Technique Question

<p>I was hoping to get some advice from the more experienced photographers out there.<br>

I currently shoot with the D600 and mainly use prime lenses - 35 1.4G and 50 1.4G. My primary subject is my 17 month old son, who does not hold still, and obviously, does not take direction well. I do like to dabble in nature and bird photography as well. My main problem coming from the D7000 to the D600 is missing shots and focus. I shoot with single point focus and usually AF-S or AF-C. Because my son doesn't sit still, I find the focus and recompose method isn't very reliable. I also feel that if my focus point is not in the center, the focus is very unreliable as well. So I mainly just keep the focus point in the center, therefore, my composition isn't always what I would like. Because my son is always on the go and cute little moments can happen in the blink of an eye, I don't have much time to think about or try moving my focus points or mess with settings or else I risk losing the shot. <br>

Does anyone have any advice for me? How to get nice, focused shots already composed well in camera? I don't remember having this much trouble nailing focus with the D7000, but then again my son wasn't as mobile at that point. But come to think about it, I could usually nail my focus with hummingbirds with the D7000, where as with the D600, I'm not as lucky.</p>

<p>Any advice is appreciated. Thanks and I apologize in advance if this seems like a silly question. </p>

 

<p>When my daughter was your son's age, I found that either I had to stage photo sessions by setting up toys, etc which would attract her and then she at least wasn't running all over the place, or use flash to stop the motion. Looking back over the many photos from that era, I'm pretty satisfied with the results. All mine were taken with a manual focus rangefinder, although I did also own a SLR. Mostly I kept the aperture around f5.6-8 to get the depth of field necessary to be in focus while accommodating her movements. As far as composition, I usually relied on final cropping afterwards. (attached photo is from a Xmas card)</p><div></div>

<p>It's nice to nail the focus but more important is taking "the" shot. Case in point, this image from this weekend's trip to the science center...</p>

<p><img src="http://wolfeye.smugmug.com/Photography/MyPhotography/i-DmMNBNM/1/M/DSC_0053-M.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="400" /></p>

<p>Close inspection reveals the focus isn't tack sharp. So what. This is an expression of two kids sharing a moment of joy. I nailed the capture. Had I focused on my son and recomposed to get my daughter also in the shot I'd have missed it, so I snapped the picture.</p>

<p>IMHO the focus is secondary, so please don't get hung up on it and miss the shots as they come. Life's too short. :)</p>

<p>I did a bit of child photography with my D300 and have had luck using the following technique for moving kiddos: First off, I'm a thumb focuser, so I'd program the AEL button to AF-ON and set the camera to continuos servo AF with singe point. This way you can still use it as a Single servo AF if they do actually stop moving just by letting go of the AF ON, recomposing and pressing the shutter. Otherwise for moving kid I'd just plant my focus point on the closest eye, hold down AF ON and pray. I'd use continous release as well and do bursts of 3 (the middle shot was often the sharpest). Stopping down a bit and using some bounce flash would improve you chances as well, but then you lose the wonderful shallow DOF those fantastic prime lenses and full frame give you. <br>

I know this might not help as much with D600s tightly packed 39 point system, but it's worth a shot. I can't speak to the usefullness of dynamic modes of that 39 point system, but that might be worth a try too (as opposed to singe point).</p>

<p>Single point AF is often the best choice but sometimes not for moving targets. In your case it isn't working for you so I suggest you try some of the other AF options. Try Auto-area AF. Your D600 can use face detection to decide which AF points to use so you might find the magic of that AF system works better than you are expecting. You can also press the shutter button half way more than once until the AF system picks the points that you want. Once you have locked onto focus don't think about it long enough for your subject to move, take the shot.</p>

<p>I guess using a higher ISO than you're used to using, say maybe 1600 rather than 400, will give you 2 more stops of 'aperture'.....for a much deeper zone of sharpness.</p>

<p>Co-incidentally that <em>may</em> be why you appear to have a lower keeper rate with the D600 than the D7000. The inherently shallower DoF with FX compared to DX will have an effect with mobile targets!</p>

<p>My solution in cases like these is maybe a bit old-fashioned, but it tends to work: manual focus. Big advantage you have AF-S lenses, because you can use AF to get a "as good as focussed" image, and then tweak your focus manually. It takes a bit of practise, but it's usually a whole lot faster than fiddling with AF points and focussing again.<br>

For sure, you will not get all keepers this way, but neither will that happen with AF. The D600 viewfinder is nice large, so determining focus visually isn't too hard.</p>

<p>Plus what Patrick wrote: more important to get the right expression and the right moment.</p>

