Focus

When you decide what to focus on, you're essentially choosing the story you plan to tell. Remember that what you exclude is as key to the image as what you choose to capture.



Tribal leader, Sulawesi, Indonesia

Focus on the eyes: They are the most important feature of a face, "the window of the soul." In this photograph, you can see the moisture in the man's eyes and the nobility and character of his face. The white tusks he wears and the blurred shield in the background give additional clues to the nature of his world. A 200-millimeter lens was used to achieve this blurring effect.



Schoolgirls, Malaysia

When two objects are competing, use selective focusing to make an effective statement. Focusing on the girl in the foreground and deliberately blurring her friend in the background produces a startling accentuation of the shape of these faces. A telephoto lens maximizes contrasts. With a wide-angle lens, both girls would be in sharp focus.