Tip: How to perfectly focus a self-portrait
Please excuse the poor quality model in this photograph but this is a tip about self-portraits so it's all I've got to work with.
It's a fact of life for photographers that we sometimes have to take pictures of ourselves. Often it's just for practice when we're learning a new lighting technique so it doesn't have to be a good photo, but secretly I think we all hope it will be, so we want it to be correctly focused. If all the planets fall into line and you somehow get that one photo of yourself looking like Tom Cruise then you want it to be sharp in the right places, and that means getting your eyes in focus.
If you use standard auto-focus then chances are the camera will focus on the end of your nose, more than a centimetre forward from your eyes. Sometimes it will focus on the bridge of your nose but that's still about half a centimetre forward from your eyes. It could possibly focus on your mouth but that's almost certainly going to be further forward or back than your eyes, depending on the angle of your head. What you can be sure the camera will not focus on is your eyes.
So how do you solve this problem?
There are two well-known but shoddy techniques that you can try:
- Use a small aperture for a large depth of field so your whole face will be in focus. But depth of field is an artistic choice so if you want a shallow DOF then you should use a shallow DOF. Using a deep DOF solves one problem by creating another. Bad idea.
- Trial and error. Auto-focus the camera then take a few photos, move forward a little and take some more, more forward again and take some more, maybe move back a bit and take some more, etc. But you know from doing portrait sessions with other people that you might take 100 frames to get the one you want, so what if your one good frame of yourself is one of the 90% that aren't properly focussed? Bad idea.
The solution is incredibly simple. It occurred to me when I was doing a self-portrait a couple of days ago for the latest Strobist lighting challenge. Before you scroll down, please take a moment to see if you can figure it out, otherwise you'll kick yourself when I tell you!
Here's a clue: Show the camera what you want it to focus on.
Before I tell you the secret, I'll prove that it works. Here's a close-up from the photo at the top of this post. It was taken at 70mm with the aperture set to f/3.5 so the usable depth of field was only a few millimetres. As you can see, though, my eye is perfectly sharp and my eyelashes are perfectly sharp, but my eyebrow and the bridge of my nose are out of focus. Perfect.
Okay so here's how you do it…
Although the portrait is brightly lit, the room was totally dark. The photo was lit by flash but the camera needed to focus in ambient light, which was non-existent — it could have hunted for focus all day and it would never have found it.
So I held a small torch next to my eye and then used a cable release to auto-focus the camera. The only thing visible in the room was the bulb of the torch and the part of my eye that it was illuminating, so that was what the camera focussed on. Then I moved the torch away and took the photo. Result!
The white background… uh, wait for it… that was a piece of foam board leaning on my back with one corner stuck down the back of my trousers to hold it up! How's that for an improvised background?!
August 30th, 2007 at 2:29 am
Davesix on Flickr.
Thanks for the tip!
August 30th, 2007 at 3:00 am
LOL. Very nice. Great wide pupils too.
August 30th, 2007 at 3:54 am
Thanks for the great trick! I have never been able to get self portraits in focus with small f stops.
August 30th, 2007 at 4:22 am
Another, old dodge, is to always keep several books of matches in your gadget bag. Yeah, I know, they’re getting harder to find. Then you have the model hold the matchbook very close to where you want to focus. Hey, this works just as well for manual focus as well as ai… Of course, move the matchbook out of the picture before snapping the shutter.
But I do like your idea.
August 31st, 2007 at 1:10 am
HA!! you got me thinking there! but i dont think i would have ever thought of that! great man, just great.!.
August 31st, 2007 at 3:52 pm
Neat approach. I’ve used the back of cameras (the lit LCD) to focus on in the dark before. Usually when I’m taking a self portrait I’ll focus on the tripod head from where I’m going to be standing - doesn’t give the fine control this does though - and the added benefit of wide open pupils from shooting in the dark!
September 1st, 2007 at 5:18 am
This idea seems to be similar to an old Hollywood A.C. trick for focusing lenses in low light. Use a maglite without the lens top (thus producing a candle light) and hold it next to actors eye or any other focus point for that matter.
September 1st, 2007 at 5:38 am
The foam core in the pants gives me that same look of amazement…So I’m told.
September 1st, 2007 at 6:15 am
Very clever! I’ll have to try this next time. Thanks.
September 1st, 2007 at 6:33 am
A brilliant idea. But I am puzzled by one thing, how do you get your eye to line up with one of the AF points on your camera?
September 1st, 2007 at 7:05 am
Do you use all the AF points on your camera and let it decide which one to use?
September 1st, 2007 at 8:03 am
Well done!
September 1st, 2007 at 8:40 am
thanks for the great tips
I have been doing the hit-and-miss and large DOF bit for ages
things will change now!
September 1st, 2007 at 2:17 pm
Okay, I can see how this would work in a totally dark room, but what if it’s daytime and you can’t get the room dark?
September 1st, 2007 at 2:19 pm
Great scotts!! why didnt I think of that!
great idea.. thank you!
September 1st, 2007 at 4:08 pm
thats a great trick thanks man!
