Jason Tag Photography

During my shoot with Ella on Kauai, I still had some focusing trouble.  A problem I was hoping to fix.  I thought that the problem was that the shutter priority on my camera was turned on, allowing me to take a picture before the auto-focus had completed it job.  Well, during the shoot I figured out that the problem is not the shutter priority but the method I use to determine correct exposure settings!

Strange right!  Well here’s how it works.  On most digital cameras, when you push the shutter button halfway, the camera measures the light being recorded at the center of the lens as well as focusing on whatever happens to be in the center of the lens.  So my method of determining correct exposure is to point the center of the lens at the brightest part of the image and get my readings, then set the aperture and shutter speed to the desired exposure settings for those readings.  I then shift the lens in order to focus the lens.  All of this is done without releasing the shutter button.  So when I meter off of the sky, for instance, The camera focuses on the horizon line and sets the focus at infinity.  now when I shift the lens towards the subject of the photo, it comes out blurred! So I either need to change this practice of metering or amend my methods when I setup for a shot.

Here’s what I’ve come up with:

1.) Press the shutter button halfway.
2.) Aim the center of the lens at the brightest part of the image.
3.) Set exposure settings and release the shutter button.
4.) Press the shutter button halfway again.
5.) Aim the center of the lens at my focal point without releasing the button
6.) Press the button fully to take the shot.

Step 4 and 5 are added steps to my original process but I’m hoping that this will work.  It wil take some practice to build this into my shooting but I’m sure that it will be fine once I feel comfortable with it