which method do you use?
any other methods to recommend us?
are there any correct technique to take a portrait?

 

[gman23xx]

I have been shooting weddings, events and many other portraits for years. Just curious... how do you focus your subject?

There are a few ways and different photographer told me different techniques. All of us know that we have to keep their eyes focus, not the nose, ears, forehead, etc...

So how do you focus. there are 3 ways which i heard of.

1) using centre focus - focus the eyes from where you are, pan with your camera to cover subject into the frame and shoot.

2) using other focus point - focus technique is the same as above but the focus point is nearest to the eyes.

3) using centre focus - focus the eyes, moving your body to fit the subject into the frame while keeping the camera in position. (very tiring to do this)

which method do you use?
any other methods to recommend us?
are there any correct technique to take a portrait?

I focus around midway area. Around chest or face, usually turns out quite nice. Because most details are on the face. If the person is really looking good, and wearing something nice, shoot around the center of the body. Should be quite accurate. This are my tips...haha...not really the best ones, but hope it helps!


gman

 

[Ryany]

There is no correct method, just a preference. If you use 1), it may result in a difference between tack sharp and sharp. The recommended way is to use 2), so there won't be a difference in focusing distance. But I am lazy, often I will just use 1... Saves the trouble of having to set the focus points. And eyes or not, it depends... usually I just aim for the face (naturally eyes of course) since it is the subject. Hope this helps.

 

[engrmariano]

im doing 1 & 3 50/50.

 

[vroom1]

usually i shoot portrait, by using the extreme right hand side AF point. focus on the eye or forehead.

 

[xxpmrong]

not really an expert but I use method 2...

 

[CYRN]

Actually, really depends on the DOF of your setup.

Ultra-fine DOF > option 1 (but no panning thingy... the center point stays on the eyes all the time)

Fine DOF > option 2

Anyhow humtum DOF > option3 :bsmilie:

 

[theveed]

Always #2, you can set your quick shortcut for your focus point anyway. Focus/recompose or auto af point hardly is accurate enough if DOF is thin. That's why you see so much portraits with razor sharp nosetips these days. It's critical to use the right AF point when you use large aperture lenses.

 

[Redsun]

#2 for me as well
sometimes when shooting at big aperture
there is a chance that the focus might shift because you move your camera

 

[ahbian]

Used to be #1 for convenience.
Now trying to make the habit of switching to #2.

Not too sure what #3 is describing...

 

[nyxx88]

#2 mostly, #1 occasionally

 

[XenoPhoto]

Used to be #1 for convenience.
Now trying to make the habit of switching to #2.

Not too sure what #3 is describing...

3) focus when keeping your camera in parallel to the subject. Photographer will then squat, stand, or move themselves around without panning the camera

 

[sprewell]

i use manual focus.. kinda feel that its the most accurate with full control over what area you want oof

 

[Benosaurous]

i'm also doing 1 & 3. sometimes 1 might failed, causing out of focus or wrong exposure, duno if it is me or my camera problem. My friend advise me to use the a/e lock once you half press with eye focused and recompose, duno how well does that help.

 

[emerald]

i use manual focus.. kinda feel that its the most accurate with full control over what area you want oof

Manual focus is nice, provided ur camera viewfinder is bright and big and preferrably near 100% magnification.

My 400D viewfinder is just painful to do manual focusing. 40D's is bigger, but not big enough yet...especially for us wearing glasses...:cry:

 

[theveed]

if you're shooting f/4 or smaller, usually focus/recompose will be fine, but at larger apertures, slight movement by you or the subject towards/away from the camera will alter your focus quite a bit.

 

[eosdigital]

Manual focus is nice, provided ur camera viewfinder is bright and big and preferrably near 100% magnification.

My 400D viewfinder is just painful to do manual focusing. 40D's is bigger, but not big enough yet...especially for us wearing glasses...:cry:

Yea.. it's rather difficult to get exact focus with MF with a less-then FF viewfinder. Have to squint to see if it's sharp anot.

 

[Majest1c]

#2 for me

 

[essyc]

I've done a couple of portraits shoots and AF is usually inaccurate if you are not sure where to focus on, and even if you do, it's good to shoot directly to a screen to check if the eyes are in focus. Other method is to zoom in after every shot on your LCD for AF to check.

Other than that, I only use MF. Taught manual, shoot manual. Unless i'm not wearing my specs or if I really cannot see the subject then i'll use AF to focus for me.

 

[andy65]

i normally use method 1 last time,after switch to Fantastic Cam D3 i change to manual focus now a day.