The juxtaposition of sharp elements in a picture with blurred elements is a technique that is very effective in making a picture interesting/compelling/artistic. In this case, I used a shutter speed of 1/6th of a second when shooting the bottom of a waterfall in Iceland. The camera was on a tripod, of course. My aperture was f/22 because everything had to be sharp. Even if moving elements are blurred due to a slow shutter speed, they still need to be in focus. Blur due to motion is not the same as blur due to a lack of focus. This is important to remember. Notice how sharp the streaks of falling water are. Had they not been in focus (or had I not used complete depth of field), this picture wouldn't have worked.
4 Comments
Jan 18, 2016, 4:55:41 PM
Carlton McEachern - Yes Jim you may absolutely use my question and your answer in the next Photo Insights issue. I am from The Great White North - North Bay, Ontario, Canada. I really appreciate your daily blogs and the access you provide via the comments and your answers. Thanks Jim.
Jan 18, 2016, 3:57:40 PM
Jim - Thanks very much, Carlton.
Jan 18, 2016, 9:35:30 AM
Jim - Hi Carlton, I'm asked about this all the time. If you need depth of field, you just have to put up with the softness. The only other way around that is to do focus stacking, and with this particular shot that would have been impossible. Alternatively, I could have taken two shots -- one of the rocks and one of the falls -- and then use Photoshop to cut and paste them together. I just didn't go to the trouble to do that. I used a zoom lens for this. Ansel Adams used f/64 and f/90, knowing those apertures on his view camera were not as sharp as f/8 or f/11, but he did so specifically because depth of field is more important than losing focus but having a slice of the image tack sharp. May I use your question and my answer in my next Photo Insights issue? If so, I'll need your city and state, please. Thanks. Great question.
Jan 18, 2016, 3:30:08 AM
Carlton McEachern - Jim. How do I know when to use f22 and not worry about defraction and resulting possible softness. Was this taken with a prime or a zoom?