How to FOCUS in Landscape Photography - Get SHARP Photos

Catching Focus from front to back is essential in landscape photography to get sharp photos. In this video, I'll show how I focus with my camera and how I get everything in focus from the foreground to infinity in my landscape photography. There are several different techniques to focus but very little techniques to get everything sharp and in focus from back to front.
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[@MattMolloy20]

The M on the Flexible Spot stands for Medium. If you select the option to the left or the right you will se there is an S (small) and an L (large)

[@stillsbyjann]

thank you, only here to correct that fcs

[@SimonBoothPhotography]

These are really difficult films to make and your delivery is very admirable. It was once pointed out to me many moons that depth of field isn't affected by focal length as long as the subject remains the same size in the frame with each focal length and the same aperture. I didn't believe it but when you pixel peep at the distant part of the wide shot, he has a point. But that's science and I don't pretend to or want to understand it!

[@stradglider]

I think its when you keep the same distance to the subject and the background. Depth of field affected by the magnification ratio. If you stay in the same spot whatever zoom you take will not change the depth of field. It nice "fun fact", however I think it does not have much practical use since there is not use comparing photos where subject is of different size, and when you start moving to have the subject fill the frame in the same way you than change the distance to the subject and therefore the magnification ratio...

[@MaartenVisser2920]

I learned a lot from this video. Thx!

[@kobiorama]

Mads, It's not flexible spot manual, it's medium - you can choose medium, small or large focusing spot.

[@MadsPeterIversen]

Makes sense! I always wondered why they'd put "manual" there ;) Thanks!

[@colinhothersall8343]

Great explanation. We don’t want technical but simple explanation. When we are in the field that’s how we photograph. Thanks for a great vlog.

[@MadsPeterIversen]

You're very welcome and thanks a lot, Colin! :)

[@AlphaPrimeEDC]

love the way you explain things and I can't believe this video doesn't have more likes than 4.5k because it's the best I've seen for showing how to do landscape focusing!

[@marilynzanca7712]

I found the video easy to follow and enjoyable.Bless you. may everyone get something out of your teaching. Peace God Bless.

[@michaelclar3066]

This is the stuff that keeps me up at night.... Thank you for explaining it so well :)

[@deb8183]

This was a fantastic video. I figured things out that I hadn’t before. Thank you kindly.

[@darrinyo-mamakimble7002]

Thanks again for another great review, I really like fact that you give us information from other KZbinrs as a reference. You’re one of the few that seem to do this out of passion more than profit.

[@bloberoonie]

Omg I never knew about the cross hair technique, thank you so much Mads!

[@johnluyendyk5959]

This will help me a lot. Thank you

[@alisaral3729]

What I was traying to learn...Thanks..❤❤

[@Khadolkacha]

Great tutorial

[@JaypeaFoto]

Great video, a journey in learning that is constant. Never boring I think.

[@anitaalexusokocha3293]

YOU GOT A NEW SUBSCRIBER Dear Mads, l am incredibly new in photography, very fresh and have been watching KZbin photography and videography reviews, for the past six months to date. Your analysis and teaching are simply the best, and you are the first that l am subscribing with because l have learnt a lot and l trust your lesson and giveaways. Thank you!

[@GoldenGlobetrotters]

Thanks Mads for this great tutorial on landscape focus! Good tips and advice that I will put in practice ASAP!

[@Jeff-jg7jh]

Very hard core science- I know most of this stuff but it doesn't hurt to review and you are such a pleasure to listen to.

[@songjiang165]

Enjoying your videos

[@jvalenta47]

Mads, great video. You are one of the best landscape photography educator on the web, Thanks for your work.

[@MadsPeterIversen]

You're very welcome and thank you very much for those kind words :)

[@Ardspans]

Very very good, thank you.. great tips.

[@diegogarces6931]

Thank you for this

[@spidersj12]

Always informative and always in beautiful settings to captivate your viewers.

[@ayfj4572]

Mads you are a fantastic educator, I love you videos that I have only just discovered.

[@lisasimpson9343]

Learnt a lot thank you

[@sandramartynec8077]

Easy to understand and to start using right away. Thanks for sharing!

[@johnsparkes8963]

Best video I have ever watched on where to focus. Thank you for sharing.

[@MadsPeterIversen]

Thank you so very much, John! That means a lot! :)

[@adventuresofjandk]

You’re content is the best.

[@MadsPeterIversen]

Thank you, so, so much! 🙏

[@cohoblue6512]

Excellent Video/tutorial without the need for technical mumbo jumbo .. straight to the point with good clear simplistic instruction..Thank you for taking the time to share your knowledge with us .........subscribed and thumbs up

[@jrozenecn5112]

Great content,Thank you very much.

[@mikiethebikie]

Great video Mads, and a fantastic explanation of focusing.

