Does this sound familiar?… You’ve been at this photography thing for a while. You feel like you’re finally beginning to hit your stride. You’ve mastered all the techniques for capturing a tack sharp photo, when all of a sudden you feel like you’re caught in the Twilight Zone.

You notice your focus is slightly off (and not in a cool, creative way like Michelle’s photo above). Like in a something’s seriously off kind of a way. You shrug it off. You think to yourself, “Maybe there was a little camera shake. I’ll just snap another one.” Then another. And another. Again, the focus is off. You start to question your ability as a photographer. Maybe you’ve lost your touch. You wonder whether you really had “it” at all.

Now, before you throw in the towel and give up on photography all together, I want to let you in on a little secret… it may not be you at all! That’s right, you might just be experiencing an issue with your equipment. It could be as simple as needing to fine tune your Auto Focus. I know, right… mind blown!

This Fine Tune feature is available on the Nikon D7000 models and up, the Canon 50D models and up, as well as other brands like Sony. Just look for the terms Fine Tune or Micro Adjustment in your User’s Manual.

There are several different techniques for fine tuning your Auto Focus, including using a tool like this one, or a magazine with fine print. If you still experience issues after fine tuning your auto focus, you may want to take your equipment in and have it professionally checked.

Hopefully you can sigh a sigh of relief knowing that your focusing fears are no more. Now get out there and capture some nice crisp shots!