How can I keep two portrait subjects at different distances in focus?
Asked 9/23/2013
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2 answers
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I’m shooting portraits with a Nikon D800 and a 50mm f/1.8, usually in aperture priority at f/1.8. Sometimes the two subjects aren’t exactly the same distance from the camera, and one ends up soft. What are the best ways to get both subjects sharp when they’re at slightly different distances?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
12y ago
2 Answers
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Best bet is to carefully understand the Depth of Field that your chosen settings will provide, and position your subjects accordingly, or change your settings.
With the setup you provided, if your subjects are 5 feet away, you have a total of .32 feet or about 4 inches of depth that will be in focus. Therefore, your subjects need to be equal distance from the lens, to be in focus. This will require measurements to be sure of focus most likely, therefore, you may want to consider changing your set up to be more favorable to ensuring sharpness of focus:
If you stand 10 feet away, you have 1.3 feet of area in focus.
Better yet, if you change your aperture to f/8, you have about 1.5 feet of focal depth, so any offset distance between two side-by-side subjects will be minor, and both will likely be in focus.
To calculate these distances, refer to the excellent, and always helpful DOF Master
Originally by user4880. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user4880
12y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
This is mainly a depth-of-field issue. At 50mm and f/1.8, especially at close portrait distances, the in-focus zone is very thin, so two people at different distances can easily fall outside it.
The most effective fixes are:
- place the subjects at the same distance from the camera
- move farther back from them
- stop down to a smaller aperture, such as f/8
- get the subjects closer together in depth
- use a wider lens and crop if needed
In general, shooting from farther away and using a smaller aperture gives you much more depth of field and makes it easier to keep both faces sharp.
Other options:
- focus bracketing/stacking, if the subjects are static
- a tilt-shift lens, which can align the focus plane to keep subjects at different distances sharp even at wider apertures
For normal portrait situations, the simplest approach is usually to stop down and arrange both people on the same plane relative to the camera.
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