Have you ever seen a photo that could have been really great, but the focus was all wrong? Bad focus is fairly common and sometimes completely ignored. There is nothing worse than a really good photo with bad focus.

You may not know this but focusing on the right subject in a photo can dramatically change the emotion of the photo. When you are getting ready to fire your camera, stop and think about what you are actually trying to capture. Have you ever tried to take a photo of a beautiful forest only to find out in the actual photo it just looks like a pile of sticks?
Or maybe you have tried to take a picture of a friend in a crowded place and they don’t even stand out.

Focus is a major part of the photo and should be carefully crafted like the rest of the photo. When shooting photos of people, you can zoom in about 30 or 40% and get in a little closer, about 3-5 feet away. This will cause the background to blur a bit, making the focus on the subject.

If you are standing too far away and do not zoom, the entire composition will be in focus. Depth of field is important. You want your photos to have a foreground, mid-ground and background. You won’t always have a foreground especially if you are doing close-up photos, but making sure your background and subject are clearly defined.