Monday, October 04, 2010

Playing with Focus

Teddy & Renee


One oft-used technique in portrait photography is to focus on the subject(s), but make the background out-of-focus. By ‘blurring’ the background, we make sure that the viewers will fix their eyes on the subject(s).

However, in shooting the picture shown above, I purposely did the reverse – focus and the soft toy and make the pretty model out-of-focus. But you probably need to enlarge the picture to see the difference. Ideally, I would like the model to be more blurry, but there were limitations to my gears.

Photography is about creativity. All rules can be broken…

22 comments:

  1. Nowadays the digital camera can focus better than what we used to toy with. :D

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  2. There are indeed so many ways to take a photo. The wonderful part with digital cameras is that we get to see the instant image, no need to wait until the photos are processed.

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  3. You don't shoot with a 50mm? That would give you a nice bokeh.

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  4. it's a good experiment but i guess the wrong subject.. i actually focus on the girl more than the bear lor~~ kakakaka!! :D

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  5. yeah, really need to enlarge to see the blurring effect.. but still i think you can do more blurring for a better bokeh feel, just some thoughts.. :)

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  6. yeah, this one i can do, my camera comes with this function.. :)

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  7. For me, I look at the bear more simply because I like cute teddy bears! Hihi

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  8. the model is not blur enuff....
    i prefer those with stronger contrast =)

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  9. tekkaus
    But sometimes we want out-of-focus pictures, LOL...

    Autumn Belle
    You're right.

    Mei Teng
    The room wasn't big enough for 50mm.

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  10. SK
    Apparently the girl is attractive to straight guys...

    Jasmine
    Alright, you like soft toys.

    迷迭香
    I know, I know, the girl isn't blurred enough...

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  11. I think no matter how blurry you make it, if it's a sexy girl at the back, she'll still be the attention. LOL!

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  12. well, from the lesson i learned. It is to play with the lense and the exposure f & Shutter speed. when f is big your shutter speed have to be slow and the other way round.

    i.e f5 +1/640

    something like that lar.. you try and see :)

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  13. You can make the babe as blur as you like, but I can see her sharp and clear. Everytime. =p

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  14. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  15. I love playing with focus, I think it's one of my favorite trick. I did the same kind of reverse focus portrait here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/xiaozhuli/4637723044/in/set-72157624123300424/

    (Sorry, wrong link in the first comment above I deleted)

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  16. I saw a big poster in a shopping center last weekend with sharp focus on a tiny rice and soft on the model holding the rice, using the technic you're mentioning here.....

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  17. witch
    You may be right, LOL...

    彬天雪谛
    Thanks, but blurriness is related to aperture and focal length, not shutter speed.

    Shingo
    Haha...

    Zhu
    I saw your photo. You did better than me.

    Grass
    That is advertisement. For sure it wants us to look at the rice, not the model.

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  18. Just a thought. Are there no lady photographers amongst you? I mean why no male models wan.. LOL!

    Was this taken in a hotel room?

    Offering two good options - lady for the (straight) guys; teddy for the other and the ladies. Oops.. Peace..

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  19. Sure there is a teddy bear? Oops!

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  20. happysurfer
    There are a few lady photographers, but the organizers never get male models.

    Yes, this was taken inside a hotel room.

    Bananaz
    Of course, there is a teddy bear!

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  21. opps sorry, wrong translation.. yes... is aperture hahah

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  22. Why did you blur the model? You'll make your readers strain their eyes! Hahaha!!

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