FOCUS
3 harp focus is such an accepted standard
in photography that it is rarely treated as
anything other than a way of producing a “correct”
image, just like inserting the memory card before
shooting and other obvious essentials. Only
occasionally does it occur to most people to vary
the focus for the effect it has on the design. Yet,
under the right circumstances, this can be effective.
The question of where to focus seldom
arises, because the normal practice of making
a photograph is first to decide what the subject
should be and then to aim the camera. Natural
enough, certainly, and the usual focus problems
are those of accuracy rather than of selection.
seen in one photograph, from soft to sharp. As
the sharp area is expected to coincide with the
main point of interest—where the eye is expected
finally to rest—the range of focus contains a sense
of direction from unsharp to sharp. This is not
nearly such a strong inducement to the eye as the
lines of view that we have just looked at, but it
works nevertheless. What is important is that it
works through the familiarity of the viewer with
the way his or her own eyes will focus on
an object.
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Shorter focal lengths give images with better
depth of field than do longer focal lengths, and we
are accustomed to seeing wide-angle views that
are sharp throughout. With a typical telephoto
image, loss of focus either in the background or
foreground is such a familiar condition that we
expect it. With a wide-angle view, on the other
hand, out-of-focus areas are not expected, and
when this happens with a fast wide-angle lens
used at maximum aperture on a deep subject,
it can easily look in some way wrong.
7ITHAMMLENSFOCUSEDONTHEDISTANCEDEPTH
Under normal circumstances, the point to OFFIELDINTHISSHOTOF,AKE-AGADIIN.GORONGORO
be focused on—the eyes in a face, or a figure #RATER4ANZANIAISVERYSHALLOW&ROMASLIGHTLY
standing in front of a background—presents ELEVATEDVIEWPOINTTHEROOFOFAVEHICLE THEFOCUS
itself without an alternative. ISPROGRESSIVELEADINGTHEEYERAPIDLYUPWARDTOTHE
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Certain situations, however, do offer a choice,
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and this lies mainly in how you define the image. FRAMEMAKESTHEBESTUSEOFTHISEFFECT
When photographing a group of objects, should
they all appear in sharp focus? Would it be more
effective if just one or a few were sharp and the rest
progressively soft? If so, which ones should be in
focus and which not? Moreover, there might not
necessarily be such a choice of deep or shallow
focus. If the light level is low for the combination
of film and lens, it may only be possible to have
one zone of the image in focus, and in this case
you will be forced into a selective decision.
Whatever the reasons, never underestimate
the visual power of focus. The fact that sharpness
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is the virtually unquestioned standard is enough
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to show that whatever is focused on becomes the OFMACROIMAGES°INDEED CONCENTRATESATTENTIONONASPECIFICPARTOFTHE
de facto point of attention. Deliberate misuse— VIRTUALLYUNAVOIDABLE4HE IMAGEOFTHEPHOTOGRAPHER´SCHOOSINGANDALL
or rather, unexpected use—works extremely EXTREMEBLURRINGONEITHERSIDE WORKSWELLPROVIDEDTHATTHEOUT
OF
FOCUSELEMENTS
well because it flouts established procedure. OFTHEPOINTOFFOCUSCREATESA REMAININTELLIGIBLE)NTHISCASEASCRIBEWORKING
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If you are using focus in an expected way,
THATTHEMAINSUBJECTBECOMES TOREGISTERTHECALLIGRAPHYDESPITEITSRELATIVELY
it is important to appreciate its different uses THEPURECOLORSOF3PRING SMALLSIZEINTHEFRAME4HESELECTIVEFOCUSIS
with different focal lengths. Even without any PARTICULARLYEXTREMEHERETHROUGHTHEUSEOFA
knowledge of the techniques of photography, X
INCHVIEWCAMERAWITHTHELENSPANELTILTED
most people looking at a photograph are familiar TOGIVETHEMINIMUMDEPTHOFFIELDWITHTHE
LENSATFULLAPERTURE
with the way the focus is normally distributed.
With a telephoto lens, the depth of field is shallow,
and there is typically a range of focus that can be

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