USE DEPTH OF FIELD TO GUIDE THE EYE

FOREGROUND SHARP USING A WIDE APERTURE AND GETTING CLOSE TO THE FLOWERS IN THE FOREGROUND HAS MADE THEM THE SHARP PART OF THE IMAGE, ALSO CALLED THE FOCAL POINT. THIS IS WHERE THE VIEWER’S EYE IS NATURALLY DRAWN TO. ALTHOUGH THE WINDMILL IS OUT OF FOCUS, IT’S STILL SHARP ENOUGH TO MAKE OUT ITS FORM AND STRUCTURE, SO IT’S AN INTERESTING LANDSCAPE AS THE FOCUS DOESN’T FALL WHERE YOU’D EXPECT IT TO.

BACKGROUND SHARP THIS IS PERHAPS A MORE CLASSIC LANDSCAPE AS IT DOESN’T LOOK LIKE THE FOCUS HAS BEEN MISPLACED. INSTEAD THE FOCUS IS FIRMLY CENTRED ON THE WINDMILL, MAKING IT THE OBVIOUS FOCAL POINT OF THE SHOT. SHOOTING CLOSE TO THE FLOWERS AND USING A SUPERWIDE APERTURE HAS NICELY DEFOCUSED THE FOREGROUND, GENTLY GUIDING THE EYE OF THE VIEWER TO THE WINDMILL IN THE DISTANCE.

SHARP ALL THE WAY THROUGH IN THIS SHOT WE USED A MUCH MORE NARROW APERTURE OF F/22 TO EXPAND THE ZONE OF SHARP FOCUS AND GET EVERYTHING IN THE FRAME SHARP, FROM THE FOREGROUND TO THE BACKGROUND. TYPICALLY LANDSCAPES ARE TAKEN AT MIDDLE TO HIGH APERTURE VALUES TO GET A GOOD LEVEL OF SHARPNESS ACROSS THE VISTA, BUT THESE EXAMPLES SHOW THAT A SHALLOW DEPTH OF FIELD CAN BE A GREAT WAY OF CHANGING UP YOUR COMPOSITIONS TOO.