Results and Feedback for the "Focus Point" Weekly Photography Assignment

[keithsnell]

Thank you to everyone that participated in the "Focus Point" assignment.  The guidelines for this assignment were to compose a scenic or landscape image while consciously determining where to focus in your scene in order to attain the desired level of acceptable sharpness throughout the image. The assignment description provided background information on the concept of depth of field, and encouraged participants to use a hyperfocal distance chart to determine the appropriate focus distance for their image.

The Algae Bloom image below was my feeble attempt at the assignment.  Because everything is still brown as we transition out of the end of Winter, I had a tough time finding a scene with an interesting foreground to photograph.  The trees and shrubs on the far bank were brown and ugly, so I framed the image to only include their reflection in the water, which gave a sense of what was in the distance, but softened the ugliness of the bare trees.  In my old "film" days of photography, I carried around a little notebook that I would use to jot down notes about each frame I photographed, so that I could examine the images after they were developed and see what worked and what didn't.  Now, the shooting data stored in the file is a wonderful tool that I use for this purpose.  I also used the voice recording feature on my camera to record the focus distance for each shot so that I could later review which focus distances were most effective.  For this shot I focused at 2 feet, which is closer than the hyperfocal distance for 24mm and f16; however, I recognized that most of the detail in this image was in close, and that focusing closer was necessary to show that detail. (The sharply focused algae in the foreground is about 2 feet away from the camera.) Since the reflection of the trees in the water wasn't going to be super sharp anyway, I was willing to let the scene go a little soft in the distance in order to get a sharper foreground.

Algae Bloom
Photographed by Keith
focal length of 24mm (35mm sensor), f16, focused at 2 feet

In the Exploring the Beach image below, I was using fill flash (to fill in the shadows on McKenzie's face), and therefore set the shutter speed to its max synch speed of 1/250 sec, which gave me an aperture of f18. I focused on McKenzie at 5 feet, and knew that I would have more than enough depth of field at 18mm and f18 to keep the entire scene in focus.  (The white balance bugs me a little bit in this image, but I haven't taken the time to fix it.)

Exploring the Beach
Photographed by Keith

Michele's To the Monastery image was one of my (many) favorites for this assignment.  This composition capitalizes on the strengths of using an 18mm lens and small aperture to provide extended depth of field. The wall is perfectly placed in the composition to provide a strong leading line into the scene. The accentuated linear perspective caused by using a wide angle lens and the strong leading line both provide a sense of depth and help draw the viewer deep into the scene. The slight softness of the hills on the far shore are a great example of atmospheric perspective, which also helps provide a sense of depth for this image.  Very well done. (And not possible without using a wide angle lens and small aperture.)  I've selected this image as Editor's Choice for Technical Merit.

To the Monastery
Editor's Choice for Technical Merit
Photographed by Michele Bollhalder

Michele's image titled A Struggle was another one of my favorites. Michele's use of a wide angle 18mm focal length definitely helped accentuate the height and distance of the stairs, and perfectly complements the "struggling" appearance of the old couple. This is a great image, with nice composition and lighting, an interesting subject, and depth that draws the viewer into the scene. Very nice job.

A struggle
Photographed by Michele Bollhalder

OK, how many favorites am I allowed to have for one assignment?   When Dave posted his Wind-blown Grass and Barn image, I told him it was my favorite of the series.  Other viewers liked this image as well, and selected it as People's Choice.  Then Michele asked to see some of his other versions, and I had a new favorite.    In the version below I liked the "flow" of the grass leading up to the barn.

Wind-blown Grass and Barn
People's Choice
Photographed by Dave Leiker

Even though I thought Dave's Wind-blown Grass and Barn image was great, I liked his "alternate" version even more.   I loved the interplay between the grass, sky and barn in this image, with the grass and the sky seeming to echo the melody back to each other.  To me this image conveys a sense that the barn is one small piece in a huge interplay of elements in motion. This is a "timeless" image that deserves to be framed and hung in a gallery.  I've awarded this image Editor's Choice for Artistic Merit.

Windblow-Grass alt 1
Editor's Choice for Artistic Merit
Photographed by Dave Leiker

Dave's Star Ballroom image is another one of his shots that make me envious of his 12 - 24mm lens.  Those ultra-wide angle lenses have tremendous depth of field, as can be seen in the image below, where both the bricks in the road and the detail in the building are sharply defined.  The widest lens I have is 17mm, and it doesn't have quite the extended depth of field as Dave's lens.  The Star Ballroom image was another image that successfully evoked a feeling of a bygone era.  (The vignetting was very effective at reinforcing that feel.)   I couldn't help but think the image would have been perfect if there would have been an old 1930s or 1940s pickup truck parked in front.    I can imagine that building has lots of stories to tell.

