Focusing on more than one person

willkia

willkia

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Will
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Hi guys

So if you were to focus on more than one person and they were standing next to each other at the same level where would you put your focus point?

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In this this photo for example where would you locate the dot? Best focus point mode?

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Thanks
 
sk66 said:
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@willkia are you aware as Steven illustrates that you can select any single focus point of the 19 showing in your first "back of camera" image......do you have the camera manual to tell you how to fully control what the camera will focus on???

Having you actually tried any self structured tests.....(as I recall suggesting in your other very similar thread)......even perhaps a 45 degree row of batteries to experiment with focus point choices and how aperture will control DoF and yield more "subjects" in focus???
 
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Maybe read up on focus planes and DoF effect, would be better than someone telling you left/right/middle as you will be able to use it many situations where things could be slightly different angle or depth etc.
 
You get slightly more dof behind the subject, so I would focus on the nearest hunk, and use an aperture that brought the farthest hunk into acceptable focus (f4 - 5.6 probably but I'd check). Focussing on the shoulder (the furthest part of him) as sk66 shows, would make sense.
 
There’s only 1 plane offocus. You can only focus on 1 thing!

The answer is the same, no matter how you ask the question. If you have 2 subjects, you need to ensure the dominant subject is the one you focus on, and ensure sufficient DoF to make sure both are ‘acceptably sharp’.

And focus modes aren’t really helpful. As previously mentioned, pick a focus point and focus on the nearest eye of your dominant subject. You can allow the camera to start picking the focus point from a group when you understand exactly how it’ll do that and that it’ll do it as well asor better than you. A static subject requiring critical focus is never going to be on that list.
 
willkia said:
That was about a single model

This is when you have 2 models.

If I was to pur the focus point on model on lefts face, would the other model still be in focus?
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Ok last time it wasn’t 2... it was 1 or 3
willkia said:
What focus point would I use if I wanted to take a photo of 3 people stood in a row?
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The answer is still the same, as above, and I’m sure I’ve written a detailed response to this, 1 plane of focus, control the DoF to ensure everything else is ‘close enough to being in focus’
 
willkia said:
That was about a single model

This is when you have 2 models.

If I was to pur the focus point on model on lefts face, would the other model still be in focus?
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If the models are on the same focal plane then yes.

A single model, two models, 10 models it doesn’t matter. You need to learn about depth of field.

I posted a link to Mike Browne’s YouTube channel in your last thread. Do yourself a favour and spend the weekend watching his videos (his earlier instructional ones). He explains things in simple easy to understand ways and was a great resource when I started.
 
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ihasa said:
You get slightly more dof behind the subject, so I would focus on the nearest hunk, and use an aperture that brought the farthest hunk into acceptable focus (f4 - 5.6 probably but I'd check). Focussing on the shoulder (the furthest part of him) as sk66 shows, would make sense.
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The merest hunk? But they are both stood a table the same level. No neither one is nearest
 
willkia said:
That was about a single model

This is when you have 2 models.

If I was to pur the focus point on model on lefts face, would the other model still be in focus?
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That would depend on the depth of field of sharp focus available with the lens and aperture you were using. With your lens at 18mm and set to f11 then everything would be in focus, but set to 35mm and f1.8 then probably not.
 
willkia said:
The merest hunk? But they are both stood a table the same level. No neither one is nearest
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Nice typo. ;)

They don't *appear* to be on the same focal plane in the image above.
 
ancient_mariner said:
That would depend on the depth of field of sharp focus available with the lens and aperture you were using. With your lens at 18mm and set to f11 then everything would be in focus, but set to 35mm and f1.8 then probably not.
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Yeah I want them both in focus and a nice blurred background. I just wasn’t sure if it mattered if the focus point was on one of the lad rather than the other
 
willkia said:
Yeah I want them both in focus and a nice blurred background. I just wasn’t sure if it mattered if the focus point was on one of the lad rather than the other
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In broad terms no! it is the DoF that is important as explained in various replies above and on the other thread.

Perhaps this might help clue you in as well take you through the steps to calculate the aperture you should select http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html

But, as in the case you posted of two (or more) subjects separated by either lateral distance or longitudinal distance you really need to choose the focus point and not the camera choices of centre, zone, all points. As Steve @sk66 illustrated you should use a single point but not the centre one. I hope that makes sense.
 
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If you want both in equally good focus, and the background as blurred as possible, then you should focus halfway between them. Switch to manual focus, focus on one, and then on the other, repeat until you've got a sense of how much you turn the focus between the two. Then turn it half way between them. Then choose an aperture which previous experience, or DoF tables which you've learned to trust, or simply use your camera's stop-down-to-selected-aperture button to check the DoF for yourself, best done in live view using magnification. Once you know how to do this well by yourself, you can then compare your best shot at it with what your camera does if you select group focus (if your camera has such a function).
 
Isn't one of the most obvious things to do is to get them standing closer together?

That way you can open the lens wider, and get more of the background blur you're after as well as having them both in focus. Part of your role as the photographer is to direct the subject(s). And watch out for those cranes!!
 
willkia said:
That was about a single model

This is when you have 2 models.

If I was to pur the focus point on model on lefts face, would the other model still be in focus?
Click to expand...

I think the point is that this question can be answered in the same way if you have 1 model, 2 models or 100 models. If you understand depth of field and how aperture affects it, you can figure it out for yourself - if the models are on a different focal plane you have to increase your depth of field to get them both in focus. How do you do that? You stop down the aperture.

If you want them both sharp and other stuff blurred, you focus halfway between them so your depth of field extends enough to have them both "acceptably sharp" and other stuff blurred. If they are basically stood next to each other but on a slightly different focal plane, just stop down enough so they are both covered by your depth of field.
 
Is you lens back focusing? Looks like one guy is slightly closer to the camera, and he's the one OOF
 
Phil V said:
The answer is still the same, as above, and I’m sure I’ve written a detailed response to this, 1 plane of focus, control the DoF to ensure everything else is ‘close enough to being in focus’
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As the OP is shooting Canon, simply get a TS-E lens and swing the plane of focus around to cover both subjects wherever they are :)
 
Musicman said:
As the OP is shooting Canon, simply get a TS-E lens and swing the plane of focus around to cover both subjects wherever they are :)
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I surmise this might be beyond his budget ......and frankly he appears to be struggling to get to grips with DoF and the application of aperture to achieve a good end result already, so to throw such a specialised lens into the mix will likely complicate matters even further???
 
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