“The less descriptive the photo, the more “What’s really important is to simplify. stimulating it is for the imagination. The The work of most photographers would be less information, the more suggestion: the improved immensely if they could do one less prose, the more poetry.”! thing: get rid of the extraneous. If you strive for simplicity, you are more likely to !!!!!! reach the viewer.” !!! -Ernst Haas !! -William Albert Allard ! Fine Art Nature Photography- The Art of Selective Focus Kathleen Clemons I can still remember being a student of Field. It"s a style of photography in Bryan Peterson"s Understanding that makes my heart sing, and I love Exposure class when I was a newbie, being able to control how much is in and learning about Depth of Field. I focus in my photos, and just where I was just blown away by the fact that I want the point of focus to be. could control just what was in focus in a photograph! I did that?? Me? I For those of you who may not know thought that was just the coolest thing, much about Depth of Field, let"s do a and I still do! The more I shoot, the quick review. Depth of Field or DOF less I enjoy shooting in a more describes how much of your photo is documentary type fashion. There"s in focus. A shallow DOF (or Selective nothing wrong with shooting at f/22, Focus) just means that one specific and I do that when it"s necessary for area of the image will be sharp, and the photo, but I am far more the other elements in the image will be comfortable shooting with large blurred. apertures and creating shallow Depth Fine Art Nature Photography- The Art of Selective Focus Kathleen Clemons There are three ways to control Depth more? Need less? The more you of Field in your photos, aperture shoot with a particular lens, the more choice, the distance between your intuitive this process becomes. I use a subject and your camera, and the 180mm f/3.5 lens often for Selective focal length of your lens. Focus images, and I can predict the results before I even start shooting. Aperture Experimenting and shooting often will do that for you too. Pick a subject, The basic guideline for choosing an shoot it at every aperture with every aperture for Selective Focus is to lens you own, starting with the choose the smallest number you can smallest number aperture and moving get away with (remember, the smaller to the largest, one by one. You"ll be the numbers, f/2.8, f/3.5, f/4.... the less amazed at what you learn! Get to depth of field and the more blur). You know the DOF each aperture gives want to choose an aperture that gives you at varying focal lengths. If you you just what you want in focus, and have a Depth of Field preview button no more. Put your camera on Aperture on your camera, make a habit of using Priority, start with your largest aperture it to check Depth of Field to see if you (smallest number), shoot wide open-- are getting the results you are is there enough in focus? Need a little visualizing. more? Stop down one stop to a larger number. Reshoot. Better? Need Fine Art Nature Photography- The Art of Selective Focus Kathleen Clemons Distance Selective Focus works because we The distance between your camera are drawn to contrast. The elements and subject will also affect Depth of you choose to have in focus are those Field. The closer you are to your with the clearest contrast between subject, the shallower the Depth of themselves and the out of focus areas Field. If you are 4 feet away from your surrounding them. There are two subject, you"ll get greater Depth of decisions you need to make every Field than if you are 2 feet away. time you shoot this way- where to place your focus, and how much to Focal Length have in focus. These are equally The longer the Focal length of your important factors! lens, the shallower the Depth of Field you can get. My 180mm lens will yield Your decision about where to place results much shallower DOF than a your point of focus will affect how a 100mm. The longer length also gives viewer views your photograph. Decide me a bit more breathing room too, what you want to viewer to look at, since I can be further away from my and then draw them to it. It"s sort of subject. Longer lenses also compress the equivalent of saying, “Hey!! Look the elements in your photo, bringing at this!!”. Choose an element of the them closer together. A narrower point photo to make your star! There should of view also gives you less be no doubt as to which element in background to worry about blurring, a your image is the star of the show. wider lens will instead expand the elements in your scene. Use what you “Simplicity is about subtracting the have, see what you can do! obvious, and adding the meaningful.” You can also use Extension Tubes for shallower DOF, they are glassless - John Maeda rings which fit between the camera body and lens and make the lens focus closer. “Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.” !!! “I think Art is about control- the Scott Adams encounter between control and the uncontrollable.” -Richard Avedon Fine Art Nature Photography- The Art of Selective Focus Kathleen Clemons Using Selective Focus should make It also means that you have the you slow down and really look at your opportunity and methods to de- subject. Decide what is the most emphasize distracting, unattractive or important or interesting part, how you unwanted background elements with can best highlight it and then draw the what you make out of focus. viewer’s eye to that point of focus. Deciding what to highlight is the first step. You have the ability to You can say, “Look over here, this is emphasize the main subject or idea of important, ignore that part” with your your image and draw attention to it photography. How cool is that? :) with what you have in focus. Fine Art Nature Photography- The Art of Selective Focus Kathleen Clemons You also will need to decide how I photograph flowers often using much of your subject to have in focus. Selective Focus. I study the flower first You’ll need to choose an aperture and examine it from every angle, which will create the look you have in looking for what is special about it. Is it mind. Some aperture changes will a shape, a line, an irregular petal, a alter the image slightly, some will small detail? Once I decide what create an entirely different image. draws me to the flower, I use selective Remember that stopping down for focus to highlight it and draw the eye. more Depth of Field will also pull more of your background into focus. There are tradeoffs, you just need to find the *Remember also that besides the area balance that fits your vision. I always you are focusing on, other elements in use Aperture Priority when shooting the frame at the same focal plane will my Selective Focus Images. To me, also be in focus. Sometimes this setting the aperture has the strongest becomes a problem as other elements aesthetic influence on my images, so can prove distracting. You may need Depth of Field choice is the most to recompose, or remove the important element for me to choose. I distractions. tend to shoot with larger apertures, and then adjust for more detail if I think it’s needed. Fine Art Nature Photography- The Art of Selective Focus Kathleen Clemons Fine Art Nature Photography- The Art of Selective Focus Kathleen Clemons Fine Art Nature Photography- The Art of Selective Focus Kathleen Clemons Fine Art Nature Photography- The Art of Selective Focus Kathleen Clemons Fine Art Nature Photography- The Art of Selective Focus Kathleen Clemons Fine Art Nature Photography- The Art of Selective Focus Kathleen Clemons Lensbabies My very favorite lenses for shooting The remaining areas of an image are Selective Focus are my Lensbabies softly and gradually blurred, creating (most of the images in this lesson unique, eye-catching images. The were shot with a Lensbaby). If you are Composer model works in a different not familiar with these lenses and you manner, with a ball and socket type like shooting selective focus, I strongly design, no bellows. You simply tilt the suggest that you check these out lens and turn a focus ring to adjust (lensbaby.com). They are sort of an your focus. odd combination of an old, manual focus lens where you had to do it right The lens opening, or f /stop with all of the first time, and a modern day video these lenses is controlled by a set of game joystick. The original lens aperture rings. These will change the models and two of the newest size and sharpness of the sweet spot generation are mounted on a plastic of focus. Many people find these bellows, which allows you to manually lenses to be challenging at first (which focus by pushing, pulling and bending is why I teach a class called A selected part of an image will be in Lensbaby Magic here at PPSOP). I focus, and you control just where that find that I can get a very sharp sweet ‘sweet spot” of focus will be by spot of focus with these lenses, and manipulating the bellows section (the the effect that the Lensbaby has on part that looks like vacuum cleaner the out of focus areas is just beautiful.