Focus Help with Toddler

[xzebra]

I was wondering if someone could help me with focus issues that I get with my toddler every now and then.

I seem to not be able to get the face quite as sharp as it should be from time to time.

I have seen photos like this that are much sharper in image quality.
I am using a Canon XSi with a Tamron 28-75mm XR Di lens which is very capable of doing much better than what I have achieved on this shot.

EXIF Data:

ISO 100
Aperture f5.6
Shutter 1/250
AF one shot with Center point selected

[inkista]

Were you closer than a foot away? The minimum focus distance for that lens is 0.3m. if you're closer than that, some of the image will be out of focus.

It also looks like the jacket's in focus. Where were you aiming? At the nose? Or at the eyes? With portraits, you want to be careful to get the eyes in focus.

[xzebra]

I was about 3-5 ft. away and the top AF point was positioned on her nose.

I know everyone says to aim at the eyes but it is very hard to do with a moving child. Any ideas to help resolve this issue?

[oldwolf]

try increasing your f/stop. maybe shoot at about f/8ish or so.

looks like you are using the AF mode where it looks at just a single focus point? we normally use just one focus point but in instances where we have no idea where the subject is going then we'll use all the focus points and hope the camera sees what we see hehe. granted if we knew in what part of the frame we want the subject to be then we'll just use the focus point in that part of the frame and adapt to the situation.

another trick with kids to get them to hold still for maybe 1 sec. do something goofy that grabs their attention. wear rabbit ears (saw this at walgreen's last night hehe), make silly noises, dance around. anything to make them wonder what kind of drugs your on because they will sit there for 1 sec thinking before something else grabs their attention.

oh, i never bought the rabbit ears if you were wondering. it just doesn't match my goatee hehe.

[xzebra]

Thank you for your feedback.

Using just one AF point seems tricky at times whenever I am trying to take pictures of my child. I have more out of focus shots with her than any other time, yet I see a ton of great child portraits done by others. It just frustrates the heck out of me!

[RoyL]

I find that toddlers can be the hardest things to shoot, they move constantly. The shot is nice, seems to be sharp in the jacket so it looks like you have not focused on the eyes which is what you want to get.

If you cannot focus on the eyes try focusing on the mouth/teeth, and I often shoot at f8 with toddlers as I tend to get a sharper shot. Mind you I only take snapshots of my grandchildren as I am not really interested in portrait photograhy.

[PhotoJunkieJen]

I know how hard it is to get a good picture of toddlers, We've had a baby boom in our family lately and my lens loves their faces! But man, they move!

I'm not sure if you're using auto focus, but I've gotten to where I shoot a lot of manuel focus just because I can be certain I'm getting what I want (To the best of my ability anyway ). I have that same lens, I love it! So much clearer than my kit lens. But I haven't quite figured out how my camera cues in on what to focus on (Need to do some more homework there!). Of course,, I've yet to try manuel focus on feisty 2 year olds who are on hte move 19 hours a day, soooo take that for what it's worth.

The best rule I've learned when it comes to kids is... shoot as many as possible and be glad to get one or two that works for you.

I think it's a nice shot though! If you have photo editing software, a lot of them allow you to use something similar to the dodge tool to sharpen specific areas that might help you around the eyes.