There's more to focusing your camera than just making sure objects are sharp. In fact, focus is one of the primary ways to lead the viewer's eye through an image and getting a scene focused just right depends on the scene and your camera.
While there are no hard and fast rules to focusing, in this how to we'll take a look at some common situations and give you tips on how to make your photos draw the viewer in and give them a deeper connection to the image.
For simplicity we'll assume you're using the auto-focus features on your camera.
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Not all Auto Focus is created equal
Auto-focus tools vary by camera manufacturer, but generally most include several modes like area, spot and continuous. Each has it's advantages and disadvantages:
Area (sometimes called multi-area)
Chances are this is default setting and what you've been using. With Area auto focusing the camera automatically focuses using multiple focus points. Think of this as the camera taking an average of your scene and then trying to find the focal point that holds most things in focus. Although it's the default, area focus tends to be the least accurate of auto focus modes. Recommended for: landscapes, scenes where there isn't a large of depth of field.
Spot focus
In this mode your camera will focus on a spot at the center of the screen. How large of a spot depends on the camera, but most offer a visual guide that shows the spot area when you look through the viewfinder (or the screen if your camera doesn't have a viewfinder). Spot focus allows for the most control and, when combined with a half-press of the shutter button, can be used the keep foreground objects in focus and blur the background for a nice effect. Recommended for: almost anything, spot focus is really the best option in most cases.
Continuous autofocus
Generally used with moving subjects, continuous auto focus allows you to keep a primary subject in focus against a changing background. This mode can be very helpful, but is typically only found in high-end DSLRs. Still, if you have it continuous auto focus it's worth exploring. Recommended for: sporting events and other situations where your subject is moving.
Common Photo situations
Portraits
The common wisdom of portrait photography is to make sure the subject's eyes are sharply in focus. In addition to focusing on the eyes, use a large aperture (f/2.8-f/1.4) to decrease depth of field and maximize the effect of the sharply focused eyes.
Landscapes
If you want the whole scene in sharp focus, chose a very small aperture (f/16 or higher if you have it) and focus on the middle or back of the scene. If you'd like a sharp foreground with a soft background, focus on the foreground and open up the aperture a bit more to allow the background to blur.
Combinations
Sometimes called an "environmental portrait" the combination of a portrait-style subject in a larger landscape is probably the most common situation you'll find yourself capturing. The trick here is to make sure that the primary point of interest is in focus. If that's a person against a landscape use a fast shutter to make sure the person doesn't blur through motion and again, try to keep the eyes in focus. If you want a softer subject against a sharp background, do the opposite, focusing on the background and using a middle of the road aperture to let the person soften a bit.
Macros
Macros are extreme close-ups -- the center of a flower, detail of wood grain and so on. Macros generally require either a special lens or a macro focus mode. Due to the extreme depth of field in such a small area you'll want to use a small aperture and probably use a tripod since the combination of close-up and small aperture mean less light and longer shutter times.
In the future
Auto-focus keeps improving with each new round of cameras and new modes using ever more sophisticated algorithms are always trying to do the hard work for you. Still, no amount of technology will ever be able to exactly anticipate the way you want your photos to look. It will, however, be significantly easier and faster to get the focus you want out of tomorrow's cameras.
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