[@amerphoto1]

Excellent Mads! You really explained focusing in simple, laymen terms. The in camera examples are what people need to see to better understand the technique. Seeing is believing. Well done!

[@MadsPeterIversen]

Thank you very much! :)

[@abirod41]

Hi Mads. I enjoy your videos and have learned a great deal from you. Thank you 🙏

[@at4095]

Very nice, thank you.

[@htunmin1440]

Thank you so Munch .

[@tmewborn1]

Thank You, Excellent Video, Excellent Teachings.

[@evslone]

Love seeing the Aarhus countryside. Such a beautiful land. So many memories of visits; someday I have to return.

[@MadsPeterIversen]

Yes, there are some beautiful areas around here. They require another way of thinking than photographing in Iceland or other mountain areas.

[@ackaku]

Great video !

[@WimMondelaers]

Thanks for making this nice tutorial!

[@bquint6843]

Thanks for all your vids they are extremely useful for someone like myself just starting out. I have the Sony a7iii and can’t seem to figure out how you are configuring your camera for flexible spot focus then zoom in and get the crosshairs to move to chosen focus area.

[@benaziruiu]

Great explanation. I have learned a lots of things about focus

[@StephenBridgett]

Excellent tutorial Mads

[@xKenSmith]

Great video. Well laid out and understanable. Thank you

[@drbva2]

the issue with focus stacking as your samples show is that the wind moves the brush and leaves and they are not in the same position in each frame so that you introduce motion blurr into your final stacked image

[@arielalejandrogarma3672]

hello Mads fantastic tips to improve sharpness in landscape photography congratulations

[@Luigi13]

Since I also photograph I understand your viewpoint and examples very well. The one thing is to make mistakes and practice more and more and the motor skills and practice together becomes second nature. Thanks for the video Mads Peterson, cheers.

[@jababnamgay6366]

nice. thank you so much.

[@natepotter6911]

Mads, at the end, I think you meant "the relative depth of field DECREASES" (not increases), when you get closer, or use long focal length, etc. Excellent video, though!

[@gadus5510]

Thank you for re-enforcing the focus stacking concept for amature photographers!

[@markmurray5276]

Excellent information.thank you.

[@hvdoever57]

Great Thanks

[@phillipteagarden7068]

Well done presentation! Most helpful!

[@marekward6202]

Love your videos. Hope you took some of that Wild Garlic home with you. I go out to pick that with a couple of friends when it's in season. Tasty stir fries :)

[@Randyfhutchison]

Very informative. Really enjoying all your videos.

[@eastwind3550]

Thank you

[@donnatheimer888]

I love your obvious ease at presenting the "how-to" of your photography. I have this camera and had no idea that the plus button put a crosshair into the photo! I can't wait to try out focusing using this new tool. I have always used it to blow up the image on the LCD screen. Beautiful photography and your two e-books are fantastic resources!

[@leenoshilla2477]

Great description. Love it thoroughly

[@robertdavis1255]

Great video & comments/advice..thank you..

[@onealjones9039]

Thank you Mads.

[@chrisjonah6575]

Super helpful and easy watching : )

[@twodalec]

great content.. Affinity photo also does focus stacking..

[@MaxsWorkshop]

Awesome video! Thank you 🤝

[@regannealephotography]

I asked you about this on Instagram so thank you!

[@brucewdelorme]

Awesome information Mads, thank you and stay safe

[@enriquemoctezuma845]

Great content!! And helpful advices!

[@joseluisfernandezroa7561]

Stunning camera you have, great video by the way.

[@Berry_N]

Such lovely greens! Thanks for the great video about focus.

[@Jack-se2iz]

Excellent video, as always. I focus stack when necessary with my D850. You inspire me to explore more unique landscape opportunities in my state so that my eye for compositions will improve. At that, you are a master. Thank you!

[@fateful30stm]

Great explanation, thank you, you helped me a lot!! :)

[@jhonnybakkenphotography]

Thanks for the wonderful images from Denmark, and yet another video with easy understanding tips. And thanks for admitting to use Autosetting on the camera. Manual setting can be scaring for a lot of people who get told not to use automatic.

[@MadsPeterIversen]

It's about using the tools you have :)

[@Shades_of_White]

Great video explaining the focusing workflow. If this, then do this, if still not in focus then you need to do this. Perfect video. Thanks very much

[@MadsPeterIversen]

You're very welcome! Thanks a lot :)

[@alexandersupertramp4097]

You rock. Many Thanks

[@AmorLucisPhotography]

Another great video Mads. One aspect which is not often considered when discussing focussing is the size of the print you are producing and at what distance it is being viewed at. At a small scale or print viewed at a distance, the "acceptably sharp" depth of field will be much larger than for a large print view close up.