September 1st, 2007 at 4:28 pm
Tom Cruise!?… Seriously?
September 1st, 2007 at 4:59 pm
Similar to a trick I use when out shooting past sundown with models and no modeling lights. I have the model whip out their glowing cell phone and hold it beside their face, then have them pocket it quickly and get back to shooting.
September 1st, 2007 at 6:04 pm
Interesting. I did something similar with this shot”
http://www.flickr.com/photos/swerbo/1036303362/in/set-72157601273470967/
It was completely dark outside, so I couldn’t focus on the tent before firing the strobe. So, I left a small flashlight at the base of the tent, manually focused on it, the fired the shots. You can just barely see the flashlight at the bottom left of the tent’s entrance.
September 1st, 2007 at 8:47 pm
Helpful, thanks!
September 2nd, 2007 at 3:46 am
Wow! That’s a great tip! Thanks for sharing.
September 2nd, 2007 at 4:31 pm
Great tip thanks - Rob
September 2nd, 2007 at 6:13 pm
Question: What kind of cable release are you using? Been looking for one for a 30D.
September 2nd, 2007 at 6:24 pm
Jameel: I use the Canon TC 80N3.
September 2nd, 2007 at 6:27 pm
Doug: My camera has 45 focus points. If yours has lass then you’ll need to move the torch around a little until it hits one. Just keep the torch and your eye the same distance away from the camera.
September 2nd, 2007 at 6:51 pm
Nice tips! I’ll try it out next time i do a self portrait. Dunno if this is a good way too, but the last time i did a self-portrait, i used the wireless remote to autofocus on me. after that i switched to manual on my lens/camera and left it there, i just had to sit on the same place as it focused me.
September 2nd, 2007 at 7:12 pm
That’s absolutely brilliant! I’ll have to try that out some time. If I get bored tonight I’ll do it later.
September 2nd, 2007 at 7:32 pm
Wow..this is great! Thank you so much!
September 3rd, 2007 at 5:19 am
Thanks Andy, I was thinking you might be using a Canon . . .
Hmm, about that D3
September 4th, 2007 at 4:35 pm
Brilliant!!!!! Thanks for sharing this tip. (And the bit about the foam core stuck down your trousers TOTALLY cracked me up.)
September 4th, 2007 at 7:00 pm
OK, I think I’m missing something. When you use the light, the camera will find focus b/c it can see the torch. What happens when you move the torch? Are you going back to the camera to turn off the AF? Is there something about a “cable release” that will allow you to control whether the camera is in AF or not?
September 5th, 2007 at 2:51 pm
this is a fab idea! i always use something long (umbrella, plunger) and guesstimate(!) where i will be, focus on auto then switch to manual (so it doesnt move on me when i press the shutter release) and go to town.
this doesnt work great with very close eye ball shots though, so im happy to try yours!
may try the “foam board down the pants” idea as well!
September 23rd, 2007 at 6:01 am
Elle, to answer your question - if you shoot Canon, use the back button to focus. It offers af without the shutter, so it’s like the best of both worlds.
October 2nd, 2007 at 6:48 pm
AKA “How to perfectly focus a self-portrait if you have autofocus.” I shoot film with manual focus cameras, and I read it hoping to find a nugget I could use. Oh well. It’s a neat, practical tip!
October 2nd, 2007 at 9:03 pm
I’m a bit confused. I get the concept of using the light as the area of greatest contrast = attract focal point. But you mentioned that you need to move the light around until it hits the focal point. How do you see the focal point in a self-portrait? Same with the back button–you are not close enough to use it.
Great tip though! Once I nail it.
November 10th, 2007 at 5:39 pm
What a great tip! Thank you…
December 4th, 2007 at 4:20 pm
Very interesting concept.
I shoot with Canon…..What’s the “back button”?
Are you talking about holding the shutter 1/2 way?
Please help me to understand.
Thanks for a great blog.
Ray
January 18th, 2008 at 9:27 am
Back button: Using one of the Canon’s custom functions (CF.4, I think), you can turn the button that’s usually under your shutter thumb into a focus button. The camera focuses *only* when you press it. The shutter then only does exposure. Very useful, e.g. for sportsshooting. You don’t have to worry about the camera inadvertently focusing on something in the background when ripping off a burst of shots where you can’t put the focus spot on the subject, then recompose for every shot.
January 20th, 2008 at 11:46 pm
LOL…. It’s a great idea for the focus but I am still coming to terms with the background down the shorts deal…. I can see it now….
August 20th, 2008 at 2:56 am
Thank you for that wonderfully helpful piece of information
.
October 27th, 2009 at 9:41 pm
Best background ever.
October 30th, 2009 at 1:42 am
Thank you! That was an excellent tip, and the info about the high-quality background technique made me laugh quite hard as well. So, that was good too.
October 30th, 2009 at 8:03 am
Awesome
I tried tethered shooting once, but in that mode,
autofocus is using contrast recognition .. really
slow & not very accurate.
But how do you do that when you shoot in ambient
light ? The camera tends to refocus then.
October 30th, 2009 at 10:11 am
What a great tip! Thanks for the help.
www.nodophotography.com