My secret weapon: Back button focus

If it was asked during the final round of Jeopardy, while I stood there beneath the bright lights, my heart pounding within my chest, that little tune flying over my head... I would have it. Game over!

A handful of you have asked. Unfortunately, it's really more than a one word answer. Even worse, if I was actually on Jeopardy, I would be more likely to wet myself than remember my own name.

Remind me not to try out for Jeopardy.

On the other hand, I'm really quite flattered you guys think my self-portraits have such crisp focus. Because really they don't, but I only post low-res stuff online because I'm tricky like that so you'll never know the truth.

My non-photography friends might want to bail now. This one is going to get technical. I also need to apologize to my friends who use Point and Shoot cameras. I believe the following will only apply to a dSLR, but you can take the basic concept and make it work (with a bit more work).

The trick to nailing your focus in a shallow depth of field self-portrait is really quite simple. With the camera immobilized, you need to pre-lock your focus where you want it to land, have some reference point for where that location is, and then actually manage to get yourself into that same plane equidistant from the camera.

Back button focus to the rescue!

Find your camera manual and change your focus function from the half-click of the shutter button to the back * (star) button. Manual focusing might work too, although it's not likely to be as accurate. The goal here is to separate the focus and shutter functions, which is an amazingly beautiful thing.

I shoot exclusively with back button focus. In photography, more control is always better.

In this shot, with the camera secured on a tripod, I used my farthest right focal point and the back * button to lock focus on the bent nail that you'll notice just to my left in the photo.



Then, shooting with the camera's self-timer, I was very deliberate in getting my hands and face into that same plane equidistant from the camera. That sweet spot where I knew the sharpest focus would fall, because I took control and told my camera what to do.

Also, since I had the focus locked in, I could shoot away without having to worry about re-focusing between shots. That, my friends, is priceless.

Where I'm in the yard, I pre-locked my focus on a toy that was taller than the grass. Then I moved the toy and dropped a leaf in it's place to mark the spot. I am so very sneaky.



See? Easy peasy!

Manual focusing can do the trick too. It's especially useful in low light situations, like at one o'clock in the morning when you decide to climb your windmill for a really kick-butt self-portrait, and your camera says, "I can't focus, I just can't. It's too dark. I'm too tired. The dog's breath is too stinky".

So you sigh, wipe your camera's butt set the focus manually, take a few test shots and then throw caution to the wind (literally).



Now don't judge too harshly, that one was a half-second exposure. You can see my hair and shirt blowing in the wind if you look closely. However, the windmill itself is pretty crisp, if I do say so myself.

If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment or e-mail me. I'll try my best not to wet my pants.