4.7 USING SELECTIVE FOCUS
 
 
 
 
 
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Imagine you are photographing a scene something like the one below. Which part of the scene are you most interested in? Chances are it’s the cattails and not the objects in the background. One way to make something stand out is to photograph it so it will be sharper than its surroundings. When everything in a picture is equally sharp, the viewer tends to give equal attention to all parts of the scene. But if some parts are sharp and others are not, the eye tends to look first at the sharpest part of the image.

You can selectively focus the camera and your viewer’s attention on the most important part of the scene if you restrict the depth of field so that the significant elements are sharp while the foreground and background are less so.

steer swamp.jpg (32719 bytes) Here the foreground is in sharp focus but the background is soft.

 

How To: Using Focus Lock for Minimum Depth of Field
  1. Zoom the lens in to magnify the subject or move close to it and focus the camera on, or slightly in front of, the subject you want sharpest.
  2. Press the shutter-release button down halfway and hold it there to lock in the focus. 
  3. Recompose the scene and press the shutter-release button the rest of the way to take the picture.

 

How To: Decreasing Depth of Field
  • Photograph in dim light to open up the aperture.
  • Zoom the lens in to enlarge the subject.
  • Move closer to the subject.
  • Switch to aperture priority mode and select a large aperture such as f/4. (See Topic 0-0.)


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