<p>In highly fluid environments I use two techniques. <br>

1. AF-C mode with spot focus selected--place the focus point in the most likely useful location<br>

2. Anticipation of the action as best as I can.</p>

<p>Purists will disagree, but...</p>

<p>Don't try to compose in the viewfinder.</p>

<p>When I was about 14-years old, the photographer for our small town newspaper was nice enough to give me some pointers. His advice was get the perspective (angle on your subject) that you want, get sharp focus, get everything you want in the viewfinder <strong>and more</strong>. Do your final composition under the enlarger when you have all the time in the world.</p>

<p>I have always found that good advice. With the D600, in fact with most current digital cameras, you have more than enough pixels to allow extensive cropping in post processing. Do your final composition in Photoshop, or whatever editor you are using. And use a small aperture for good DOF.</p>

<p>Here is an example from my portfolio:</p>

<p><a href="/photo/1421752">http://www.photo.net/photo/1421752</a></p>

<p>If you scroll down in the discussion, you will see a scan of the full negative.</p>

<p>Not that it's wrong, but it sounds like a shifted hyper-focal preset to me....everything from 2 to 12ft......ie about 3m @ f8... just do it!</p>

<p>Composition is a combo of placement of key features within the final 'frame'...</p>

 

<blockquote>

<p>get sharp focus,</p>

 

</blockquote>

<p>..............But the little blighters keep moving..... Nice idea.....but not realistic!</p>

<p>I'm having fun right now making use of that third variable that wasn't available when I used to shoot film. (Well it was, but you didn't have anywhere near the flexibility.) I'm shooting outdoor sports with a D800 and 70-200 VRII. I set my aperture and my shutter speed and let the camera choose the third exposure determinant viz. ISO. So this means manual exposure mode. If the sun is shining then I'll generally choose a speed of around 1/1000 and an aperture of f/4. <br /> I shoot raw anyway so if I happen to overexpose it can be adjusted in post.</p>

<p>I also use continuous autofocus and set the AF-On button to do the focussing.</p>

<p>By the way if I want to use f/1.4 (I have the 85G and the Sigma 35) then I pretty much have to use live view and have the camera on a tripod - not ideal for photographing children moving erratically. If you shoot wide open with fast primes hand-held you should probably expect to miss the focus some of the time.</p>

<p>You can also try this and find yourself with pleasant results. I do not own a D600 but it should work fine as well. Try aperture mode. A value of f/4 - f/5.6 should be OK. Crank up the iso if you're shooting indoors to obtain a shutter speed that can freeze motion without problems. Choose Continuous Mode [Continuous-servo AF (AF-C)], and be sure to turn the camera's dial to the desired burst mode (CL or CH). Center-weighted metering should do the trick depending on the situations.<br>

Try the setting of AF-C (predictive focus tracking automatically activated according to subject status in continuous-servo AF), with a dynamic range of 21 focus point since your baby son will move kind of unpredictable. If it's totally unpredictable, i.e. with sudden and very fast moves from left to right or up and down, you might consider the 3D Tracking (39 points). Try to focus mainly in the face. Start taking pictures!<br>

Since you will be shooting in burst mode, you will probably end up with a large amount of pictures. But that's the fun part...you may sit down with your wife and pick the ones you love the most. I am sure you will end up with some very funny too. Go on and enjoy, good luck! [ I hope I didn't forget any other settings :)) ]<br>

<br />P.S. Additionally you can set the Picture Control to Neutral, deactivate the Active D-Lighting if you're shooting indoors or RAW files and adjust the White Balance for sunlight or room lights (incandescent). </p>

<p>I have some of the gear you do - a two year old, a D600 and the 50mm 1.4G but not the 35mm 1.4G.</p>

<p>I can think of a number of tricks. Tricks that I picked up from old pros shooting manual focus gear but they are equally useful today.</p>

<p>Some of these techniques requires better control over focusing which is the reason I suggest using AF-On for focusing, also called back button focusing. That means that the camera is only focusing while you press a button. You can also press the shutter button and take a photo at any time. The focusing mode I suggest is AF-C, release priority and AE lock reprogrammed to AF-On.</p>

<p><strong>#1 - Prefocus</strong>. When your child is running towards you prefocus where the child is heading and then shoot several images when the child gets there.</p>

<p><strong>#2 - Zone focus</strong>. Using a smaller aperture like f/5.6 and a wider lens like your 35mm, you focus at something a fixed distance from you. Let's say 7 feet. Check out a DOF calculator so see how much DOF you have. In this case it's from 5.5 feet to 10 feet. That means that your child will be in perfect focus at 7 feet but acceptable from 5.5 feet to 10 feet. So without refocusing your camera you can work within this focus zone and take many great shots without having to wait for AF to lock on.</p>

<p><strong>#3 - Constant distance</strong>. This is focusing by focusing on the distance instead of focusing on the focus :-) Anyway, principle being if you keep the distance between the subject and yourself the same you don't need to refocus. For instance if someone leans towards you, you lean back to keep the distance the same. If someone takes one step back you take one step forward. This can effectively be used with AF because you help the AF by taking out some of the movement.</p>

