Two Shots

[dem331]

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What technique do you use for two shots or double shots (using film industry terminology). I am thinking of head and shoulders of two persons standing relatively in line with each other. 
 

I am struggling to get some background blurr and both sets of eyes in focus (I understand that technically both sets of eyes cannot be in focus unless they are on the same plain). Invariably with today’s high definition sensors and super lenses I find one of the heads will be a bit soft, even when shooting a 35mm at f4 or f5.6.  
 

I am wondering if the 35mm APO that is so good at making a portrait stand out from the background (beyond what you would expect of a 35mm at f2) is actually working against me in this kind of situation. 

 

 

 

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[frame-it]

4 hours ago, dem331 said:

struggling to get some background blurr and both sets of eyes in focus (I understand that technically both sets of eyes cannot be in focus unless they are on the same plain).

move far away from them and then take the shot & crop it later?

[erl]

With the scenario you describe, you setting up a an instant distraction within your subject. To get both head sharp on the eyes, they must be equidistant from the lens. Now you will your subject exactly split in two which is visually disturbing. If you wish to ignore compositional aesthetics, then set themup parallel and shoot at any aperture, with careful focus.

It sounds like you have control of the scenario, so compositionally, set them at differing distance from the camera, maybe offset, and use a smaller aperture to give you DOF. Move both subjects away from the background. ie. increase the distance between subject and background.

[dem331]

15 hours ago, frame-it said:

move far away from them and then take the shot & crop it later?

Yes, thank you, this is something I have considered, but it also gives me a more focused background (I think) 

 

15 hours ago, erl said:

It sounds like you have control of the scenario, so compositionally, set them at differing distance from the camera, maybe offset, and use a smaller aperture to give you DOF. Move both subjects away from the background. ie. increase the distance between subject and background.

Thank you, this is probably the way to go. What I am struggling with is that traditional DOF scales do not seem to be relevant for todays lenses and sensors. A DOF calculation with 0.03 mm coc with a 35mm at f4.5 shot at 3m gives me a DOF of 1.45 m behind the subject, but this area does not appear sharp in the image. I think that I probably need to stop down to f8 to get the acceptable sharpness I am looking for. 

[frame-it]

15 minutes ago, dem331 said:

but it also gives me a more focused background (I think) 

not if you shoot wide open, and keep the humans at 15-20ft, and the background very far away