How to Get 3 People in Focus - Photography QnA at BetterPhoto.com

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Noelle Rosenberg
BetterPhoto Member

member since: 3/22/2011

How to Get 3 People in Focus

Hi, I have three children who I love to take pictures of but I find when I shoot all three of them together, I tend to get some blur (one child typically out of focus). I like to use my 50MM, manual settings. What am I doing wrong? Any tips would be greatly appreciated.
Best,

7/24/2011 8:35:23 AM

Bojan Bencic
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member since: 5/29/2005

Hi Noelle,
You didn't mention the details of your manual settings, but if you are using 50mm prime lens, your problem is probably shallow DOF (depth of field). Try reducing the aperture to f/6 or less and compare the results. Using a smaller aperture will reduce the amount of light on the sensor so you will need to compensate with longer exposure or increased ISO value.
Hope it helps, regards,

7/25/2011 1:22:33 AM

Greg McCroskery
BetterPhoto Member

imagismphotos.com

member since: 2/27/2003

Noelle,

Bojan is correct, however, be sure you understand that when he says "Try reducing the aperture to f/6 or less..." he is talking about a higher f-stop value (e.g. f/8).

God Bless,
Greg

7/26/2011 6:16:50 AM

Noelle Rosenberg
BetterPhoto Member

member since: 3/22/2011


	Girls aperture - f/2.8 shutter - 1/60 lens 50mm prime ISO 250 © Noelle Rosenberg Canon EOS 5D Mark ...

Thanks so much. I appreciate your info. I shot this one yesterday at f/2.8. Looks pretty crisp with a 1/60 shutter speed.

7/26/2011 4:08:53 PM

Bojan Bencic
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member since: 5/29/2005

Beautiful portrait of three sweet little girls, Noelle.

As long as you have all their faces (eyes) at equal distance from the camera, you'll have no problem with shallow DOF.
f/2.8 works great in this photo. You can see the effect of f/2.8 (shallow DOF) on their feet and on the background (soft and out of focus). In this case it is a good thing.
If the girls would stand one in front of the other (each head at different distance from the camera) you would probably use a smaller aperture (larger f-number like f/8 or f/16) to get all their faces in focus.
You can try different aperture values on the same subject (if you can keep the girls still for long enough) and compare the results.

Great portrait, have fun,

Bojan

7/27/2011 10:16:48 AM

Noelle Rosenberg
BetterPhoto Member

member since: 3/22/2011

Thanks Bojan!

Best, Noelle

7/28/2011 3:14:55 AM

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BetterPhoto Q&A Category: New Questions

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Category: New Questions