Pascal Baetens. Nude Photography. The Art and The Craft. 2007

98 exploring techniques

focus & depth of field

selective focus is the best way of drawing the viewer’s

attention to the element in the image you want to highlight.

By making just that area sharp and blurring the rest, you

ensure the viewer’s eye goes immediately to it. You can

push this effect to its maximum by using a telephoto lens

set to its widest aperture, for example f/1.8, to create a very

shallow depth of field, or you can decide to use a smaller

aperture to allow more to be visible and give the viewer

a chance to interpret the image in different ways. Working

with a wide depth of field, keeping both subject and setting

sharp, invites the viewer’s eye to wander around the image

and discover the different elements within it.

Foreground focus at a wide depth of field

the focus is again on the earring, but, at f/16, it is no longer the only subject

of the image. the model may be looking at it—or at the me, forming a three-

point relationship between the earring, the model, and me (or the viewer).

Background focus at a wide depth of field

At f/16, with the focus on the model’s reflected face, the foreground earring

is visible but the viewer’s attention is directed to her eyes and her expression.

the image is now mainly about her emotions.

Foreground focus at a shallow depth of field

here the earring is the main focus of the image, shot at f/1.8. As her reflected

image is unclear, the model might be looking at her face—but because i chose

to make her earring the key element of the picture the viewer is led to suppose

she is looking specifically at that.

Background focus at a shallow depth of field

the focus is now on the model’s reflected image, specifically her eyes.

At an aperture of f/1.8 the earring close to the camera is now so blurred it’s

indistinguishable, and there is no indication whether the model is looking at

herself or at me—and thus out of the picture toward the viewer.