Week 10: Selective Focus

This week, I went back to techniques of the trade. I found an article on Outdoor Photographer centered around using selective focus in photography. The writer, Gary Hart, discusses utilizing a shallow depth of field in order to create images that emphasize and highlight subject detail while creating "focus blur" in the background. He writes on the many factors that go into shooting a creative selective focus image, like camera considerations (lenses, tripod, extension tubes, etc.), choosing a foreground/background combination that's complementary, focusing on the subject, managing the depth of field, and, most importantly, remembering that the camera sees the scene differently than you see it. I especially liked his list detailing how your depth of field will be shallower and your background more blurred the closer your focus point, the longer your focal length, and the larger your aperture. I also liked reading about breaking down a specific shot like this, thinking about what goes into it. It's a lot in one, but being mindful of these things while practicing taking these shots will, I think, speed up the learning process and better the results thereafter.


Link to article and photo: https://www.outdoorphotographer.com/tips-techniques/nature-landscapes/using-selective-focus/