Canon school

Create prints with more punch while keeping artefacts at bay

Create prints with punch while keeping artefacts at bay

Creating a shot where all the important details are sharply focused can be something of a challenge. For example, by using one of the Basic Zone shooting modes such as Portrait, your Canon will automatically focus on the closer foreground subject. However, it will also set a wider aperture to ensure a flattering blurred background behind your subject, and this can cause some of the foreground subject’s key details to become blurred too. The camera will choose the closest collection of AF points to focus on. This may not be the subject’s face (as is the case in our example image).

You can always set the camera’s AF points manually to ensure that the subject’s face is the main point of focus, and by using a Creative Zone mode, such as Av or M, you can set a narrow aperture, like f/22. Although this can help ensure that a wider range of objects are in focus, it will lose the attractive background bokeh that helps produce a more attractive portrait.

Even if you get the balance between keeping the subject sharp while blurring the background, you may notice that the areas on which the camera focused are still a little soft when viewing them on your PC’S larger display. Fortunately Digital Photo Professional can help you make these soft details look sharper. It does this by increasing the contrast around the edge of objects in the image, making them stand out. However, you can also exaggerate unwanted artefacts such as picture noise, so post-production sharpening is a delicate balancing act.