practicing in the park....

[pepper44]

I took my new camera to the park to practice, I'm having trouble getting it to focus where I want. This is what I ended up with, tell me what you think:



http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y32/pepper445/20050606_0231.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y32/pepper445/20050606_0211.jpg

I know the butterfly is a little out of focus, but I tried so hard....:dunno
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y32/pepper445/20050606_0208edit.jpg

Any suggestions are welcome.

-Amy

[gluwater]

I like the 2nd picture the best. I think it may be slightly out of focus but I'm having the same problem with my shots. I just got a new camera too and have been trying AF and MF but cannot seem to focus on just the spot I am trying for. I'll let you know if I find some trick that helps. Keep up the good work.

[TristanP]

I also like #2. A slightly different crop may help it, as would some sharpening, but it does look slightly OOF. Practice, practice, practice.

[BigAl]

Amy, I like the first shot even though it's slightly soft, the subject is nicely framed. Did you run it thru a USM in your photo editor?

Three things I did with the 350d: avoid auto mode (I still use P mode quite a bit); use the centre focus point; and set the exposure metering to partial metering. I also found that a lot of the softness I found was due to camera shake rather than any problem with the focusing. Play around with the higher ISOs to check this out.

regards
alan

[ian408]

The second and third shots are a little out of focus. But they also have nice
composition. The first shot is also nicely composed but is also a little blown
out.

I use a tool called "ExifReader" to view Exif data and I see you've got the
camera set to Auto and metering set to "Division". Does the XT have
"Evaluative" metering? You might have better results with that. Or maybe
my exif reader is incorrect in labeling the metering mode?

Your bee and butterfly are taken at 1/160th and 1/80th of a second. You
might try a higher f stop--maybe f11 or so. As for AF, look through the
camera manual and you'll notice the Canon can use multiple points. In the
case that feature is enabled, the camera trys to use the points with the
most contrast as AF points. Using the Canon supplied software, you can
see where the focus point was set. For the bees, I am going to guess it's
to the right and more toward the petal.

The short version, f11 or better and center point AF (or be sure what you're
focused on).

Nice work, keep 'em comin'


Ian

[Andy]

The second and third shots are a little out of focus. But they also have nice
composition. The first shot is also nicely composed but is also a little blown
out.

I use a tool called "ExifReader" to view Exif data and I see you've got the
camera set to Auto and metering set to "Division". Does the XT have
"Evaluative" metering? You might have better results with that. Or maybe
my exif reader is incorrect in labeling the metering mode?

Your bee and butterfly are taken at 1/160th and 1/80th of a second. You
might try a higher f stop--maybe f11 or so. As for AF, look through the
camera manual and you'll notice the Canon can use multiple points. In the
case that feature is enabled, the camera trys to use the points with the
most contrast as AF points. Using the Canon supplied software, you can
see where the focus point was set. For the bees, I am going to guess it's
to the right and more toward the petal.

The short version, f11 or better and center point AF (or be sure what you're
focused on).

Nice work, keep 'em comin'


Ian

:agree nice job ian - thanks mate

[pepper44]

Thanks for the advice. It's taking a lot of confused effort on my part to figure everything out!! I feel like I need to be somebody's apprentice or something in order to ever get all this straight.

I'm not one to give up easily though.

-Amy

[wxwax]

I'm wondering if it isn't something as simple as you having the lens too close to the flower and butterfly to focus. What lens and how close, pepper?

[Higgmeister]

Hi Amy,
I'm having similar problems with a brand new 20D. I like to shoot manual and use the center focus as my preference. If the 20D is like your Digital Rebel XT, the multi-pattern focus will pick from the closest point. I ended up with a few OOF wasp pixs till I read this in the manual. Now I just center, recompose and shoot. Wish I could say they come out:doh.

I think it's just a matter of getting used to new gear and shooting lots of pictures. I hope that eventually it will become second nature like my old, trusty Pentax is.