Photographing more then one person, foucse issues.

[jennjo]

So I just do not seem to get, how to get images with more then one person to be in foucse.

You can not alway have the group on the same plain. I know I have to hold the shutter release half way, but the darn focal points never seem to be were I want them.

I am a slow learner. Can someone explain like you were taking to a 6th grader? I only have an consumer camera Canons XTI...so I do not have a spot focus. I hope to upgrade at the end of July.

[lputman]

How many are in the group? A good starting point is to set your aperture to 5.6 and go from there.

[Digidave]

Autofocus
Type
TTL-CT-SIR with CMOS sensor
AF Points
9 AF points
Metering Range
EV -0.5-18 (ISO 100 at 73°F/23°C)
Focusing Modes
Autofocus: One-Shot AF, Predictive AI Servo AF, AI Focus AF (automatic switching between One-Shot/Predictive AI Servo AF); Manual Focus (MF)
AF Point Selection
Automatic selection, Manual AF point selection
Selected AF Point Display
Superimposed on viewfinder and LCD monitor
AF-assist Beam
Intermittent firing of built-in flash (Emitted automatically when necessary under low light, and linked to all 9 AF points. Not emitted in the Landscape, Sports and Flash OFF modes)

This was taken from Canons website. I highlighted the areas you should be concerned with. Set your camera to "One-shot Focus". This way it will refocus when ever you press the shutter release half way. Set your focus point selection to manual. This way you can choose the focus point that you want. Set it to the center one & that will act as "Spot Focusing". If your really feeling adventurous, set the focus to "Manual" & focus on the person closest to you. If you have more than 1 row of people, using a larger f/number is the way to go. This will give you a larger Depth-of-Field(DoF). Personally, I would start with f/5.6, like Lori suggested & then increase it to f/8. You really won't know the results until you see the shots on a computer. Be sure to use good hand-holding techniques. When you go to larger f/numbers, your shutter speed will slow down. So holding the camera steady is essential. This where using a tripod comes in handy.

[binah06]

Digidave has great advice. I would start with F8 and a decent background. The higher the F stop number the larger the area in focus is. Also I would focus on the person who is in the middle of the group. For example, if there are three rows of people, focus on the middle person in the middle row.

I hope this helps. Groups can be a pain sometimes. Check your on camera screen to make sure everyone's eyes are open. Mine has a magnifier so I can zoom into each picture to check to make sure everything looks great. I hate to come home and realize that some one in the group has their eyes closed in every picture.

If you are looking for some practice then line up some items (stuffed animals or your neighbors children work well) in rows and experiment with the f stop and focusing until you find something that works.

Good Luck!
Melissa

[OsmosisStudios]

When I do club work I often cant even look through the viewfinder (shooting from above my head or off a railing and so on) and so I rely on the camera's matrix focusing system. It gets it spot on just about every time.

[LeviathanFafner]

At work they told me to focus on the closet person to me. This works most of the time for me unless there is large distance between the nearest and farthest person and I have to use a wide open f-stop. higher the f-stop the larger you depth of field will be.