ON LOCATION SHOOT FOR A FOCAL LENGTH BLEND
Set up for a zoom comp by shooting one frame for the foreground, the other for distant details
01 COMPOSE THE SHOT
The focal blending technique lets us emphasise backdrops by making them larger in the frame. It’s an ideal technique to try out when you have a combination of foreground interest and distant scenery. A tripod can be helpful as it keeps the camera position consistent throughout.
02 TAKE AN ULTRA WIDE SHOT
Take a shot with a wide-angle lens – we shot at 10mm with a 10-24mm lens on an APS-C Canon EOS 90D. Frame to include foreground to lead towards the distant scenery – we used the trails of foam in the reservoir, shot using a 20 secs exposure in fading twilight to blur the moving water.
03 ZOOM IN AND SHOOT AGAIN
Next switch focal lengths and take a closer shot of the distant scenery. If your lens is a zoom, simply zoom in as we did here by shooting at 24mm on our 10-24mm lens. But if not, switch to a standard zoom lens. Don’t make the jump in focal length too extreme or the effect won’t work.
04 SWITCH YOUR FOCUS POINT
As we’ll be blending the foreground with a different shot for the background details, we are free to adjust the focus point too. So focus on the foreground details for the wide shot, then focus on the background details once you have switched to the longer focal length.
05 CONSISTENT EXPOSURE
We need to keep the exposure consistent in both frames. After taking your first frame, make a note of the exposure and ensure the second frame is the same. Use Manual mode to dial in the exact exposure if necessary. Be as quick as you can between shots so the light doesn’t change.
06 USE A NARROW APERTURE
Whenever framing to include foreground details, we need to be careful that everything is in focus, especially if the details are very close to the lens. It helps to use a narrow aperture. Here we shot the reservoir at f/11 with shutter speed 20 seconds, at ISO100.