So this weekend I discovered the joys of Auto Focus and Manual Focus.
I’d noticed a spiders web outside on my trailer* and thought it looked quite pretty with the rain droplets thing.
So out I go with the camera and start trying to get a snap…
(No idea Pinky. I seem to have lost the settings. I’ll get them later)
OK, just so we’re all on the same page here. No you can’t see a spiders web. Seems the AF on the camera decides the spiders web isn’t worth focusing on and instead picks something behind it. In my case it’s the junk mound that is my back garden.
So, in an attempt to correct this I discovered MF** or “manual focus”.
(yes, there should be technobabble here too. My world has deserted me…)
OK, I know there are flies on it, and so technically the title of this blog entry isn’t correct. I also know the manual focus isn’t “technically” in focus, but I actually think that’s more to do with the Aperture I was using than my inability to see.
The AF photo hasn’t been toughed in any way save getting made a little smaller in file size. The MF photo has had the usual plethora of Picasa “I’m Feeling Lucky” done to it. I really need to work out what that crap is myself.
* Yes, I own a trailer. I bought it in a moment of madness in reaction to finding out I was going to be a Daddy. I needed to invest in a “man thing”. There’s something manly about reversing a trailer. Something that lets you look into the eyes of those big rig drivers and share the nuances, the skill, of backing up with a load on (so to speak). Course, I’ve only been told this – I have problems going forwards with the trailer on…
** Last night while uploading the photos and discovering they were out of focus or the focal range was too short, I discovered MF also stands for “Mother F***er”…
A tip that works on some auto-focus cameras: you can maintain a focus lock by holding the shutter release button half-down.
(Shutter release is a bit of a misnomer in these days of digital cameras, isn’t it. No idea what the proper name for it nowadays is. Maybe it’s the ‘take a picture’ button?)
Anyway, with focus lock, what you can do is centre the thing you want to take the photo of, and half-press the ‘take a picture’ button. This kicks the camera into life, and focuses on the thing in the centre of the screen. Now, while still holding the ‘take a picture’ button half-down (and so maintaining the focus lock) you can now move the camera to frame the shot how you want, while keeping what you want in focus – even if it’s no longer in the centre of the frame.
OF course this is absolutely no use if what you’re photographing is something as ethereal (and hard for the auto-focus to sense) as a spider’s web, but it has come in handy for me over the years.
Cheers,
Geoff
Hey Geoff,
Yeah I’ve used that a few times on potrait shots to try and keep the baba in focus but not in the centre of the shot.
The 400D also have a 9 point focus system which allows you to specify which region of the screen you want in focus if you so wish.
Oh, and I took more photos of the web last night. I need to look at them, but maybe this time one is in focus.