Focusing advice - Portraits/Weddings

AndrewSt

AndrewSt

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I have recently set up back button focusing on my D750 and while keeping the camera in AF-C and single point autofocus I have been missing the focus on some shots when using wide open apertures.

Is single focus point the best method? Or would 9 point be better for weddings etc. It has been fine for posed portraits but you obviously have more time and the subjects are not moving as much.

Any suggestions?
 
No easy answer to this.
I have a number of fast primes that are well suited to portrait work. One downside is that you must be spot on with the focus. And for me that means the iris of the nearest eye.
My d750 is pretty good at doing this for me in auto-a and "auto". You could try group or even single. If I use single then I tend to use the centre point and either recompose or crop afterwards.
I'm not a fan of bbf, prefer to use the shutter button.
 
I am not sure on bbf yet, but I do see the benefits of it. Will take a while to get used to it I think.

Yes, aiming for the iris of the nearest eye, although steeping up to FF the DOF is obviously significantly smaller and will take time to get used to.
 
FWIW I use back button focus, AF-C and 51 poivt 3d tracking with my d800. However for weddings most of the time I will stop down to around f/4. The big advantage of BBF is you can stop focusing, effectivly locking focus when you need to easily. Shooting through a birdcage veil for example
 
I get the use of 3d tracking etc when stopping down, find it works quite well on the D750 for moving targets at F4 or above. Unsure at wider apertures, I have so far just stuck with single point AF-C.

I was reading Ross Harveys review of the D750, he seemed to suggest he went with 9 point AF-C.

I think I need to practice under different lighting work out what works best for me. Bit of a difference coming from mostly landscapes to people.
 
AndrewSt said:
I was reading Ross Harveys review of the D750, he seemed to suggest he went with 9 point AF-C.
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But ... you're not Ross Harvey :)

Just by way of an illustration of the fact that the best way is the one that you find best ... I did very little posed stuff apart from a few groups groups at any of the 400+ weddings we shot, but after experimenting very early on with BBF, multiple focus points and so forth as recommended by various Photo Gods, I settled quite happily on Canon's default settings. I probably used exposure lock or multiple focus points 20 times in 10 years and tracking focus less than that.
 
Obviously...;)

I completely get that what works for one won't necessarily for me, but more interested to see if the missed focus shots are due how I have technically set up on the camera or (more likely) my inexperience and need to practice, practice, practice!
 
AndrewSt said:
... more interested to see if the missed focus shots are due how I have technically set up on the camera or (more likely) my inexperience and need to practice, practice, practice!
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Obviously I have no idea - but I do know which I'd put money on :)
 
As Dan says its simply what works for you. I use Af-C and tracking because it works in combination with BBF for me
 
AndrewSt said:
It has been fine for posed portraits but you obviously have more time and the subjects are not moving as much.
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they arnt moving that fast! most and i do mean most people who shoot sports use a single point focus system.. you need time to get used to it and as someone else said.. with a FF its less forgiving wide open...
 
I manually focus if wideish open on my D700 for portraits, or use half press and hold then recompose and shoot if on the move. A lot of it is down to anticipating what's going to happen.
 
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