■ There’s nothing more frustrating than missing a shot, but you can minimise that risk by knowing your camera. While all the technology at your disposal is a huge plus, it’s important to know how to instinctively get around any issues. This means using the focus joystick or D-pad to get the AF point to the right place, manually tweaking focus and exploiting subject-detect modes. User or custom modes mean that favourite settings can be recalled in an instant as you switch from subject to subject. Quick menus are also useful, especially if they can be edited to show only key items. Finally, most cameras have a favourite menu feature, and it’ll avoid you having to search for frequently used items.
Keep an eye on focus
Shoot a tightly framed portrait with a medium telephoto lens at an aperture of f/5.6 or f/8, and there’s enough depth of field to ensure the subject’s features are nicely sharp. Use something exotic like an 85mm f/1.2 at its widest aperture, though, and you have to be extra-critical because the depth of field is so shallow. Make sure that their irises are sharp. Use single-shot AF with a small focus zone placed directly on the iris, or activate eye-detect. If needed, gently sway to or from your subject to keep the eyes sharp.
Will Cheung
1/125 sec at f/1.2, ISO 50