Why use manual focus on a smartphone?

Autofocus can be fantastic in most circumstances. The smartphone is smart! It can be problematic when scene elements of similar visual weight are at differing distances from the camera lens. The camera can struggle and choose a focal distance between the objects in the scene. 

Let's talk Adobe

You do not need an Adobe subscription. Sign up for a free Adobe ID account within the app using either an email address, Facebook or Google ID. The subscription does offer extra features. 

Adobe Lightroom mobile camera manual focus Inside the camera feature, the manual focus option is available within the Pro shooting mode. Locate the icon [+] that looks like a + symbol inside brackets. By default underneath the icon will be labelled Auto. To activate manual focus tap on that icon to discover a slider. Swipe the slider off Auto to manually adjust the focus area from nearest to the lens (0%) to further distance away from the lens (100%). 

Focus Peaking

My favourite feature of manual focus is the green overlay that appears on the focused area of the image. This is referred to as focus peaking. Other apps will allow you to change the colour of the overlay. This is particularly helpful if you are trying to determine focus on a green leaf that matches the same colour as the Adobe Lightroom green overlay! 

When do I use manual focus? The only time I manually focus the smartphone is using a close-up macro lens attachment and am holding the lens less than 7cm from the subject. The reason is the focus area is very narrow. 

How to use manual focus on a moving subject? Hand holding the smartphone very close to moving subjects, like bees can be very frustrating and challenging. As you can see in the above video, the movement of the camera can easily shift which part of the scene at close range is in focus. 

The green overlay on your image preview communicates in real-time where the focus distance. I find that setting the manual focus and green overlay allows me to rock back and forth and move the camera to achieve the focus. 

Advanced technique

The green overlay can be difficult to see in bright outdoor conditions on a little smartphone screen. The subject matter may be green, also making it difficult to see the manual focus overlay. You can change the live filter to black and white to create a strong contrast against the green. After capture, you can change the filter back to normal again!

This video lesson is extracted from the Blurry to Tack-Sharp Photos: 4-Step System. More details on the system can be found here

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- Mike

Read the full article at https://www.smartphonephotographytraining.com/capturing-photos/manual-focus-lightroom-app