Digital Camera Tips - How to Avoid Auto Focus Problems With Your Digital Camera

Auto-focus can be a lifesaver at times, especially when things are happening very quickly. But sometimes auto-focus can be very annoying. For some shots it will focus on the right part of your subject, but then the very next shot it may choose to focus on everything but what you would like it to.

It may focus on something far and away into the background or a subject very close to you like a persons shoulder who is standing in a profile pose, causing their head to be out of focus. This often happens at weddings, when a bride is holding her bouquet in front of her, and you end up with her facial features blurry and out of focus but the bouquet looks great.

Sure, you could avoid this problem by always using manual focus, and you should use manual focus whenever possible but, there are other simple solutions to the problem.

Now there are two ways to lock your focus and prevent your camera from auto-focusing on the wrong part of your subject:

1.

Set your auto-focus point to the center spot, then point this spot at your subject or at a specific spot in your scene if you are taking a pictorial photograph. Then press your shutter button half-way down. Do not press it completely down yet. Then, while still holding your shutter button half-way, recompose your shot and press the button completely down, and take your photograph.

2.

A second method which is good for pictorial photographs is to auto-focus as you normally do, but once your camera focuses on the right spot, just switch off auto-focus on your lens, changing to manual focus. Your lens will keep the current focus when you do this. Now you can take your photograph and your focusing point will stay fixed.

Having your auto-focus chase, or move back and forth, can be very annoying. This can cause you to become frustrated and miss some potentially great shots. But if your eyesight is less than perfect, like mine, these tricks will improve your success rate once you work with them a little.

Terry Day is a International Hall of Fame Photographer and photography instructor. Please visit our websites and blog for some great tips and lessons on how you can “Master Digital Photography” http://www.howtoshootdigitalphotos.com Find the best deals on cameras and accessories at: http://www.photographylessoncenter.com