Star Ballroom
Photographed by Dave Leiker

I enjoyed Rick's Colorado Grass and Mountains image.  The grass looked so real it made me feel like I could step into the scene and feel the intense Colorado sun beating down on me.  I wanted to lay down and smell the grass and take a nap in the warm sun.  Rick did a great job using the depth of field (provided by a 23mm focal length and aperture of f16) to capture the feel of a sunny Colorado afternoon.  Rick also did a great job handling the very high contrast in this scene.  

As I look at the scene, my intuition tells me that rendering the grass just a little bit lighter might better reflect the "feel" of that afternoon.  This could be done effectively by opening the "original" file into Photoshop, then reprocessing the raw file a little bit lighter, and opening the lighter version as a "layer" on top of the original file now in Photoshop.  Using a quick layer mask, Rick could have blended the lighter version of the grass with the background scene, and perhaps better replicated the intense light of the high-altitude sunlight.  (But this is still a very successful image "as is.")

Colorado Grass and Mountains
Photographed by Rick Pepin

Thank you again to everyone that participated in this assignment.  There were several very, very strong images submitted for this assignment, and I enjoyed seeing all your work.

Viewers are encouraged to respond to this thread describing why you like a particular image, or think it was particularly successful at meeting the guidelines of the assignment.

Keith

[Michele]

You know, I also preferred Windblow-Grass alt 1 because of the balance of the sky and the grass, but you are right about all the photos.  They were awesome.  The grass you guys have and space is beautiful. 

But I am writing a reply because I wanted to mention how much I really loved Rebecca's photo with the children by the water. It had detail from close up all the the way back.  But what I really loved most was the children exploring the water.  The little one focussed on what is going on and the older (Evan?) poking around with a yellow plastic shovel inside the water and probably some other icky stuff in there.  I just love it because it is such a natural scene.  Even that branch poking down was cool.

I picked my favorite because of the movement and balance of the scene but this one was special too. 

(So was the Algae goo, I mean Bloom  )  What I liked most was the soft relection in the water above.  The fact that that was intentional blows me away.  I would be like "wow, that's cool" if I saw that in any of my shots.

Thank you, Keith, for all your time and attention to details in your feedbacks.

[keithsnell]

Thank you Michele for those wonderful comments.  And now I feel guilty for leaving Rebecca's image out of the feedback, so here it is.   I suppose I have a tendency to be more critical of my images, and Rebecca's too.

kid focus
Photographed by Rebecca

You all continue to inspire me with the images you submit for the assignments.  It's easy to get overwhelmed with all the everyday things that compete for our time and attention, and seeing your images inspires me to make time to get out and photograph.

[RebeccaSnell]

Thank you so much, Michele.  I'm usually on kid control duty when we are out photographing and so I usually just 'snap' a shot with the Canon S3 when I have an opportunity, so while Keith got to play around with the algae shot for 30 minutes, I tried to keep the kids from falling into that water.  Finally, I realized how cute they looked there and pulled out the S3 and snapped a couple of shots.  I would have loved to have worked with the exposure a bit more to not blow out the sky, but with kids, like wildlife, you only get one shot and then they are gone.  Shortly after this shot, Evan dunked his foot into the water and then complained about his wet foot half of the hike back!  Yes, they did have fun exploring that day.  The little yellow shovel Evan actually found there--when we go again, I'll remember to take that back as that kept him occupied for quite a while!

Also, thanks for noticing the tree branch - I actually did frame that in as I thought it framed the scene nicely. 

[Michele]

I was going to write that it looked like any moment someone was going to get wet.  I am telling you, such a natural shot.  Who cares about the sky?  I was not trying to criticize the fact that your photo was not there but that I really liked it.  Very much.  I love a shot that I can see my kids or other kids doing just that but nobody ever takes it.  Those are so cool because we all see it, but usually instead of taking out the camera and taking a photo of it, we usually say something like, "Be careful not to get wet, or GET AWAY FROM THAT WATER!"  But you took in the scene.  I just love it.

[Michele]

It's going to be the same reason why it may be easy for me to vote for the Zone VI assignment, although there are some lovely shots, one shot in particular makes my heart soar.