Troubleshooting Photos –
Picture's Subject Is Blurred
Problem
Two problems, one basic cause – poor focus. In the first example, the camera has focused on something behind the subject. In the second, the camera has behaved more conventionally and focused on an object or objects between the camera and subject.
First problem – the fruit and red seed-pod of this plantain tree were the intended subject of this picture but they're blurred, despite being taken with a camera with auto-focus.
The first version is not so much 'unfocused' as 'mis-focused'. As you shift from the unfocused version to the focused version, note that both photos have a point of focus – the background trees in the first version, the fruit in the second version. The second version is a better reflection of the photographer's intent.
Second problem – this little owl is grossly out of focus. Again auto-focus was used.
Once again, the first version is not so much 'unfocused' as 'mis-focused'. Although it's not shown here, this little saw-whet owl was sitting at the end of a tunnel of branches and needles. Some are seen at the top of the photo – note that they're in focus. The camera used for this photo has a 'matrix' setting with bias toward focusing on closer objects, rather than a more distant one, even if the close object isn't in the center of the frame.
What should you look for?
When a camera is manually focused, it's possible to have an entire picture out of focus – you leave it at the close-up setting when you're taking a picture of distant mountains or you leave it at the infinity setting when taking a picture of your cat, so the whole thing – subject, foreground and background – is a blur. With auto-focus cameras, it is more likely that the camera has chosen to focus on something other than the subject you had in mind. Therefore, although your desired subject is out of focus, you will probably find something that is in focus.
If you find a focused area that is sharp and detailed, you can be sure that you're dealing with a mis-focused shot instead of one that is 'soft' because it has been displayed or printed at too large a size for its available resolution.
In the picture of the plantain tree above, the fruit and the dried leaves to the right are clearly out of focus. The tree trunk behind is less out of focus and the leaves are sharp. Obviously, the camera decided to focus on the leaves. Why? Possibly because the fruit was dark and the leaves were relatively light. For the focused photo, the camera had decided to fire its flash, so the fruit was light. In other instances, the camera may simply lock on to something that's the same relative size as the subject you thought you were focusing on.
In the mis-focused picture, objects gain focus the farther away they are, probably because the camera decided to focus on the far trees, which were relatively lighter in the unfocused picture. In the focused picture, one of two things happened: the photographer took more care to position the camera's focus indicators over the fruit; or the pre-flash highlighted the fruit sufficiently that the camera decided to make it the point of focus.
In the photo of the owl, the camera found a number of branches and needles around the periphery of the photo and decided that these were the subject, rather than the owl. Moving the camera slightly changed things enough that the second shot was correctly focused.
What should you do?
First, try to re-jig your thinking about auto-focus – it's an aid to focusing, not a complete solution. You have to make sure that your camera is auto-focusing on the subject that interests you and not merely on something that its sensors have latched onto. This is particularly true with high-end auto-focus cameras, whose sophisticated and expensive capabilities can make sophisticated and truly baffling choices (it's tempting to say 'errors' instead of 'choices', but it has to be admitted that often the camera is right – the photographer made the mistake by mis-setting a switch).
Make up your mind to pay attention to your camera's focus indicator. Almost all auto-focus cameras will place a marker – brackets, a red square or something – over the point the camera will focus on (check your manual if you're not sure what this marker is). On some cameras, this may not be easy to see. The view-screens on some small digitals are not bright enough for the focus-marker to appear clearly, so you may have to shield the camera from the sun with your hat or whatever comes to hand. Do what you need to do to make sure the camera's choice is your choice. If you want to position the subject to one side of the picture (for instance, your subject to one side of the picture, with a mountain view over his or her shoulder) it almost always helps to center your subject in the viewfinder, lock the focus by half-pressing and holding the shutter button, then composing the picture with the person positioned as you want.
How do you fix it?
The best way to fix an out-of-focus picture is to take it in-focus, because your post-shooting options are limited. You can create the illusion of sharpness in a picture that is a little out of focus by using the Sharpen or Unsharp Masking functions in your image editor. There are also filters that will improve out-of-focus images (and some in-focus ones). If the shot is important to you, they may be worth their price.
