It’s All in the Eyes - Keeping Eyes in Focus - Simple Photography Tips by Michael Blyth

Five simple tips for keeping the eyes in focus

1. Decide what matters most before you press the shutter

In most portraits, the eyes carry the connection. The same is true here with the snail. Before thinking about the whole scene, decide where the viewer’s attention should go first.

2. Place your focus point on the nearest eye

If one eye is closer to the camera than the other, focus on the nearest one. This is especially important when you are close to the subject, because the depth of field can be surprisingly shallow.

3. Get down to eye level

Camera height changes the whole feeling of the photograph. Looking down can make the subject feel observed. Getting level with the eyes makes it feel more like an encounter - in this case I turned the iphone upside down so the camera was about a centimetre from the ground.

4. Take more than one frame

Small subjects move. People blink. Children shift. Snails wave their eyestalks about. Take several frames so you have a better chance of one where the eyes are exactly where you want them.

5. Check sharpness before you move on

On a phone or camera screen, an image can look fine at first glance. Zoom in and check the eyes. If they are soft, take another. A photograph with sharp detail in the wrong place often feels less successful than a simpler image where the eyes are right.

Keeping the eyes in focus is one of the simplest ways to make a photograph feel alive. In portrait photography, the eyes are often the emotional centre of the image. If they are soft, the portrait rarely feels quite right.

I've not chosen a human to illustrate this, but a little chap/chapess (they are hermaphrodytes) who was going for a one-footed slither one Sunday morning in Pollença on Mallorca.

Image One - The shell and body are in focus, but the eye is not

With both images, I was down low, with my phone camera upside down to get the lens at a 'snail-height.

I checked the image, everything was in focus, mind, body, and shell, but not the eye stalk with the little beady at the tip.

Image Two - The shell and eye in focus.

Image Two, retake.

This time the window of focus has changed slightly, the shell is no longer sharp, but having brought the focus forwards the nearest eye is in focus. This tiny movement of perhaps a centimetre makes all the difference.

And if you can only get one eye in focus, go for the one that is nearest to you. Whether you're photographing your friend, dog, or even a snail.

Hope that helps!

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The Wednesday posts are practical, simple and intended to help you make better photographs with whatever camera you already have, including the phone in your pocket.

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