For the sharpshooters out there, get your cameras ready. We’ve compiled a list of practical and simple tricks that any photographer can use for their shooting sessions, which can hopefully prove helpful.
Photography is an art, and there are millions of ways to make one’s photos better. It can be confusing at first, but in time, you’ll integrate what you learn into your craft, and it will feel as automatic as breathing.
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Moving along, here are some focus tricks to try out with a camera:
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Use Manual Focus/Autofocus (AF)
Manual focus is a great option to use especially for macro shots since cameras tend to have difficulty locking onto subjects that are extremely close to the lens. Automatic focus usually ends up moving in and out of focus. This can become annoying, so using manual focus in this scenario will be more practical, and smarter.
Moreover, most cameras have a feature that enables them to enlarge an image on the camera’s digital screen for accuracy, giving photographers more control over the final result of their capture.
On another hand, setting up the Autofocus manually can also be helpful. To do this, press the AF point selection button, then select the desired AF point while looking through the viewfinder. Depending on the camera, there might be shortcuts to this method, so check out the way to do this with your setup.
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Using The Center Point
Use the focus’ center point in certain scenarios and when capturing certain things, such as:
- Rapidly moving objects
- Low light scenes
- Backlit objects/subjects
The center point should help capture a good image in these situations.
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Using Burst Mode
Burst mode can help capture an array of expressions and movements which can be fun to work with after the shoot. It’s practical too since the camera can automatically take numerous shots without the photographer needing to click the capture button multiple times.
Another thing it’s good for is the fact that photographers can easily swap faces on photo editor software if someone has their eyes closed, for example. Since the photos are only seconds apart, this is easily done and used quite often by professionals.
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Using Single Shot (Auto Focus/AF)
Single AF enables the camera to focus when the shutter release is pressed halfway. It also helps focus on a specific subject until the button is released. This mode is particularly useful for still-life objects and subjects, such as models, landscapes, inanimate objects, and so on.
If the lens’ focus isn’t set right, photographers must simply lift their finger off the capture button and press on it again. This will help it refocus.
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Contrast Is Important
Cameras like contrast, and they usually take better pictures of scenes where there is visible contrast between the subjects and the other elements. Make sure to play around with contrast when shooting, since it also gives more depth to a photo.
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Continuous Autofocus
In this mode, half-pressing the shutter release button will enable the lens to focus consistently and make for a very good choice when trying to capture photos of moving things. This is because the lens will auto-adjust the focus distance if the subject moves around.
Another advantage of more advanced cameras is that some enable photographers to specify the camera’s response time to a moving subject. Continuous autofocus is perfect for capturing movement and fast action scenarios. Just remember to set the starting Autofocus manually.
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Face Detect
This mode is a type of autofocus option that is usually available on most cameras. It lets photographers recognize face shapes in the shot with the purpose of prioritizing them.
With face detection on, boxes will appear around subjects’ faces, and just by half-clicking the capture button, you’ll be able to focus the lens on the subjects. Some of the modern cameras take photos automatically when they detect a smile, which is an added modification photographers can enable with the face detect mode.
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Focus Stacking
This technique involves the combination of images with different focus distances to generate an extremely sharp image. It’s ideal to use when subjects are very close to the lens, since the depth of field decreases in these scenarios.
To start, as stated above, photographers can take the first shot, then a second shot without moving the initial position, and simply changing the focus distance. They can take as many shots until they hit the limit on their focus distance. The combination part can be done in editing software like Photoshop (find the merge function). It doesn’t take too much time at all. For photographers using other software programs, seek help from a search engine.
Final Thoughts
We hope this article has helped many of our readers with coming up with camera tricks to use for the next time they shoot. These are incredibly simple to follow but they can be quite effective if done right. No need to rush, simply do a few trials and errors till it’s right.
Photography isn’t just about precision and technique, a large part of it is about creativity and flexibility. Thinking outside the box, while using traditional techniques. The best photographers learn to trust their creative instincts and bring them to life with their shots. So don’t be pressured, and follow the pace of your own beating drums.
Artists can combine the tricks we’ve shared with what they already know, or follow them up in subsequence. Let their creative juices flow by not restricting themselves, and simply following their gut during creative processes.