HELP! I am a mom and forgot how to take pictures!

O.k. So I am a new mom and with that somehow my ability to take pictures has just been thrown out the window. I still do pretty good in my studio but somethign is off with my general about shooting. I must admit that I have been leaving the camera in program mode a lot becasue its just so hard to quickly shoot manual when you have a 4 month old. So with that said my main problem is that my focus is never on the right place. I am not sure if a setting has been changed or what. I have had my camera solong I have lost my manual and I am not sure where to start. Any advice for this mom who has lost her brain when she had her baby would be much appreciated. I have attached a couple recent exsamples from this weekend.

It's like I am taking better pictures with my G-7 than my 20 D, which frustrates me!

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What is your focusing technique? Are you using all points enabled or are you picking one? What focus mode are you in?

Well thats a good question. I think, I have all points enabled. What mode I am in, I am not sure. I feel like I have never had that right on my camera, I dont think I fully understand the differences.

Okay, you want to pick a focus point, or the camera picks one for you. Only you know whats important to you so start by picking a single point. If I remember correctly your camera has 3 focus modes. One shot, which focuses when you half push the button and stays there until you refocus or shoot. AI servo which locks focus and continues to follow the thing you are focused on, good for action or fast moving kids. And lastly AI focus which is sort of a hyrbid between the two. Start with one shot mode and see what you think of it. If you are missing shots because of a moving kid try the servo mode. Keep in mind in the servo mode that you dont neccesarily get the focus confirmation beep in the same way you do with one shot.

What lens are you using? You are shooting indoors with available light and no flash you will need a decent shutter speed for proper exposure. Also try and use the center focus point, otherwise the camera will more then likely choose the wrong focal point.

You HAVE sharp focus, it just isn't on your baby. ON the first shot, it is on the nose of the snowman. On the second, it is on the tree ornament. If you can't master the auto focus, force yourself to use manual focus. Eventually, you'll get quite good at it. Cute baby by the way.

Use center focus point, focus on the baby's eye then re-compose. With kids you have to do this quickly but using all focus points just leads to frustration. The less you let the camera decide the happier you will be with the photos you take.

I am using my 24-70 L. Thanks for the tips. I am certain I am in the wrong mode. I will also try moving to a center focal point. I am inside and have plenty of light/flash.(bouncing)

With the center focus point, in P mode can I focus on her and then recomopose the shot? Will it stay focused on her? ( For some reason I was thinking that in anything other than the auto modes you could not do that, which does not sound right)


So sorry for all the dumb questions. I really appreciate all the help. I put my camera down for so long, I feel like I am kinda starting all over again.

Get out of P mode, go to AV instead.