#35, “Get travel luggage for our photo equipment” was not the most exciting of goal to check off our 101 list, but it became absolutely necessary these past few months! With four destination weddings in 2010, we finally had to breakdown and invest in a good travel bag for our gear. Traveling with so much high...
Today’s blog post is geared towards all the other photogs out there (or really anybody that just happens to be curious about how we do things for our business.) We’ve decided to start a new little blog series to share some of the tools that have helped us make our business more efficient (and keep...
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by ShootQ, ShootQ. ShootQ said: What the heck is ShootQ? Check out this real-life review from the talented @denisegotcher! http://cot.ag/deSl6U [...]
I have to say that this blog post is AMAZING! I just downloaded a free trial of ShootQ three days ago & the price really scared me at first. Then after the initial training & using it for 3 days…I can see how this will CHANGE MY BUSINESS FOREVER! The fact that you can automate so much saves hours of time. Thanks for telling everyone about it. Oh – and just so you know… I saw your blog post because ShootQ posted it on their Facebook page – so THEY KNOW! LOL
Great job Denise! Definitely lays everything out for me. You answered all my questions.
Yesterday our friend Melissa Jill wrote a blog post about using back button focus to achieve the sharpest possible images. Because she shoots with Canon equipment, she posted a link to a thread on Open Source Photo that talked about back button focus for Nikon equipment. What’s kinda of funny about that thread is that...
Thank you so much for this post! I recently bought a D700 and I have been curious about how to use back-button focus. One question though… our cameras still have the ability to press the AF-ON button and then let go of it when shooting a stationary subject correct? In the past I have just constantly held it down (on my D60) and it sure would be nice to let go of it with stationary portraits! Thanks again :)
Hi Caitlyn! Glad you found the post helpful! To answer your question: Yes you can release the AF-ON button after setting your focus for stationary portraits. (Thanks for asking! We also reworded this in the post to make sure it’s clear for other readers.)
LOVE that you guys are Nikon. I always feel like I’m the only one… : (
Hi, I was wondering if anyone can tell me how to do this on my trusty old D80? Thanks in advance!
Hi Julie :-) On the D80 it’s, 1) custom settings, 2) 18 AE-L/AF-L, 3) set to AF-ON.
That will disable the AF abilities of the shutter and enable you to use the AE-L/AF-L button on the back. Hope this helps!
Just curious about a few of things…
1.) What would the advantage be for stationary subjects versus Having the camera on S-focusing, and Pointing the center point at the subject, then recomposing while keeping the shutter button depressed half-way, and then fully tripping the shutter?
2.)What is the advantage of photographing moving subjects using the back button versus depressing the shutter button (in C mode) half way, therefore tracking focus until you press the shutter all the way down to take the photograph?
3.) This question may not be able to be easily understood, as I may not explain it well, but here goes…Does recomposing in an arc (ie. focusing o down at a child’s eyes with the center focus, and then swinging the camera down more to include the child’s feet) keep the eyes in focus, since the sensor has moved slightly in relation to the focus point?
Thanks for the post, I am getting a bit more curious to try : )
I really want to try this but am not sure my camera supports this function….and I’m still too scared to mess around in the custom settings without guidance. Any idea how I can set my d5000 this way?
I’m really curious about how this BBF works with moving subjects. If I’m at my kid’s soccer game and want to do this, do you continuously press the AF-ON button and then take the shot or ??? Not sure of the steps or if BBF is an advantageous with moving subjects. Thanks for any help!
I set my camera to do this, and it works, but only if I continue holding the AF-ON button down when I press the shutter. If I let it go, the shutter will not release. Any ideas?
Hi, this was SOOOO helpful. Before I wanted to do this but didn’t get it. I’m also having the same problems as Kelly. But it’s a start. I’ll use my manual from here. I just did a wedding, SOO wish I had grasped this concept before. Thanks again.
same issues as above. If I release the AF-ON button as suggested, recompose and then press the shutter button it will not take a picture. What control is it that I need to change
Denise, you said that on the D80 you would go into the setting and basically set it to use the AE-L/AF-L button. Is this because the D80 does not have an AF-ON button? Because my camera is the new Nikon 3100 and it does not have the AF-ON button so I thought that I could not use this back button focus feature.
So, you are saying that I would use it exactly the same except I would use the AE-L/AF-L button instead of the AF-ON?
[...] Back Button Focus for Nikon [...]
Thank you for this! I’ve been wanting to try this out but couldn’t make sense of it in my manual (or field guide). This was a perfect, simple explanation.
This is amazingly helpful, you have no idea how helpful!
Thank you!!! Incredibly helpful!!
I did everything above, but when i push the AE button, nothing happens. When i push the shutter, it focuses. Maybe i missed something?
I know this is an older post, I’ve had it bookmarked for awhile and just upgraded from a D5000 to a D700. The other “commenters” are correct, you have to hold down the AF-ON button when recomposing once you focus. The instructions say to release it- are we missing something? Thanks for this great post/instructions.
I figured out why I couldn’t release the AF-ON button while recomposing. In the custom menu—-autofocus—-AF-S or AF-C priority(depending on which you use) has to be on “release”. If this setting is on “focus” the shutter won’t release when you recompose without holding the AF-ON button (it detects the center point is out of focus and will not take the photo). With it set on “release” I can put what I want to focus in the center, push AF-ON to focus, RELEASE the AF-ON button, recompose, then shoot. Yipee.
What a great way of explaining BBF, I have been using BBF for a couple of months now and absolutely love it.
[...] for setting up your back-button AF:For Nikon Users- Instructions provided by Simply Knot PhotographyStep 1: Go into your custom settings menu Step 2: Select A (autofocus) Step 3: Select A5 (AF [...]
Hi Denise– Hoping you have time for yet another BBF question! I have been BBF for a while now, but have been holding AF-ON down the entire time until I release the shutter. Now, re-reading your post I’m noticing NOT to do that (in S mode). Curious, though, when I focus, let AF-ON go and then take the pic I notice that sometimes my LCD will show where the focus fell—but it really didn’t (it’s just where I recomposed to and the LCD highlighted focal point obviously isn’t in focus), when other times my LCD won’t show me where the focus fell at all. When I used to hold DOWN the AF-on, it showed me my focal point all the time. Does that make sense? Any insight would be greatly appreciated! Confusing, I know. ;)
[...] Here is a post I found for Nikon users. [...]
[...] doing some search online, I found this webpage. It has some great [...]
[...] Think Tank Retrospective Lens Changer 2 Pixel Pocket Rocket Canon Back Button Focus Tutorial / Nikon [...]
Feels very strange to be home, showered, well fed and loading cards from our wedding today by 8:30pm. Thanks for... http://t.co/CpyQxahq Photos by Ryan & Denise Photography
http://t.co/ZPnBnVH8
See More: http://t.co/Ex4tgSB2 http://t.co/ih7NLzt7 Somebody appears to have lost a fight with a rather large snake :-) http://t.co/jSJWyMcP http://t.co/ZlbUL4N8 Hmmmm. Wonder if changing your business name is as annoying as changing your home address? Guess we'll find out... http://t.co/qFebijS0 Hmmmm. Wonder if changing your business name is as annoying as changing your home address? Guess we'll find out... http://t.co/Uao73U3d Hmmmmm. Wonder what will prove to me MORE annoying . . . changing our home address or changing our business name?... http://t.co/h2sQbTYa
Just realized that both the “product” shots in this post show Canon equipment. In case anybody’s wondering, we actually shoot with Nikon gear – don’t be fooled, we haven’t gone to the dark side. LOL!