[@MadsPeterIversen]

Yes, I know Nigel Danson just released a video close to that topic, you should check that one out :)

[@hkdeb8708]

Beautiful landscapes

[@MrEissa7777]

Very nice Boss , we are learning from you and other great photographers a lot , just i want to mention and confirm and add to what you said one thing , that every time we get closer to the ground it is more diffecult to use infinity rule or get everything sharp by using closed apreature so we should use focus stacking to guarantee that we have everything sharp, like for example shooting a frozen lake and we want to shoot the frozen surface closely and make it as a foreground

[@MadsPeterIversen]

Yes, I'd try to focus a bit into the scene first, but at one point even f/22 isn't enough to get the entire scene in focus.

[@cristovaosilva2992]

Great information Mats. Thank you!

[@Robertobinetti70]

Thanks

[@anthonyplancherel8274]

Excellent tips Mads - all very useful! All the best!

[@rossiniereguy]

Thanks. Very helpful. 👌

[@deanroyer9954]

Excellent presentation. I came across your channel recently and am still catching up on some of the older posts, but I really appreciate your focus on elevating one's photography as an artistic pursuit. With this video I finally understand the "1/3" technique as approximating the hyperfocal distance. For a time I got caught up in trying to do the math with hyperfocal distance, but your explanation gives me the confidence to keep it simple and use focus on infinity, focus about 1/3 in, or focus stack.

[@MadsPeterIversen]

There are so many factors to consider if you want to make it into a science, so generally I just work pragmatic and see what works :)

[@ChristineWilsonPhotography]

Good down to earth info , great work

[@luiscampos4511]

Thank you Mads. A tasteful vídeo. 🙏

[@franksurdal8148]

Fabulous, simple and brilliant👏👏👏

[@hcp0scratch]

Great stuff, TY!!!!

[@davidwalker2402]

Great job thank you again.

[@tinaeinars1]

Hæ Mads. Just found your channel and it answers all of my questions as well ás the the ones I didn’t yet know I had! Very much looking forward learning a lot from you. Best regards from Iceland

[@joekelly9369]

Thanks Mads , i use same thing on the d850s , but my eyes arent the best so use an add on 7" screen to really set that focus

[@justinrichardson3864]

Mads, great guide. The tip around long focal lengths is one that often gets overlooked. Well done.

[@marklawson3141]

Thanks Mads. Great tip about using the magnifier option mapped after the Flexible Spot. Have set up a quick key for that now on A7R3

[@MadsPeterIversen]

You're welcome :)

[@MrHero0220]

Mads. Thank you for another great video! I would like to see a video on how you set up your ARiii

[@MadsPeterIversen]

That's a very specific video, I don't think I'll make one of those ;) But the thinking is to just have easy access to the most used tools :)

[@kurtwangphotography5038]

Very helpful and inspiring, Mads. Thanks for sharing your focusing technique!

[@AllenTweed]

Nice! If you haven't tried back button focus, give it a try. I think you will like it 🙂

[@esbee1177]

Hey Mads, I would be really interested in a Video about Focus Stacking. Especially when it comes to the amount of photos and the distance between shots, while using camera automatics. Maybe it is even recommended to use manual pictures for that? Much confusion about that here. I am shure, I am not alone with that. Thanks an keep it up. Love your work!

[@tanyablais2992]

I’m heading out to practice shooting 1/3 into the scene and shooting at infinity. I think my Hangul is that I’m still learning my camera and really need to understand it’s different focus modes. Thank you for a great tutorial!

[@AlexBerger]

Nice breakdown and simple. I still find forest scenes like that incredibly hard to get the appropriate focus on. The one thing that made a big difference for me was the realization that one of the other costs of shooting above F11 is that you get ALL of your lens spots and by F13/16 every microparticle on the lens, filter, or sensor is painfully visible and a nightmare to edit. Not a big deal on foliage, annoying on complex skies, but super challenging on sand.

[@MadsPeterIversen]

Yes, sand can be really hard with spots on! Keep an eye on the cleaning all the time :)

[@vocartagmailcom]

WOOOOOOW, this 'AF check' with AF-ON button is great, I usually use the continuousAF where this function doesn't work and from time to time I have missfocused landscapes:D

[@bennovice3327]

great video ......again! thanks Mads ;-)

[@19501960]

Thanks. Plenty free hyperfocal apps which may be useful. Also thanks to your viewers for clearing up a few Sony operating tips..

[@philipsmith1465]

Thanks that was really helpful especially the bit on when to focus stack

[@scotty4418]

Informative a concise explanations Mads. Use a similar method for focusing using the live screen to get an approximate distance from the middle of the camera to the point in the scene that is in the bottom of the live screen. Then double the distance for focusing and like yourself check afterwards and adjust if required. Glad to see you getting out and about locally, hopefully in the Uk we will have that opportunity soon

[@MadsPeterIversen]

I cross my fingers you guys will get out soon! In Denmark the officials are asking us to get out ;)