[matthew]

My idea of a good picture is one that's in focus and of a famous person.
- Andy Warhol


There's a lot to be said for a photo being in focus, but there's even more to be said for a photograph that uses focus creatively. What we focus on profoundly influences how we see - and vice-versa. It's a powerful and often neglected tool for expression.

Use focus creatively, and see what you come up with.

[Rufus]

Excellent. Well done Matthew, another good, active, creative idea!!

[matthew]

Here's what got me thinking about focus:



This is broken glass lying on the ground at the north abutment of the Bathurst street bridge, within a few feet of where I've taken some of my favourite photos. I've I looked at it before, and tried using it as a background for some found-object still life photos.

Today I looked into it.



My autofocus (quite reasonably) insisted on taking the first photo; it was actually taken a split second after the lower photo by simply letting the AF do its thing before I'd had a chance to move the camera. The second photo was taken using manual focus. Both of these are straight from the camera.

Here's the second image with a little post-processing:

[Rufus]

I'm not 100% sure I follow this Matthew. :/

[matthew]

I'm just using this as an example of how the world can look different when we turn our brains off of autofocus.

Because we see with our brains, everything looks to be in focus. For snapshooters and vacation pics, this is exactly what people want. But cameras see differently, and control of the focus point is one of our easiest ways to alter how our photographs show the world. Selective focus, Out-Of-Focus or "Boke" areas, can become a a part of our personal styles and be very revealing.

This assignment is for photographs that demonstrate a skillful use of focus, both as a tool and as an idea. How that skill is applied is the photographer's choice.

[Irma]

This picture was not taken for the assignment, but I think it fits well. it was a bit of a challenge to get a picture like this one with an interesting "landscape" so to speak, in the mirror... I also had to mind the background to stand out the mirror and not to blend it in a dark area....

Problems I encountered, were the closeness of the mirror since I had a 50mm lens in my camera, and also the lack of light so I was taking the picture with very slow shutter speed in a moving car...

Left behind



Thanks Matthew for this interesting assignment...

[noisynoodle]

OK....Here's one from the archive that might :/ fit the assignment. Beyond the gate is a footpath through open countryside, but I've focused on the sign attempting to restrict the pleasure of the walk (for a dog anyway!)......



Jan

[Russt]

Matt great topic........I like your pics you have the kaleidoscope thing happening.

Irma, great job on the mirror focus.........interesting.

NN, it would go without saying that you could not take Rufus beyond the gate...

[matthew]

Irma, that's a great use of selective focus and wonderful tones. It's a fantastic image. And Jan, that's a perfect example for the assignment: any use of focus to change the way we see the world, by diminishing or increasing the importance of certain elements. That sounds overblown, but it's really simple: we remember a scene more than we actually see it with our eyes, so when we're standing there, everything will look to be in focus. But, we remember a scene based on one or two key impressions, which is what your picture captures.

This assignment is much simpler than it sounds.

Focus can be drawn to a prominent object quite naturally, even if it obscures the 'true' subject:



It can be achieved through short DOF and selective focus:





It can even be a matter of intentional OOF or blurred images, although that's really an assignment all on its own...




It's easy and fun.

[Irma]

Very interesting assignment, and very nice pictures....

Thanks Russt and Matthew for your comment...

This is a picture I wanted to take long ago... This assignment was a great opportunity to try and show you what I've got...

Monet-like

[Russt]

here is my take.........I hope the focus tells the story.....



hope this is better had to resize!

[shuttertalk]

Haha Russt... love the humour...

[guerito]

What the heck is focus???

[guerito]

Focussing on assignments, thereby revealing the structure of the monitor...



Playing with a mag lens today... Almost as good as a macro lens.

[Rufus]

My go. This is an old one, probably 2004

[noisynoodle]

Another from last summer (I think I'm missing the sun and colour....it's so grey here!).



Jan

[guerito]

Nice shots, Rufus/NN! But you're getting only half the fun out of the assignment, you should be getting up from the chair and shoot something fresh instead of browsing the archives...

We are missing the sun too. We had a rather sunny weekend, thanks God, but we're back to gray again, too. Oh well, it's just a few more months... :o

Edit: Sorry Rufus I just remembered your slipped disc. It's probably not so much fun for you taking pictures these days. Sorry again. Hope you'll be better (or at least pain free) soon.

[Rufus]

Nice shots, Rufus/NN! But you're getting only half the fun out of the assignment, you should be getting up from the chair and shoot something fresh instead of browsing the archives...

We are missing the sun too. We had a rather sunny weekend, thanks God, but we're back to gray again, too. Oh well, it's just a few more months... :o

Edit: Sorry Rufus I just remembered your slipped disc. It's probably not so much fun for you taking pictures these days. Sorry again. Hope you'll be better (or at least pain free) soon.

That's ok, man! I'll soon be out 'n' about again!

[Petographer]

Some great shots here. Exeryone has put in great exapmles.

Here's one from the archives. Probably one one my very first digital shots. Photoshopped of course.

[Schellamo]

Sorry, posting from the archives too...I'll get around to taking a new photo soon, I swear!
This was from my honeymoon in January 2003

[Toad]

Schell: is that you we see in the reflection??

[Toad]

Colin:

The tire swing is a great idea, but the blurring seems a bit rough to me - like it extends into the perimeter of the tire. When I get this effect (which I do regularly), I increase the "hardness" of my selection brush. Sometimes feathering and having a soft brush doesn't do the trick. I think this one would have benefited from having a really crisp line between tire and out-of-focus background. Sorry to be critical - you know I like your stuff.

[Toad]

A couple of real winners in this challenge so far that I have not commented on:

1. Matthew: your minimalist shot of a man walking on a night street - superb!

2. Guerito: lens looking at a dictionary (B&W) - this one is a perfect candidate for stock photography - you would sell this one a lot.

[Petographer]

G Toadster. I kind of reeally liked the way it looked 3d. It was done in PS6 about 4 years ago. Did you get the impression I was trying to create a dof? Maybe back then I was but now I look atit and I think I'd do something similar like a painterly effect with the tire in focus untouched. Watcha think?

[Toad]

I stand corrected. Sorry.