Nikon D750 • ISO 200 • 1/60 sec. • f/16 • 20–35mm lens

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10Creative FocusSometimes tack-sharp focus isn’t what you want for an image—or for an

entire image—to tell the story you envision. What you focus on and the

exposure settings you use can have a dramatic effect, enabling you to

make specific areas of your image stand out or recede from the viewer’s

attention. This chapter examines how the relationship between focus and

depth of field can help you be more creative. In addition, it demystifies

the hyperfocal lengths and the concept of Bokeh.

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Focus and Depth of Field

The relationship between focus and the depth of field is a very important one. Chapter 2

covered the basics, but a more detailed understanding will enable you to decide what in

your image is in focus, allowing you to better influence where the viewer looks and the

story you are trying to tell.

As you remember, the depth of field is the area of acceptable focus that is positioned

one-third in front of the focal plane and two-thirds behind it. The depth of field is

controlled by three factors:

• Aperture. The smaller the aperture, the deeper the depth of field. When you use

apertures of f/1.2 to f/5.6, you get a shallow depth of field. Apertures of f/8 to f/16

will give you a deeper depth of field.

• Focal Length. The longer the focal length, the shallower the depth of field. Using

focal lengths of 70mm or longer creates a shallow depth of field, while the short focal

lengths have a deeper depth of field. If you shoot the same scene with a 24mm focal

length and then with a 200mm focal length, not only will the subject look different,

but also the depth of field will be shallower at 200mm as long as the apertures are the

same (Figures 10.1 and 10.2).

Figure 10.1 (left) Photographing my puppy, Hobbes, at 24mm creates a deeper depth of field, even at f/2.8, than when I use 200mm, as in Figure 10.2.

Nikon D750 • ISO 1600 • 1/160 sec. • f/2.8 • 24–70mm lens

Figure 10.2 (right) Using a 200mm focal length results in a shallower depth of field than when using 24mm, as in Figure 10.1.

Nikon D750 • ISO 1600 • 1/160 sec. • f/2.8 • 70–200mm Lens

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• Distance. The closer you are to the subject, the shallower the depth of field.

Conversely, the farther away you are, the deeper the depth of field. As you can

see in Figures 10.3 and 10.4, the distance from the subject makes a big impact. I shot

both of these images at f/2.8 with a 70–200mm lens, but I took Figure 10.3 from much

farther away, meaning the horse and the background are both in focus. In Figure 10.4,

the background is blurred, making the horses pop out of the background.

Figure 10.3 Photographing the horse race from farther back, even at f/2.8, creates a deeper depth of field so that the crowds behind the horses are also in focus.

Nikon D700 • ISO 400 • 1/4000 sec. • f/2.8 • 70–200mm lens

Figure 10.4 Photographing a horse race from right up at the fence cre-ates a shallow depth of field, blurring the background.

Nikon D700 • ISO 200 • 1/1000 sec. • f/2.8 • 70–200mm lens

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There is also a fourth factor, the circle of confusion, or CoC, that depends on how the

image is printed, the viewing distance, and the eyesight of the viewer. The circle of confu-

sion is used to determine what is in acceptable focus and what is not. The depth of field is

the area where the CoC is less than the resolution of the way the image is displayed or of

the human eye. That is why the area is in acceptable focus and not actual focus.

Shallow Depth of Field

One of the easiest and most effective ways of making your subject stand out in an image

is to use a shallow depth of field, as seen in Figure 10.5. This means that a very narrow

part of the image is in focus and the rest gets blurry. To create a shallow depth of field,

use a wide aperture, longer focal lengths, and get closer to the subject.

Figure 10.5 A very shallow depth of field makes this sweet little bird pop right out of the background. The focus is right on the eye and even the claws are blurred.

