Focus on the eyes! ?

[guitarbug]

When doing a portrait of a couple close together how do you set your focal point to compliment both sets of eyes ? I move my focal point around my view finder a lot to find the best point, like someones eyes. When there are 2 people heade to head it always throws me off on which eye to focus on ? Any help will be great. Another ? , what are some don't miss shots for a engagement shoot? What are some good poses, any photo examples would be awesome.

[RaymondShay]

GuitarB,

I am a post processor by profession, so any examples I have aren't really mine. But it's my experience that it's all about the female. I usually spend 3 to 4 times the time on her, rather than him. It also improves sales greatly.

Specifically, the LADY's lower eyelash closest to the camera.

I'll dig around and see if I can find some supporting photographs to post as an example.

[guitarbug]

Thanks Raymond that helps! Any examples would be great!

[venchka]

Originally Posted by RaymondShay

...

Specifically, the LADY's lower eyelash closest to the camera.

Enough DOF to put all 4 eyes in focus is probably a good thing too. Manual focus works assuming your camera+lens combination allows it.

Practice makes it all better.

[MRCPix]

I think you would focus on her eyes and use an F stop that would allow for both peoples eyes to be in focus, but that is just me

[RaymondShay]

Hi, I found an example of on of my own shots ( I do a lot of holiday parties). One of the things that I watch the most is the inter-head gap. Or just tell the lady to look at his nose while I tell a joke (that's how this was done). In some cases you may need to step to one side or the other (to the right in the example below)

All valid suggestions avout DOF aside, to specifically answer your original question, use the subject's lower eyelash which is closer to the camera. That is, you can only focus on a single point while shooting.

But watch that inter-head gap (the space between the two heads)...



I'll look for more examples for you. Oh, and let me know if you have questions; NO ONE was born knowing how to do this...

[guitarbug]

Thanks again Raymond! I like the part of having her look at his nose. Great example, thanks!