Photography today is, or can be, a very simple matter of turn on the camera, point and shoot. However, if you are going to learn to shoot photos that stand out and tower above the crowd, you need to learn to shoot better photos. By using this simple technique, you will notice the quality of your shots improving and capturing the viewers attention. The technique is called Selective Focus.
You have seen photos using selective focus all your life, and something about those shots captured your attention, even though you didn’t know what it was at the time. A good photographer will use this technique to draw the viewers eye to a certain part of the image you are shooting. If you look at Photo 1, you will see that I used selective focus to draw your eye and attention to the caterpillar on the leaf. It’s a simple artistic technique where you close down the aperture on your camera and gently force the viewer to see the item at the center of that focus. Typically the rule of one third in front and two thirds in back of the item you are choosing to focus the viewers eye on, or vice versa.
Another example of selective focus is markedly demonstrated in Photo 2, where the simple and perhaps otherwise boring photo is rendered soft and intimate, adding an interesting element to a normally bland setting
By doing so, you isolate and/or neutralize almost everything in the image, helping the viewer to see only that which you wanted them to see. The closer you are to the item, the more powerful the image is. By using this technique, you can create a mood of soft directing of the viewer to this particular item that is now the center of focus.
Directing the viewers eye can be extremely useful in scientific, nature or wildlife, or artistic photos, and learning when and how to use it will help make your work even more marketable or even, just more interesting to look at. After all, isn’t the purpose of a photo to instill or create a feeling in the viewer? Send me your photos and I will be happy to help you improve your work, at: [email protected]