So I've been shooting shows for roughly a year now and I'm mostly self-taught. I feel I do pretty well, all things considered, however there are still some fundamental areas that need some work. There has been a particular issue I have noticed from the results of the last few shows that I have shot that I was hoping someone here could help me out with. Upon editing my shots, I tend to notice that although the performer's face may be sharp and in focus, other parts of either their bodies or instruments are spontaneously out of focus. I shoot with a Sony A7S and have toggled and tested every focus setting (zone, wide, etc.) and fail to see any difference. I prefer getting those tight up close shots when i'm in the pit so i usually have my canon 70-200 mounted. I have the biggest shoot of my life thus far at the end of June and want to get this figured out asap so I can be fully prepared. Any thoughts or recommendations would be greatly appreciated, thanks
Hi
it would be eazy if you post some images where you see the Focus problem.
but fo what you are explaining i think it has to do with DOF...
the face, were you focus, is in focus but the instruments and the body is gradually out of focus because they are at different distances from the cam
Hi Tyler!
I'm just getting into shooting shows, personally, but it sounds like it might be your depth of field. Do you always shoot wide open? At a 2.8, for example? If lighting permits, you might want to bump that up a little bit to get a wider focal range. Keep in mind closing up that F-stop is going to make your images darker, so you may have to compromise the shutter speed or ISO. From what I understand of the Sony A7S, it is pretty resilient at High-ISOs. Just my $.02! Look forward to seeing the finished product of such a big shoot! Break legs!
Yes. This does sound like dof -
https://digital-photography-school.com/understanding-depth-field-beginners/
No offense, but this is a super-fundamental issue, Tyler. My guess is that you're an arty intuitive type who concentrates on the final images and has neglected basic technique. That's much better than the other way around, but you're now doing ambitious stuff and should take a couple of days with a decent intro book - the shorter the better, so you can get back to what interests you. Maybe do some browsing on Amazon?
Or teach yourself with some web searches - you just need to understand dof, the exposure triangle, dynamic range, and how perspective is controlled by distance to the subject and therefore sort-of by focal length.