Camera Variables – Focus/Blur

What is this all about?

This series of articles is going to focus on camera variables (predominantly digital SLR). Camera variables being things you can change on your camera to creatively alter your images or fine tune how they look in the photographing stage.
Photography is a blend of creative thinking and technical ability. The best photographers have mastered both of these areas. If you are a creative mind who is scared to move from all the default options on your camera then practise is all you need. The manual you get with your camera lists all the functions and once you’ve learnt what they all do you can slowly start integrating them into your work. The better your understanding, the more you can put them to creative uses while photographing in all situations.

I would like to add…. Although the images I use are well taken photographs and I kind of like them, they are used as a means of demonstration not as promotion. If you like the images feel free to take a look and comment but this is NOT a feature. If you don’t like any of them…. Too bad.

Future articles include-
• Depth of field
• Exposure
• White balance

There will be more but if you have any images that could be used. Feel free to send me a link.

Focus/Blur.

Usually the cameras AUTO FOCUS function will be good enough to bring images into focus. Situations where your camera might not use its AUTO FOCUS setting effectively range from low lighting, extreme close ups and Flat areas like a plain wall. Most cameras have a setting to help get the sharpest picture in various situations e.g. close-up/macro etc (search manual). If you’re a more serious photographer and want to try more creative focusing then manual focus is probably best if you have time, especially with extremely shallow depth of fields. Why not try this in your next shoot where you are photographing something still (best with a tripod). By using manual focus you can draw the attention to a certain area within an image more accurately. Try applying manual focus, setting up with a tripod (or any means of keeping the camera still) and slowly changing the focus on something leading away. You will see that the corridor of focus within the photograph moves up or down the frame.


- Change of focus from subject to foreground.
Helps enforce the message behind it.



But who says an image has to be in focus at all? Try using the manual focus to experiment with subjects in and out of focus.
Sometimes an image out of focus can create an impressive abstract effect or enhance a photograph. An example of enhancing an image with this type of focus would be portraiture. Soft focus is commonly used to improve a portrait and make the subjects skin nice and soft. This is more commonly done in the digital darkroom now but there is no harm in you trying with a few shots whilst shooting with manual focus.


If you have a pocket digital camera that doesn’t have a manual focus setting try these methods of getting a similar effect. –
• Press and hold to focus the camera on a subject closer/further away than the subject you are photographing. Then push shutter release button all the way whilst directing camera at the subject you are trying to photograph.
• Maybe less effective but photographing in low light conditions will probably result in a blurred image.


- Out of focus

- In focus


You decide which you prefer. It really depends on the message and what kind of effect you want.


You also need to consider aperture and shutter speed whilst focusing on a subject. (Information here [link]) These are probably the most important aspects of photography.


Once you have started to understand these methods of focusing in a photograph you can move to more experimental ways of blurring an image. There are many methods of blurring an image that aren’t necessarily to do with camera focus.
This is where your understanding of camera apertures and shutter speeds come into use.


Methods include –
• Radial blur – Zoom/Spin
• Motion blur

I will go into more detail on these methods.

Radial blur.

Zoom

– Blurring with zoom is a fairly simple technique if used correctly. In the correct situations you can create an effective image which can make a great addition to your portfolio/gallery. To do this all you need is a tripod (if you want the centre to be in sharp) and a camera with manual zoom and shutter priority capabilities. Once you have found a subject you think will look good with this effect. Set up your camera either zoomed in on the subject or zoomed out. (How much depends on how much blur you want. Need to experiment with this a little). Once you have got to this stage you will need to make sure the shutter or manual priority is on. Depending how much control you want over the exposure you can decide. For now I will explain with just shutter priority in mind. Make sure your shutter speed is fairly long. Again depending on how much blur you want. First try somewhere around 1 second to start. Press the shutter release button and turn the manual zoom in or out. The speed you zoom will effect the image a little. Next you look at your cameras LCD and see what you think. Don’t like it? Try again with slightly different settings.

- Photograph with radial zoom. (slight twist)

Spin

–For this method of blurring you wont need a tripod (unless you have one that could be used) but almost everything else will be the same as the above (zoom blur). This method is much trickier to perfect since you cannot really keep the centre of the picture in the same place unless you have extremely steady hands. One you have focused on the subject you would like to photograph release the shutter on a similar shutter speed to the zoom blur and rotate your camera trying to keep the centre of the frame in the same location. If you can perfect this, you can create some very interest effects.


- Camera rotated creating blurred effect. (example may be digitally applied)

Motion Blur.

Motion blur is probably the easiest method of alternative blurring. There are two forms of motion blur. One example is where the subject is blurred and the camera is still (sharp background). The other is when the subject is moving/still and the camera is moved (abstract image). The first example is used to create dramatic shots where the subject is moving or to create impressive looking light trails. You can experiment with this a lot and you could get different results all the time. You could also move the camera with the subject so that the background is blurred and the subject is sharp.
The second example is where you move the camera with no real consideration too what is in the frame. This is for more abstract images where colour and light is usually the biggest contributing factors to an effective image.


- Subject has motion blur. Background has no motion.

- Panning with the car so its in focus with blurred background.

- Moving camera regardless of what is in frame for abstract effect.



I hope this article has been informative and useful to at least someone. Most of these effects can be replicated in Photoshop and other software now but why not try these out. Please let me know if you do and tell me how successful it was. Good luck and happy photographing!

The next article will be shorter. It will be hopefully be posted sometime next month and focuses on Depth of field.

If you do not want any of the thumbnails displayed to be in this article let me know and ill see if I can remove them. You will be told when I post this article.