What/Who to Focus On

Ever since I've switched to a full-frame camera (shallow depth of field) I have problems choosing what to focus on. Most of the time I use the rule "Focus on whatever is closest to you". This works well when shooting food, landscapes, etc... But as I found out today it doesn't always work well for people.

I was shooting a commercial photograph of two people talking. They were facing each other and I was standing behind one of them a tiny bit over her shoulder. So I could see easily see both their faces. One was facing the camera and one was in profile. The person in profile was closest to the camera so I focused on her. Mistake. I ended up with the person closest to me in focus, but the person father way out of focus.

Yeah I know, I need to get a DOF chart and memorize it. I also need to check focus on the camera display by zooming me. But I was in a hurry (mistake) and I fogot about all those things.

But the point remains....if I would have moved my focal point to the person father away, the photo would have turned out fine. I realize (in hindsight) that the person facing the camera was more important than the person in profile. I didn't need both of them in focus, but I needed to pick the right person to focus on.

Anyway, maybe some of you can share advice on how you choose what to focus on when there are multiple subjects?

(I left the CF card at work. I'll try to post photos of what I'm talking about tomorrow)

Nothing to do with FF or crop. You will have same problem with either camera. If you want to make sure both subjects in focus then you need to make sure they are in same plane if using wider apertures, otherwise stop down. No need to memorize anything.

yeah, you had the same issue with crop. You always need to focus on your subject.

Bryan Peterson's "Understanding Exposure" is a good book that covers some of the basics of photography, including how aperture affects "Depth-of-field" (how much is "in focus")

Thanks for the advice! Much appreciated.

1) I didn't have enough light to stop down so both subjects were in focus.
2) In the heat of the battle I don't have tie to reference a DOF chart (although I do have one)

I guess there's nothing to be learned here. I just made a mistake and focused on the wrong person. It happens.

Here's the photo I'm referring to.

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looks like you were at too low of an ap to get everyone in focus, perhaps bumping the ISO next time to compensate?

and yes, I agree if you had focused on the blonde, the lady in the foreground would've been out of focus, but you don't really see her face anyway, so guess its up to where you want the focal point to be.

Thanks!

I should have put this with the photo:

ISO 800
f/4.0 at 1/80 sec

So you're right. I should have bumped up the ISO and then I could have closed the aperture more. But honestly, I think it would have looked okay if the woman in the foreground was blurry.

What/who to focus on really depends on the story you are trying to tell with the image. If you were shooting to capture something to sell clip boards, your example might have been OK and then the discussion would shift to composition.

Typically, I try and focus on the point I want the viewer to pay the most attention and generally having everyone or everything in focus does not accomplish this. Use DOF as another tool to help tell your story by leading your viewers where you want them to look.

BINGO! Thank you Kevin for getting to the essence of what I'm talking about. You make it sound so simple, and yet it's easy to get off track once in a while.

Thank you!

mitchman wrote in post #10218901
BINGO! Thank you Kevin for getting to the essence of what I'm talking about. You make it sound so simple, and yet it's easy to get off track once in a while.

Thank you!

You are welcome. While it may sound easy, I totally can relate to getting off track from it. If only I could shoot all my photos after seeing them and figuring out what I did wrong things would be so much better.

The biggest thing that has helped me is to try and have an idea in mind before taking the shot and plan the angle and composition before shooting. It is not always possible to do it, but when you can, it makes the decision of focus point much easier.

I try to ask myself some basic questions like:

Who will see the photo?
What do I want them to see?
Where do I need to be to best capture it?
How do I set my exposure to lead them to what I want them to see?

Then I normally ask myself after seeing the shots

When am I going to learn how to do this?
Why the hell did I cut off that hand, foot, arm?

Beautiful! That's exactly why I started this thread. To get some "tips" to help decide what to focus on.

THANK YOU KEVIN! (I'm printing out your list of questions)