Question about focus and AF points

[thestrangebrew1]

Took some pics for a friend's daughter's senior pictures. They know I'm not a pro or anywhere even close to 1, but we're really close friends and I told them I'd do my best. Anyways, took the below shot and to me, the subject's face looks a little fuzzy. Whereas the post right next to her appears to have so much more detail. In this particular setting, it seems most of the pictures are this way. I have a canon 80d with I believe 45 AF points, and I used it to focus on her face, but they still appear blurry to me. I was using an 85mm, setting were ISO 400 (Auto) f/5 1/1000. Pretty sure I was in the "Shade" or "Cloudy" settings for WB. Is it just me or is the face fuzzy? In selecting my AF point, I selected the 1 little point out of 45 and took the shot focusing right around her nose. Should I have selected a larger grouping of AF points like 9/45. Sorry hope I'm using the right terminology.

 

[IronWing]

Your focus is fine. If you look at her hair, you can see that the hair in front of her eye and face is in focus as is the hair farther back around her neck. I think the kid is wearing so much makeup that definition is lost in her face. If my intended focus spot lacks definition, I will make the focus spot bigger to give the camera a fighting chance. In this case though, I think you nailed focus.

Not sure what is going on with her fingernails. Were they really different colors or did they have a white schiller?

 

[thestrangebrew1]

Your focus is fine. If you look at her hair, you can see that the hair in front of her eye and face is in focus as is the hair farther back around her neck. I think the kid is wearing so much makeup that definition is lost in her face. If my intended focus spot lacks definition, I will make the focus spot bigger to give the camera a fighting chance. In this case though, I think you nailed focus.

Not sure what is going on with her fingernails. Were they really different colors or did they have a white schiller?

Thanks for taking a look and responding. I'm not sure about her nails. I meant to ask her about it but then I forgot.

 

[CuriousMike]

Your focus looks _fine_, but something is amiss.
f/5 gives you some latitude to miss focus - on her nose should have been enough.
1/1000 wasn't the issue.
The only possibility I can think of is you may have been in ( I'm using Nikon parlance ) AF-S -- i.e., once you half-press the shutter button, focus is locked. And if you or her move slightly, the focus will not readjust.
If you haven't shot with AF-C ( continuous auto focus ), you should try it. It tells the camera to continuously adjust focus. So, if you happen to move slightly (or she does), and as long as you keep the focus on her nose, the correct focus will be had.

Truthfully, I use AF-C ... well, continuously. For everything. ( OK, not for astro.)

 

[CuriousMike]

As a side note, the light is nice and flattering. Good job there.

 

[CuriousMike]

Clone out the stray hair on her face.

 

[thestrangebrew1]

Thanks Mike. I took a look at the AF equivalent for canon and apparently the setting is AI Servo which is how I normally shoot. I'm thinking maybe I moved a bit or she moved a bit during the shot. Thanks also for the hair comment. I'll go back and remove it in LR and see how it turns out.

 

[gradoman]

In selecting my AF point, I selected the 1 little point out of 45 and took the shot focusing right around her nose.

My advice for a DSLR is to center the camera on the subject (specifically her eyes), hit the focus and then recompose, or move the camera to fit the composition you want. Review on the camera's LCD to see if it got focus.

My other idea is something like DMF where you can override the autofocus and check, but this will slow you down a lot and it depends on a ton of caveats -- camera support, if the person can pose and freeze and whether or not you're physically able to ensure focus. I kind of liked shooting this way on the Nikon D5300 since it wouldn't always get critical focus, but it would be close.

Settings-wise, seems good to me. Some will want a more shallow depth-of-field, others like more details. I like it the way you captured the scene.

The soft, warm light, the smile and scene more than make up for the soft focus. My only little critique is to dial down the highlights a touch so her dress isn't too glow-y.

 

[turtile]

Not sure if your camera has the feature but it's possible that the AF in the lens is focusing too far back and needs to be adjusted.

 

[Syborg1211]

Remember the center of the lens is always going to be more sharp than the rest of the image. She looks plenty sharp but maybe a slight overexposure of the skin combined with not being in the center is making you think she's out of focus.

 

[Paladin3]

There is a difference between in focus and sharp. One is you and the camera getting the focal point right and the other is what the lens and camera sensor are capable of producing.

Which 85mm lens? Overall, for a 96dpi image on my 1080p monitor, at f5 it looks sharp enough. You've lost some detail in your highlighs in her dress and face, so that's not helping. Also, I find that the soft lines of a face can sometimes look fuzzy compared to the hard lines of a building. And you aren't going to get a supper sharp face when it takes up so little of the frame and sensor.

Back when I shot for a living and all primes, a Canon 135/2 or Nikon 105/2.5 where my main portrait lenses and I got spoiled on sharpness even wide open. Now I shoot a few different mid-grade zoom lenses because I can no longer afford the really primo glass. I often find myself shooting at f5.6 when I need to make sure I have enough sharpness.

I like to shoot a bit tighter with the subject a bit more prominent in the shot, but that's just me. Wider shots like this are great, but make sure you do some tighter ones too to keep the subject/parents happy. Especially if the image is going to be used small in a yearbook.

But, if you fix the highlights, maybe add a catch light to open up her eyes a bit, that is a perfectly sellable image. Good job.

EDIT: oh, and call the school and speak to the yearbook coordinator so you know what size and shape they need for the yearbook. That way you can pick a good shot and size/crop it appropriately so they don't have to hack it up themselves to fit.