<p><strong>#4 - Know your focal length</strong>. Not really a focusing trick but if you know your focal lengths and the relationship between subject distance and lens coverage you can immediately put yourself in the right position for the composition you want. On the 35mm lens the relationship is 1:1 with the long edge. This technique also allows you to confidently shoot without looking in the viewfinder which sometime can be a very powerful tool, especially with kids.</p>

<p>These are a few tricks to get you started. These can also be combined. Keep in mind that the closer the lens is focused to where you want the focus to be, the faster the camera is going to aquire focus.</p>

<p>Also remember as a general rule to bend your knees and shoot from ground level. And don't be afraid of shooting lots of shots to get a few great ones!</p>

<p><em>PS. Also when you're using AF-C and you want to track a moving subject with AF you need change your focus point so it's on the subject and then keep the AF-On button pressed. Fire the shutter when you see something you like.</em></p>

<p>I suggest not overcomplicating the issue. Sounds like you are shooing using a single frame release and have the AF not set to continuous or "predictive" follow focus. While the suggestions that you received are all workable solutions to your problem and, before the AF and multiple burst cameras, those were the most common techniques used by sports photogs. but you should not have to jump through those hoops to nail the active child<br>

I have not shot with a D600 body, but I am quite certain that if you set the shutter to shoot a fast frame rate, switch the focus mode to continuous predictive and change the AF points from 1 (which minimizes your chances of having the camera work its magic) to 9 (if the 600 has that choice). I shoot sideline sports using the D3/D700 bodies and the 9 focus points works far better for me when tracking a soccer player or footall player racing through the frame. I remember what little kids are like and while they are definitely unpredictable and quick, they are not nearly as fast or unpredictable as a running back trying to evade a tackle or a soccer player juking a defender.<br>

Set the camera up with continuous focus, use 9 (not one or the max dynamic setting which in the D3 it is 51 points and I find seldom works that well), set the aperture at around 5.6 light permitting, initially put the center AF point on the childs eye, press the shutter 1/2 way (or the AF back button if you prefer) and fire away as you keep the camera following the kid. The sophistication of the new predictive AF is remarkable and it should have no trouble keeping the focus locked on the child's face. If it works for an adult soccer player flying down the field with the aperture at 2.8, it should work with the child. Keep practicing - I think you will be surprised at what will happen.</p>

<p>One word... taxidermy. Makes photography of children MUCH easier.</p>

<p>I agree with Brooks as regards composition - you have a D600 so you hve plenty of leeway for cropping - get more into the frame than you need, and crop it later.</p>

<p>I shoot the D600. I find the 9 point focus to be more reliable in AF-C. Lots of good advice above, but this is one more thing you could play with.</p>

<p>i kinda have to agree with stephen worth's solution of taxidermy</p>

<p>As you have identified that the difference in making focus <strong><em>seems be related to using different cameras</em></strong> I suggest that you first look the <strong><em>typical aperture</em></strong> and the <strong><em>typical framing</em></strong> that you are using to detect if the perceived 'not nailing focus all the time' is actually a <strong><em>Depth of Field</em></strong> issue.<br>

The difference in DoF will likely be more noticeable the tighter the shot that you make. </p>

<p>For example, (roughly speaking): if you take a Tight Half Shot of a typical child and use an Nikon APS-C Camera at F/2.8 you will have about 7 inches DoF - which is enough for most of the head / face to appear quite sharp under scrutiny.<br>

But if you frame the same image with your D600, and use F/2.8, you will have inly about 4 1/2 inches DoF, which is shallow enough to lose an eye and for to to appear that it is 'out of focus' and make you think that your shooting technique is making the shots 'out of focus'.</p>

<p>If you are typically using safe apertures, for example F/8~F/11, then disregard the above.</p>

<p>WW<br>

</p>

<p>I'm sorry I am just now responding to all of your helpful advice. I may be wrong here, but I swear it is the camera. The autofocus system has already been "repaired" by Nikon. Why have multiple focus points, if the only reliable one is the center point? If my subject takes up the majority of the frame, the focus is usually spot on. However, when I step back and have more in the frame, it is like my camera flips out. This is whether I photograph my child or still subject. This is the exact problem I had before I sent it off. I took it to a local camera shop and that was what he noticed too. <br>

I shoot multiple frame rates (usually on CH) with a high shutter speed. Honestly, I don't shoot at f/8 or higher. I like the depth of field I get when shooting at high apertures. I realize I will have some shots out of focus - but when ALL are, I feel something is wrong. I see a large number of photographs shot by photographers using similar settings. <br>

I guess I am just frustrated and feel just out of luck here. I had a bad experience with Nikon repair, and I don't want to send it back. </p>