Portraits
Before we concentrate on anything else, the first step towards sharper shots is to be aware of what needs to be in focus, and by how much. When photographing live subjects such as people, it’s best practice to focus on the eyes. That’s because, as a viewer, this is where our attention is first drawn. Likewise, if the subject isn’t square-on and one eye is closer to the camera, the viewer will look there first, so this should be where we set our focus. The next step is to determine how much needs to be sharp – that is, how great should our depth of field be?
As we know, depth of field is dependent on how wide or narrow our aperture is. To increase the depth of field, we narrow the aperture and vice versa. Interestingly, focal length also plays its part in influencing depth of field – the longer the lens, the shallower the depth of field. For example, if shooting a portrait on an 85mm lens, we’ll need to take into account the shallower slice of focus this provides and adjust our aperture accordingly.
Landscapes
This story is from the December 14, 2019 edition of Amateur Photographer.
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This story is from the December 14, 2019 edition of Amateur Photographer.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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