Focus & Recompose

[Deepak Lee]

Even I have been struggling with this technique sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t so please provide some guidance on this

[Gopala Krishna Baliga]

Dear Girish, Sir will reply when he can.

1. In the meanwhile, did you configure the camera for back button focus on your camera or is focus set to half press on shutter release button?

2. Most cameras by default focus when you press the shutter release button by half. In this case, point your camera towards the subject, half press the shutter button where you will get focus confirmation light or beep or some signal. Keep your finger there at half press, do not leave it. Recompose by moving the camera and press the rest of the way on shutter release button. Your focus keeps locked at the plane where you focused initially. If you leave the half pressed button and repress, the camera will focus again.

3. If you prefer this method, please learn how to set focus function to back button in your camera. Different cameras could have different menus, but basic function is the same. Take care to remove the focus function from the shutter release button and assign the function to the button on the back of the camera. In this case camera starts focusing only when you press the back button. Once done, you focus by pointing the camera at the subject and pressing the focus button on the back of the camera. Keep the button pressed in case of Continuous / Servo focus. You can leave the button in case of Single focus. Recompose, press shutter release and take the photo.

• This reply was modified 1 month, 2 weeks ago by  Gopala Krishna Baliga.

[SU Girish]

Thanks for the reply,

Yes, I use back button focus only…..I am trying to find use-cases on what / when will I recompose…

Steps involved are as you stated:

– “Recompose by moving the camera and focus kept locked at the plane where I focused initially”

I just want to understand why and when will I use Recomposing of pictures during wild life / Bird photography

Hope my question is clear 😀

[Gopala Krishna Baliga]

Sorry for the delay SU Girish.

I understand your question. I will tell you why I do it. Hope that will shed some light. I use a DSLR camera which does not have eye focus function.

Suppose I use Center focusing point to focus on a bird… let us say. Fist I focus using back button to focus on the bird’s eye. ( I have remove focusing function from shutter release button ). Now the bird’s eye is at the center of the frame. I want to place the whole bird to a side to conform to rule of thirds. Now I leave my finger from the back button, recompose using view finder, press the shutter release button.

There are many such situations when we may need to recompose. With practice, we should be able to learn it better. Hope this helps.

[SU Girish]

Thanks This helps…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdfnvCWqb_A