Focus

Japan

I find it hard to take photos of a group of people, say 6 subjects. One of them is always out of focus. Please can someone advise me which will be the best settings to use, for example indoors with and without studio lighting. And outside. A shoot were there is movement and talking. Also when there is 2 rows of people. I have a D70.
my website address is www.japan.smugmug.com

Shay Stephens

Group shots usually need smaller apertures. If you use a wide aperture (like f/2.8) the depth of field will be narrow and multiple rows of people may be outside the zone of focus.

So check the settings of the photos that did not come out right, note the aperture used, and use a smaller aperture next time. If in doubt, try using f/8. If you get motion blur from the shutter speed being too long, try uping the ISO and or opening the aperture to f/5.6.

Japan wrote:

I find it hard to take photos of a group of people, say 6 subjects. One of them is always out of focus. Please can someone advise me which will be the best settings to use, for example indoors with and without studio lighting. And outside. A shoot were there is movement and talking. Also when there is 2 rows of people. I have a D70.
my website address is www.japan.smugmug.com

Japan

Shay Stephens wrote:

Group shots usually need smaller apertures. If you use a wide aperture (like f/2.8) the depth of field will be narrow and multiple rows of people may be outside the zone of focus.

So check the settings of the photos that did not come out right, note the aperture used, and use a smaller aperture next time. If in doubt, try using f/8. If you get motion blur from the shutter speed being too long, try uping the ISO and or opening the aperture to f/5.6.

Okay I get it, it kinda has to be above f/8, and I have to up my ISO, but that makes the photo grainy...so it mens I do not have enough light.
Is that right

Shay Stephens

Sounds good to me. Use flash, or sunlight so you can use a lower ISO and you should be set.

But don't think that just because a photo is grainy that it means the photo is bad. Grain can add character to a photo. Put on your artist hat to make the final determination

Japan wrote:

Okay I get it, it kinda has to be above f/8, and I have to up my ISO, but that makes the photo grainy...so it mens I do not have enough light.
Is that right

4labs

The D70 has Group dynamic focusing, use that instead of single area focus, it will help alot also..(unless you want to focus on just one person..

swintonphoto

Those are tough situations. I have found that shooting below f/8 often results in depth of fielt problems. You could go down to F/5.6 but going lower will really sacrifice the focus when shooting multiple rows of people. If the only solution is to use higher ISO, then try getting a good noise reduction program. Many of them have batch processing so you can apply the reduction to all the photos at once. The programs are not too expensive either.