Nikon D700 • ISO 250 • 1/125 sec. • f/2.8 • 70–200mm lens

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The most important consideration when

using a shallow depth of field is to ensure

that the focus is right on the subject. The

shallower the depth of field, the more criti-

cal it is to make sure that the focus is right

on the critical subject in the frame. If you

look back at Figure 10.5, the focus is right

on the eye. Because the eye draws you into

the image, focusing on any other point

would not have been as effective.

Your creative choices, however, may some-

times be limited by your equipment. Some

lenses just won’t have a very shallow depth

of field due to their maximum aperture. If

you have a lens with a maximum aperture

of f/5.6, for instance, getting that blurred

background is going to be more difficult

than if you were able to shoot at f/2.8.

The most effective way to combat this is

to place the subject as far away from the

background as possible (Figure 10.6). The

more distance between the background

and the subject, the more the background

will blur, because it falls outside of the

area that’s in acceptable focus. Careful use

of the angle and distance can make the

blurred background an important part of

the image as well (Figure 10.7).

Figure 10.6 The distance between the subject and the background makes this image work, as it creates separation between Nadra and her enviroment.

Nikon D700 • ISO 500 • 1/4000 sec. • f/2.8 • 80–200mm lens

Figure 10.7 The bright colors of the flowers in the background make for a great blurred background, allow-ing the subject to really stand out.

Nikon D700 • ISO 250 • 1/125 sec. • f/2.8 • 70–200mm lens

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Deep Depth of Field

When you want more of the image to be in acceptable focus, try a deep depth of field.

This is an important technique for group photos and landscapes or any subjects that

occupy the foreground, middle ground, and background of the frame (Figure 10.8).

Getting everything in the frame in focus is not as easy as it seems, because when you use

a small aperture, you need to use a longer shutter speed to get the proper exposure.

Slower shutter speeds can cause any subject that is moving to be out of focus, and if

you are handholding the camera, the whole image could be slightly blurred. For photos

where the subject is static, like landscapes, the solution is to use a tripod. For those situa-

tions where you need to use a shorter shutter speed, you have to increase the ISO or add

more light. When I am shooting groups of people, I try to make sure that the depth of

field is deep enough that all of the people are in focus. For the group shot in Figure 10.9,

I used an aperture of f/6.3, chose a wider-angle lens, and stood back so that everyone was

in focus and the background was readable, which was important for this image.

Figure 10.8 I used a deep depth of field in this image of the pier at sunset to keep everything in acceptable focus.

Nikon D2X • ISO 100 • 10 sec. • f/16 • 12–24mm lens

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Hyperfocal Distance

When you’re working with a deep depth of

field, understanding how to determine the

hyperfocal distance for your shot will improve

your results. The hyperfocal distance is a spot

that you can focus on where everything from

halfway in front of the point to infinity is in

acceptable focus.

The best way to calculate the hyperfocal dis-

tance is with a hyperfocal distance calculator

app. You can find plenty of great apps for this

on both the iOS and Android platforms. I use

the Hyperfocal app by The Eye Feel, which

allows me to input the camera model, focal

length, and aperture and then gives me a

great diagram showing the hyperfocal distance

and the near distance (Figure 10.10). The near

distance is half the distance between the cam-

era and the hyperfocal distance, and anything

between the camera and the near distance will

not be in acceptable focus.

Figure 10.9 The cast of Gotham poses for a group photo in the Fox Fanfare booth. Everyone is in focus and the background can be clearly seen.

Nikon D750 • ISO 800 • 1/60 sec. • f/6.3 • 24–70mm lens

Near distance 2.0 ft

Hyperfocal 4.02 ft

∞

Figure 10.10 The Hyperfocal app gives me the dis-tance I need to focus at to get everything in focus. Here, that distance is just over 4 feet.

I had to mess with this figure a bit when I removed the type. Look okay?

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It is very difficult to manually set the exact hyperfocal distance,

because you either have to measure the distance from the subject

to the camera or you need to use the distance scale on the lens

(shown in Figure 10.11). The problem is that the distance scale is

usually very difficult to read with pinpoint accuracy, so it is better

to err on the side of caution and focus a little past the hyperfocal

distance so that the subjects at infinity are in focus.

