Prefocus

Hello everyone,

Please excuse my ignorance on this subject. I have a question about

pre-focusing to ask. How do you prefocus a bride walking down the

isle to ensure the image is sharp? I usually focus on a pew and as

soon as she walks close to that pew I trip the shutter. However some

of the images are not too sharp (kind of blurry), and I usually set

my camera on Manual at 1/30 and f5.6 for these shots. Should I shoot

at f8.0 or smaller to ensure sharper images? The reason I chose f5.6

is to open up the dark ambience inside the church, so if I go to

f8.0 or f11 the background may be too dark. Please advise how you

would handle situations like this. I'm using a 35mm Pentax SLR with

flash. Thank you.

Try the link about hyperfocal distance focusing.

 

Cheers.

Good link.

 

What focal length do you use?

Your sharpness issues may be related to your shutter speed. Can you post an example?

1/30 is a bit slow unless you're using a wide angle lens.

Ben C.,

Thanks for the link. I will surely read that thoroughly.

 

Jewan,

I'm pretty sure my focal lengths were between 50mm and 70mm.

 

Ben R.,

What shutter speed do you normally use in this situation, i.e. when the subject is moving?

 

Thanks all for your quick responses.

Make sure to remind the bride before hand that she should not rush down the isle into her new life. :)

"I'm pretty sure my focal lengths were between 50mm and 70mm."

 

Then it has probably nothing to do with your depth of field.

 

DOF @F5.6 @ 70mm @ 6m = 2.57 m

 

It has probably to do with your shutter speed and slight movement of your subject, as Ben suggested.

1/30 @ 70mm is a bit tricky already. When you hold the camera a long time in one position (because of the prefocussing) and are a bit nervous it is better to use something a bit shorter.

Look at the shot on my page. 50mm lens, set at f2.0, 1/60th sec., pre-focused, tripod, cable release, no flash.

1/30 of a shutter speed is too slow for a walking bride and those general type shots. I normally up my sensitivity to around ISO 400-800 and shoot at least 1/90 regardless of the aperature used (However i use even a wider aperature to up the shutter and bring in the ambient). I would guarentee that your blurryness is a result of 1/30 (now 1/30 at F16 is a different story because all you would then have is flash freeze - but ugly black backgrounds).<div></div>

With flash 1/60, without 1/125 minimum

If you ever watched a photographer who woked in the era when weddings were done with medium format, manual focus, fixed focal length lenses do aisle shots this is what you would have seen: They would position themselves 1/2 to 1/3 of the way up the aisle and pre focus at a distance that would frame the people with a little space above and below them. As the people hit that point they would start to shoot and then start walking backwards, maintaining a constant distance with the people, and take several more shots. You really need more than one shot. You need a good looking shot, because they are common album shots. A little flash will help freeze them and give a sharper looking picture.

If you are using a flash as the primary/only source of light, 1/30 might get it. If you are using any ambient (which at 1/30th you are) then you will need at least 1/60th, IMVHO.

 

F5.6 is what I generally shoot the processional with and I pre-focus a pew using the * button as the means of focus (on a 1Ds2 or a 20d). Using this method allows you to trip the shutter while pre-focused at a given point and also to have the focus mode in AI servo for the unexpected (groom rushes out to greet the incoming bride!!) shots.

 

i.e.<div></div>

Hoang, 1/30th at 5.6 is what I shoot most candids in a typical indoor setting, assuming that your flash(es) are the primary light. If there are spots or windows with daylight, you must shoot at at least 1/60th. But if its strictly ambient room light, the 1/30th is good to pick up light in the background, and the flash(es) will stop the motion. In altar returns and aisle shots, using these settings, you must look out for spotlights that will burn out or pick up movement at 1/30th.

You should be fine using those settings if they are not within a stop or so of the actual ambient light. The flash should freeze movement, and if you have pre-focused correctly, it should all work.

 

There are several factors which might contribute to less than 100% results. Flash underexposure is one. If the flash isn't as strong as it should be, you might see blurriness. This could be a big factor with some modern cameras that are designed to automatically fill whenever possible. The flash isn't strong enough to provide the freezing effect. Bright spots behind the subject(s) is another, as Lester pointed out. Open church doors with bright light outside come to mind. If the subject is in front of any of these bright spots, some parts of their "edges" will be blurry. Same with spotlights (or skylights) shining down on your subject(s), which kick you back into the "ambient being close to your settings" problem area. Extra fast walking/running is another, which happens more during recessionals. Also miscalculating DOF or focus errors with a slight telephoto lens like a 70mm. Telephotos have less DOF "available" for use with pre-focus techniques.

