Focusing tricks anyone?

[MacDuyver]

I recently upgraded from video lights to strobes and am happy as a clam!
The fish act WAY cooler not being chased around by a bright flashlight, and I'm really liking the shots I'm getting for the most part.

I'm trying to work out nuances though, like this one. There was a Harlequin Sweetlips dipping in and out of a crevice. Camera didn't quite have the focus right. on lad I'd be using back button focus to fine tune in manual, but my housing doesn't have the setup for that. I also am really liking the fish not getting spooked by a flashlight/ focus light.

Anyone have tricks for ensuring solid focus in a complex scene with depth?

 

[TostitoBandito]

Not sure what your setup is since some of this is limited by the type of camera, but for moving subjects on an SLR/mirrorless the answer is typically servo/continuous focus holding down back button focus and hitting the shutter whenever you think you have it. You can also play with the AF points, for example using a single center point for precision or relying on tools like eye/face detection.

In this specific shot the foreground also makes it tricky since most of the shot is composed of things you don't want to focus on but will be very difficult to get your camera not to. The only way this turns out is probably if the subject pokes its head out from under those danglies in the hole where you can get a clear fix on it (with some luck).

 

[MacDuyver]

Yah that about sounds like what I was thinking the problem was. Cheers!

Spot on about the foreground. If I was taking this shot above water I’d have it in manual focus, stabilize, set the focus on where I wanted it and just wait.

 

[hellhole]

red light?