For the final image (Figure 10.12), using the settings from the Hyper-

focal app enabled me to create an image where everything is in focus

all the way to infinity. I turned off the auto-focus feature on the cam-

era and instead just manually set the lens to focus at just over 4 feet.

What Is Bokeh and Why Is It Important?

The term bokeh is used to describe the out-of-focus areas in a pho-

tograph. It is one of those photographic terms that gets thrown

around a lot, but what does it actually mean and why should you

care about it? The first thing to know is that the bokeh is only

about the parts of the image that are out of focus, that is, outside

of the depth of field. So if you are shooting at a very deep depth

of field, you are not going to see this in your images at all, or at

least not very much.

In Figure 10.13 you can see that the deep depth of field means

that everything in the image is relatively sharp, and you can clearly

see the strand of lights behind Hobbes.

When I shot the same scene at a much shallower depth of field,

the background blurred very pleasantly, as seen in Figure 10.14.

It is the quality of the blurred area that bokeh refers to. The qual-

ity of the bokeh is determined by the construction of the lens and

is more important when it comes to macro lenses and the longer

telephoto lenses, as these lenses are used most commonly with

shallow depths of field.

Figure 10.11 Here, you can see the distance scale on the lens set to just over 4 feet, which is the hyperfocal distance at f/16 on this 24mm lens.

Figure 10.12 Here, you can see final image of the pier photo-graphed at the hyperfocal settings; everything in the frame is in focus.

Nikon D700 • ISO 100 • 4 sec. • f/16 • 24mm lens

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Figure 10.13 I placed a strand of Christmas lights over a couple of pieces of black cardboard behind Hobbes and used a smaller aperture to create a deep depth of field.

Nikon D750 • ISO 3200 • 1/60 sec. • f/16 • 85mm lens

Figure 10.14 The exact same setup as the previ-ous photo shot with different settings creates a much more pleasing image.

Nikon D750 • ISO 800 • 1/250 sec. • f/2.8 • 85mm lens

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How does the bokeh of your lenses look? It’s actually pretty easy to test using manual

focus and a strand of holiday lights. All you need to do is photograph them; but instead

of a sharp, in-focus, image, set the camera on a tripod and use the widest aperture, then

take a series of photos from nearly in focus to fully out of focus and look at the results

(Figures 10.15 through 10.17). Remember, keep your camera settings the same; change

only the focus.

There are a few very specialized and expensive lenses that have a control that allows for

the adjustment of the bokeh, both in front of and behind the focus plane. The lens lets

you soften the out-of-focus areas even more, making the subject really stand out. These

DC (Defocus Control) lenses from Nikon are available as 105mm f/2.0 and 135mm f/2.0—

and come with a premium price tag.

Understanding the effect that the out-of-focus areas can have on your images is an

important step in going from snapshot to great shots. When telling a story with your

images, make sure that your main subject is clearly recognizable to the viewer. This starts

with getting the main subject in focus, then worrying about the background. As you

progress, start looking at the background and the best way to render it when shooting.

One final note, don’t pay so much attention to the background that you forget about

the actual subject. It won’t matter if the bokeh is really pleasing if the subject is not.

Figure 10.15 (left) A strand of lights is the perfect test to see how the lens and camera render out-of-focus areas.

Nikon D700 • ISO 200 • 1/15 sec. • f/3.5 • 85mm lens

Figure 10.16 (right) Here comes the bokeh: the same strand of lights shown in the previ-ous image slightly out of focus.

Nikon D700 • ISO 200 • 1/15 sec. • f/3.5 • 85mm lens

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Figure 10.17 This time I rendered the strand of lights really out of focus.

Nikon D700 • ISO 200 • 1/15 sec. • f/3.5 • 85mm lens