 

If you're using a zoom, set the focal length to 50mm or 35mm to widen your available DOF. Your "pew pre-focus" technique should work fine if you/your camera are focusing correctly (I would still double check the distance scale on the lens after focusing on the pew). I just pre-set my lens for about 11 feet, which is the distance I use for a full-length shot of most normal-sized people with a normal 50mm lens. I'm one of those photographers still using a medium format camera for processionals so it is with my 80mm (normal) lens. I press the shutter button when my subject(s) is the same proportion in relation to the frame as I have pre-visualized. Sounds more complicated than it is. I also back-peddle sometimes if, for instance, the bride has a funny expression on her face or looking down when I was supposed to shoot. I don't remember the last time I had an out-of-focus processional shot. Also, the distance is different for kids, if you want them to fill the frame, but I usually get sharp shots even when kids charge up the aisle like they sometimes do. You have more DOF with a wider lens too.

 

When figuring out the ambient to camera settings ratio, I actually stay at least two, sometimes three or four stops faster than the actual ambient when selecting camera settings. Within that range you are going to have some background detail (at least not completely black). Depends on whether there are bright spots as described above and just how dark it is. I generally use f8 at 1/30th or 1/15th (medium format has "less" DOF than 35mm) if there are no other factors. In really dark churches, if there is room, I often set up an off-camera flash to rim light the processional, which helps open up really dark backgrounds.

 

Some of the high end cameras with super fast autofocus have allowed some photographers to be able to select really wide apertures while still being confident that the camera's autofocus will perform. I wouldn't feel comfortable with that, but you can give it a try if you have one of those cameras. It makes for a really nice photo, with the subject(s) sharply in focus and everything else blurred out. I do get comments from clients about being able to identify the people sitting in the pews though, so more DOF is good too. I think shooting processionals with digital is a lot scarier than with film. You need to use the correct amount of flash to freeze movement, yet you run the risk of blowing highlights if you push the flash too much. I wouldn't want to photograph processionals in jpeg...

I would like to thank you everyone for taking the time to answer my question. To summarize what I have learned from your suggestions, I would use a smaller aperture like f8.0 or f11 and/or shoot at a slightly faster shutter speed to give me some added safety. Thanks again.

Good point, flash freezing motion will only work where the ambient isn't too bright that the movement gets shown as well, hence my suggestion of a minimum of 1/60 with flash. If you insist on slower then remember to set 2nd curtain sync. You don't need a smaller aperture, f8-11 will garuantee dark backgrounds, prefocus and if you need to zoom back a bit for added DOF as they move towards you, only works to give an extra half foot of focus but sometimes that is all you need. I do this a lot, it may take a lot of practise until it becomes intuitive though.

Hoang, that's kinda not what some of us suggested. Several folks above use your exact settings and don't have problems. You can't use just one set of aperture/shutter for every situation. If you follow what you just said, and shoot at f11 at 1/60th the next time you shoot a processional, you may or may not have solved the problem of blur since you don't know if the blur is from focusing error/lack of DOF on your or your camera's part or whether the flash was underexposing or whether you were shooting too close to the ambient light. In a dark church, f11 at 1/60th will result in very dark/black backgrounds, which is unecessary.

For years I used a 35mm f2 Nikkor set to F8, and zone (hyperfocal) focused for 5-15 feet. When my subject hit the 8-10 foot mark, I'd fire my flash and use 1/30th second with NC400. Same thing for dancing at the reception shots. All you need to learn is to accurately judge 10 feet,and you are "good to go".

When possible I ask each couple that will be walking the isle to take a half step hesitation at a certin point along the isle I then have my camera perfocused for that spot and at the instant they stop I trip the shutter they almost keep moving but I end up with a nice sharp photo with all feet on the ground and the couple looking at me for the photo. At my step daughters wedding all 6 of the isle shots are nice and sharp. All the people have their eyes open their feet on the ground the shots are full lenght with room to crop to 8X10 format. And it looked so natural that they made this little hesitation as if to allow the guests to view each couple before the walk.

 

With the bride I took three shots two walking backwards after the hesitatin shot.

 

Wait until you do one with two isles and alternating couples in a hurry.