Focusing with more then one face in a picture

[mkville]

So here is a question, when I shoot a single person, I shoot in Manual AF mode with the pointer in the middle which locks in on the persons face, now I'm starting to shoot my two kids together, it was after about ten minutes I realized that one of the kids faces was out of focus, my question is do I shot in automatic mode for the AF points to detect both faces I've been playing around with the different settings but can't seem to get both of the faces to focus. obviously in Auto it works fine

Thanks

[gonzogolf]

Remember, not matter what setting it can only focus on one point regardless of the setting. You can manipulate that point a little, by focusing on something halfway between the two faces but if you dont have sufficient depth of field then that means two faces out of focus. In the case of two kids, just focus on one, and make sure your aperture is small enough (f/8 ) that you get some depth of field.

[Dennis_Hammer]

The key is finding the balance in the depth of field for subject sharpness and background bokeh. Try bracketing for awhile and then when you edit you can look and see which aperture is giving you the desired effect.

[snyderman]

mkville:

look for the 'single light' post in the lighting section. Lots of multiple person shots with exif data and lighting diagrams. For your situation, the easy answer is being able to stop down to 6.3 or greater for 'acceptable ' DOF to focus faces that aren't exactly the same distance from your lens.

dave

[mkville]

Thanks for all the info guys, I'll be trying some of these methods out this weekend

[tester3000]

The focus point does matter all that much. What you need to do is reduce the size of the aperture (by increasing the f-stop #). This will give you a greater DOF and will allow more of the image to be in focus. It all depends on what lens you are using, the sensor size, and the subject distance. But generally, around f/8 should get you close. If your 2 subjects are on the same plane (ie. same distance from the camera), you can decrease the f-stop (maybe f4 or 5.6). Just try different apertures and see what you get. It's pretty easy to catch on after you see the results.