focus issues?

[Life in Motion]

I realize this is out of focus. but i can't tell where the focus made it to? the nose perhaps? I am still very much a beginner and my brother and his wife asked me to practice on them...bless their hearts lol.

I am trying to learn the different manual settings and i took a set of pics on tv mode. I took these under a porch because it was a slightly rainy day...also no flash or other equipment. I am having troubles telling if my pics are in focus through my camera. they look like they are to me when i took them and obviously not quite when i pull them up on my computer....hmmm.

is the only way to ensure focus is to nail dof with the calculations and not by eyeballing it?

exif

canon rebel xs 50mm 1.8 lens
f/2.5
iso-100
ex bias+0.3
1/100 sec
NO FLASH and no other lightsource other than natural light!

[SusanH1970]

Where are you focusing when you shoot? It appears to me that the focus fell on his shirt collar; it seems to be the sharpest area of the photo.

[Life in Motion]

well i actually focused on their eyes i thought and then recomposed. but now that you point it out it does look like the collar. hmm....maybe i didn't lock the focus in on their eyes before recomposing? if i hold the shutter down halfway it is suppose to lock it in right? or am i doing that wrong too?

[SusanH1970]

I'm a chronic focus-and-recomposer, too.

But - after having the same struggles as you, I've been playing around with back-button focusing. I've also been trying out toggling focus points rather than using the center AF point and recomposing - that's a pain when shooting kids, but with adults who will stay still, it does help.

ETA: He's a tad sharper than she is (but still soft). He's on a different plane; he's closer to the camera. Closing your ap down a little would have gotten them in more equal focus. 2.5 is pretty wide for two people on different planes.

[Life in Motion]

thank you so much susan! i love the back-button focusing material!!! i'll have to give it a try. seems more like what i need ...I appreiciate your quick responses!!!

[SusanH1970]

Any time. Glad to help!