Focus Points

Choosing the right focus point can make or break an image, and with Wildlife photography one of the most important points is to get the eyes of the subject in focus.

Most reasonable spec cameras have a variety of focus points that can be used depending on the subject we are shooting. They will start with single point focus which allows for pin point accuracy of the subject we are photographing, right through to wide zone focusing where the camera will make the decisions on where to focus.

In between these two option there are a range of others depending on the make of your camera such as, single point surround, 5 point, 9 point and 21 point zones. As we move through these focus point methods we take on less of the responsibility for focusing ourselves and hand over more to the camera.

Looking at both ends of the scales, single point is ideal where the subject maybe surrounded by other objects, such as a bird between branches in a tree. At the other end of the scale where the camera basically focuses for you, this will only be of use where there are no distractions around the subject and there is a strong contrast between the subject and the background. Typically this may be a bird in flight against the sky.

For me I will use single point focus wherever possible as I want to be in control of where I am focusing and maybe move to a single point with surround for say a bird in flight. Very rarely will I use the larger zone focus points as this may result in focusing on the wings of a bird or the body of an animal and not on the eyes.

However, some of the latest cameras incorporate something called “Animal Eye” focus which does exactly what it says, and in this case larger zones may also work well with the camera focusing and tracking the animals eye.

For more information on focus points and demonstrations of how to set them up and use them please watch my video below. The video uses a Canon camera but others will be similar.

I hope this was useful and if you have any questions or thoughts please feel free to drop them in the comments below.