Last week, I had a session with one of my favorite long-time families. They always look beautiful. They’re joyful & kind, and their kids are super well-mannered and fun! It’s just always great to photograph them!

I was using my new Canon R6 mirrorless camera, and I was noticing that it just didn’t seem to be focusing as fast as it normally does! Since my photography style involves a lot of movement and action – especially with kids – this was stressing me out! I continued using the camera, but I honestly was thinking something might be wrong with it!

Don’t get me wrong…we got a ton of great shots, and the family loved their pictures, but when I uploaded them onto my computer, I noticed that there were way more out-of-focus images than usual.

So, before I freaked out and returned my camera, I started from the beginning and decided to check every setting to see if something was off!

THANK GOODNESS, I FOUND THE PROBLEM!!!

I’m blaming this one on my son, Jagger!! Lol! He had used my camera to do some video & had switched the autofocus mode to “One Shot” instead of “AI Servo”.

If you’re not familiar with this, it could quite possibly change your world! 🙂 When your camera goes to focus automatically on your subject, if it is set to “One Shot”, it expects the subject to be completely still with zero movement. If it is on “One Shot”, as soon as a subject (such as a child) moves, it will lose focus! That is what was happening during my session!

But…when your camera’s autofocus is set to “AI Servo”, once it focuses on the subject, it will track the subject with movement! So…if a child is running towards you, it will continue to focus! If a couple is laughing and giggling and moving ever so slightly, it will continue to focus on them as you shoot!

If my camera had been on AI Servo, all of those out-of-focus shots that I had during that one session would’ve been in focus!

So, here’s what I do. I ALWAYS have my camera set to AI Servo (unless Jagger gets a hold of it again, LOL)!! Even when I shoot perfectly still shots, AI Servo does the job. You don’t have to switch back & forth!

Maybe your camera is already set on AI Servo, but if not, I encourage you to switch it! Go to your autofocus settings and select AI Servo (instead of One Shot). You just may find that you will get way more images in focus that way!

I hope this is helpful!! Have a great day! 🙂

Ashlee