Playing in the dark with a pen light

I consistently have "focus" issues, as you may notice in a couple of these. Very open to suggestions on how to avoid this problem. If it helps, lighting doesn't seem to make any difference with the problem; I seem to get it in a wide variety of settings (locational and camera settings) and lighting conditions.

Anyhow, other critique welcomed also.

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Here's another from the same shoot.

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I like the first and the last.. Great ones!!

How do you focus on your subject? manual or autofocus? I noticed what helps is to have the lights on...autofocus on your subject..change it to manual focus so the camera isn't searching in the dark for what to focus on and then shoot..if you do these steps, but leave it on autofocus in the dark..your camera might be searching and changing it's focus.

DavidSR wrote in post #6099367
How do you focus on your subject? manual or autofocus? I noticed what helps is to have the lights on...autofocus on your subject..change it to manual focus so the camera isn't searching in the dark for what to focus on and then shoot..if you do these steps, but leave it on autofocus in the dark..your camera might be searching and changing it's focus.

DavidSR: I focus exactly as you suggest (full light in the room, autofocus, switch to manual, set the lighting for the shot).

I'm beginning to suspect I may have a lens and/or body focusing issue, however slight. I've submitted quite a few photos to stock photo sites, and most all of the rejections I've received are due to "Subject out of focus or focus not where we would like it to be."

Does anyone know if there's a way to calibrate the autofocus?

Thank you! This was a fun shoot. I'm really getting into extended exposure shots, although the PP is sometimes a nuisance - hot pixels seem to increase with exposure time.

I like the last one!

jsvphoto, what camera and lens were you using? ISO, shutter speed, aperture? Tripod?

And, I really like your use of light and shadow.

John,

I was shooting a 30D on a tripod (manfratto with a pistol grip, not that it really matters). My lens is an 18-250mm Tamron, which tends to be a little dark. The shutter speed for these shots was betwene 2 and 3 seconds. The only light source was the pen light (well, I actually used a second flashlight to bounce light off the ceiling for the first shot, to give some indirect light to the face of the watch without washing out the glow-in-the-dark hands). That's all from memory; the aperature I don't recall for sure, and the photos are on a different computer than I'm using now. I believe, however, I set it to approximately 10-12.

jsvphoto wrote in post #6104061
John,

I was shooting a 30D on a tripod (manfratto with a pistol grip, not that it really matters). My lens is an 18-250mm Tamron, which tends to be a little dark. The shutter speed for these shots was betwene 2 and 3 seconds. The only light source was the pen light (well, I actually used a second flashlight to bounce light off the ceiling for the first shot, to give some indirect light to the face of the watch without washing out the glow-in-the-dark hands). That's all from memory; the aperature I don't recall for sure, and the photos are on a different computer than I'm using now. I believe, however, I set it to approximately 10-12.

Does the 30D have 'live view' like the 40D? That live view has markedly helped my manual focusing.

You're talking about a view on the LCD, like P&S cameras have had for years now? If so, then no, the 30D does not have that. Only LCD review after shooting.

Until joining this forum, I'd never heard the term "chimping." I wonder, how do all the anti-chimpers feel about the new-fangled live view feature? I bet they're up in arms, eh? Seems silly to me for people to be so down on that. Was one of the main selling points of going digital for me. SOOO much better than using the paper and pen technique with my 35mm. So much easier to learn with instant results...

jsvphoto wrote in post #6104145
You're talking about a view on the LCD, like P&S cameras have had for years now? If so, then no, the 30D does not have that. Only LCD review after shooting.

Until joining this forum, I'd never heard the term "chimping." I wonder, how do all the anti-chimpers feel about the new-fangled live view feature? I bet they're up in arms, eh? Seems silly to me for people to be so down on that. Was one of the main selling points of going digital for me. SOOO much better than using the paper and pen technique with my 35mm. So much easier to learn with instant results...

Especially when one can view the histogram, to help decide whether what one is seeing on the little LCD is accurate.

I'm really liking the 40D's live view. It has a small rectangle which can be moved about, to settle on the area of main focus. Then zoomed in 5x or 10x, so that manual focusing is very accurate. Takes awhile, but with a still life and tripod, time isn't critical.

That's sweet