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Utilizing Selective Or Differential Focus

Selective Or Differential focus  is a technique used in photography  through which special lenses are used to create focus layers utilizing depth of field information.It can pop out a subject from the rest or can isolate different portions of the same subject which attract a viewers eye to it, and it also creates a three dimensional look to the images with isolated interesting points.

To achieve that effect you must be aware of the concept of depth of field in photography. Differential focus can be achieved by focusing subject of interest in the image by controlling the depth of field. That object may be a nearer one or faraway. That effect is mostly achieved in sports and portrait photography to pop up the main subject and make the composition more simple by reducing the clutter. For this purpose mostly tele photo lenses at wide aperture are used.  Here in this short article I will try to tell how this effect works in macro photography. Macro pictures with limited zones of sharp focus and most diffused details are appreciated by those who love fine art macro photography. Differential focus can be achieved by using some Photoshop  plugins but not an alternative to the genius work with an appropriate lens. For this shot I used as an example here, Canon 60mm EFS lens is used at 2.8 aperture. Macro lenses have a shallow depth of field as an inherent property. Lenses with longer focal length like Canon 100 mm f /2 macro or Sigma 150 mm f/2.8 are more suitable to get extreme creative results.

When shooting insects, always try to keep the eyes of the subject in sharp focus and let the other scene get natural gradient in focus. Anthers of the flowers are another part in popular macro subject which is appropriate for differential focus. Here in this example I was lucky enough to have both, eye of the butterfly and anthers of the flower in the same plane which helped to keep  both in focus. Antennae and bristles of the butterfly are impossible to keep in focus when you are using shallow depth of field . So never mind and let the elements blur naturally and gradually. If you are able to create a soft illusive effect in the overall image then it would be a great macro work. Here  are the key points repeated again to keep in mind while shooting macro subjects:

* Use a macro lens with wide aperture

* Use these lenses at maximum aperture like f/2.8 or lower if your lens allow.

* Keep the eyes of the subjects in focus and forget about the rest

* If you are shooting a tree branch in spring then keep most prominent bud in focus.

* While using differential focus for flowers either focus on stamens and anthers in the middle of the flower or the outer most petal   and let the other flower blur naturally and gradually.

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Bugs Life

Nature Photography

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There is a always a survival game going on in the nature and nature photographers try to photograph this phenomenon in an artistic way. Art of photographing an insect in its natural environment is the key element in the modern day nature photography. Most insects try to fade out in their natural environment and some have mastered the art at a perfect level.They have to defend themselves against predators and camouflage is the best strategy.  One have to be very keen eyed to search and locate for such subjects. These creatures are clever enough and to shoot them require extra care and patience. Please enjoy some of my picture  of nature photography  during the last few months showing the art of camouflage in insects .

Crab Spider

Grasshopper On An Old Tree

Butterfly Camouflage

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WHAT IS DEPTH -OF -FIELD? 

                   “Depth Of Field  is the zone of sharpness in your image”. This is the simplest definition of DOF.  

HOW TO GET DESIRED DOF?           

 There are different situation in photography when you need different DOF. Some time you need pin sharp images from top to bottom and at others you want to single out the main subject from the background. All that can be achieved by just one adjustment on your DSL. As a rule i.e by changing aperture size,  DOF changes.

 As a rule when you tighten the aperture depth of field would increase and as you open it DOF will decrease. Another point is when you increase the f value for your lens it tightens the aperture and when you decrease the f value then aperture opens up. So at f32, aperture is in its tightest condition with maximum DOF and at f2 at most open with minimum DOF.    

DEPTH OF FIELD IN LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY

Landscapes photography needs full depth of field especially in the sweeping landscapes which are having interesting elements both in top and bottom. For example you a landscape with flowers or stones in the foreground and a peak at distant needs a pin sharp image throughout. The technique to achieve that is to tighten the aperture up to f/16 or even f22. Use of tripod is must because a tight aperture will reduce the shutter speed and there is a chance of camera shake. Wide angle lenses have more depth of field than the tele- zooms, so use a wide angle lens for landscape photography like that.  

DEPTH OF FIELD IN PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY  

Those portraits are considered excellent in which your subject is standout from the background. To throw the subject out of focus you need to do is a reverse than landscape. Open up the aperture to its maximum. Cheaper lenses have maximum aperture of f/ 2.8. Sometime f/4 also works nicely.  Costly lenses have wider aperture and give more shallow depth of field so more dramatic portraits. One thing must keep in mind that always try to focus eyes of the subject while shooting portraits.

DEPTH OF FIELD IN MACRO PHOTOGRAPHY

Macro lenses by default have shallow depth of field as they can focus at very minute distances. In maximum situations you need a clean and less messy background to show your subject in full details. Some time you want show only the mouth parts of an insect. In these conditions use a wider aperture. In case you need to show the bristles on the body of an insect and you want whole butterfly should be sharp then use a tight aperture and try to keep the subject away from messy background. 

HOW TO KNOW THE DEPTH OF FIELD AT EACH APERTURE.

 Almost every DSLR have a” depth- of- field -preview “button. There are some charts and tables showing depth of field  DOF at each step for different focal length lenses with each aperture reading for different focal length lenses.  You can consult these charts or can use DOF button to get required area sharp.

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Beauty Of Mollusca in the Wild

Mollusca is a group of arthropods with amazingly designed shell by the nature. Snails and other moluccans are some of the popular subject among the nature and macro photographers. When the animal emerge from its shell in the moist conditions to feed itself, it looks very elegant and graceful. It moves slowly so a bit easy to shoot. While shooting a mollusc or any other arthropod, composition is the main consideration as it will make or break your shot.  This particular image is taken in an March evening when there was enough moisture due to last nights shower. I set out in search of some subject for my evening photography and have a mood for shooting nature. I just sit down near a small sugarcane plant where I had spotted a shelled creature. Withy little of disturbance while I was settling, the animal went in hide in its shell. I waited till it got out of shell and starts creeping with care and in search of some food for scraping from the leaf of sugarcane plant. I press the button when it was at perfect position on the leaf.

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Macro Picture Of Spider In the Spring light Of Evening

Eight legged creature spiders are the marvels of nature. Nature photographers in each and every corner of the world want to shoot spider pictures in some innovative way. Spiders are agile shy and brisk in movement. A slight disturbance could ruin a would be great picture. I start my search for spiders to photograph mostly in early morning or evening. Back lit pictures of spiders are more dramatic and expose most body details of the animal.

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Art Of Macro Photography

Amazing World Of Spiders

Macro photography needs lot skill and artistic instinct. Spiders are among the most favorable subjects for macro and nature photographers.

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World Of Nature

A Ladybird beetle On The Sunflower

Nature reveal its maximum beauty in spring season and nature photographers try to show that to whole world.

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Pictures Of Gastropod Shell

Invertebrates are the best subject for macro photography and gastropod shell with its lines and shape is most popular among nature photographers. In the spring season, when temperature rise, molluscan shells are seen sticking on each and every plant at day time when the live animal remain hidden inside. It came out for feeding in the night or in early moist morning.

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