Photographers...Thoughts on what happened with this photo?

[Tazman70]

May be AF [ ] was set outside of the subject.

[WhiplashTX]

Was your IS on?

X2. Image stabilization sometimes gets confused when the camera is perfectly still. It could also be that the camera picked a different focus point for that particular shot that was at a different distance than your subject.

[Legdog]

I'd guess it was an AF issue since you used a tripod and timer. Sometimes the AF just has a brainfart.

Or you hit focus and the lens fished for it but missed it.

[txbassnaholic]

how about... the subject in the picture moved??? sounds like the camera was set properly.

[Mary]

I've had this happen before. Somehow, I had hit the AF/MF slide just enough to put it in between the two. Everything looked great when I took the pic. Saw them on the computer and was on a mission to figure out why. Saw it when I looked at the lens. You'd think that would have taught me a lesson to always check that feature...but it has happened twice. (I'll just claim blonde!)

[Casey]

Pictures before and after are fine as far as being sharp goes. I know it's out of focus but that catchlight indicates some sort of shake. I'm fairly confident the IS was turned off as I recall checking that. It is a family pic and others in the pic look the same so not subject movement.

It screams too slow a shutter speed but that's not the case.

Here is the one following. In focus, no camera shake...same exact everything else.



JWHunt, I shoot at various ISOs and while I agree that it makes LESS difference than with film, I've never heard it suggested that shooting at lower ISOs is a bad thing.
Great shot by the way.

[Shane]

I think the catch light is out of focus, so it is bigger, and the bottom of the blurred circle is where the brightest light showed up. Just a guess though. Weird.

[JWHunt]

Hey Casey,
What about focus being set on auto servo?

Just a thought

[Snakelover]

Even the tree in the background is less sharp in the first than the second. And it looks a little darker too, considering it's the same exposure settings. Do you think something could have passed in front of the lens? Like an insect or something? It kind of reminds me of shooting a bird through foliage where the foliage itself is just a darkness, but the bird is thrown out of focus as well.

[Casey]

I think the catch light is out of focus, so it is bigger, and the bottom of the blurred circle is where the brightest light showed up. Just a guess though. Weird.

I'm starting to lean this way the more I look at it. It sure looks like camera shake but I think it's just the way the out of focus catchlight appears. It had me concerned the camera stroked out on me or something.