Bali Photographer / Thoughts and Portfolio

It is a simple technique which I belief that most of photography enthusiasts know. However, as I did myself before, a few friends enthusiastically asked questions on how to get such an image. Basically it is about getting only the intended object looks crystal clear whilst the rest are blurred.

Translated into photography language, it is all about focus. We have to get the intended object within focus area, whilst the rest are isolated outside focus area. Unfortunately most camera, especially pocket camera, is designed to give users a crisp image throughout in a snap, and therefore thin focus isolation is not possible. Why thin? Because we want only the intended object is locked in focus.

Technically thin focus area can be achieved in two ways. Firstly is aperture. The larger the aperture is (reflected by smaller F number) the thinner the focus area is. Secondly is focal length. The longer the focal length the thinner the focus area is. To get extremely thin focus isolation, you man need combination of both wide aperture and long focal length. It is a very simple equation now, to get the thinnest focus area, you have to open the aperture as wide as possible, and zoom out as long as possible.

Equipment

So far I know, most (if not all) pocket digital cameras are out of the league. So I am here talking about DSLR which allows user to take a full control on almost everything, including choosing appropriate lens for certain purpose. Be also aware that most lenses, especially those come as a kit with entry-level DSLR do not have wide enough aperture.

The two which I used and allow thin-enough focus area are 50mm F1.4 and 80-200mm F2.8. However, for certain occasion like event photography, 50mm may not give comfortable distance for close-ups. Whilst the aperture is a bit smaller, I feel more comfortable with 80-200mm F2.8. One stop smaller aperture can be easily compensated by longer focal length.

Technique

Not much to tell here to be honest. In addition to playing between two parameters, which are aperture and focal length, to get the perfect focus are for the intended frame, is focusing method. It is important especially when you shoot in AF mode. Steps below are on Nikon D200, you may need to find equivalents on your own camera.

• Set focusing mode to single servo (S).
• Set AF area mode to single AF area, the lowest option.
• Select AF area setting into narrow, reflected into smaller boxes in the viewfinder.

On advanced digital camera, there are a button next to the lens which will show you the exact out of focus areas. Look into view finder carefully whilst pressing the button. At the first glance, you are most probably miss to see it.

Now once to have all set, just put the focus to intended area and release the shutter. You may have to experiment with different aperture and focal length setting to get the right focus area for the subject. I got a funny shot of an old man with wrinkled skin. The picture has perfect detail of the skin, but the nose has already gone out of focus area.