dof
it excites me no end to invent analogies that attempt to synchronize photography with life :).
in essence, we are all born with a very shallow depth of field. everything beyond what is immediately before us is blurry, unfocused. with a fixed focal length, there is little we can do except walk ahead. and when we do walk ahead, there is a little more that we can see. and only then do we realize that what we could make little out of just a step ago, we see with much more clarity now. and oh, it is beautiful!
the photo that currently serves as the header for my blog catalyzed this thinking process. on the extreme right, you can see the leaves that are oh, so sharply in focus. as you go leftward in the photo, you see less and less focus. indeed it would have taken me only a few steps to see them in focus. and yes, i know i would have been enraptured by their beauty.
now how to extend this analogy further, i'm uncertain :). should i stick with the fixed focus, or could it be made variable? well, first, we could go about understanding that our depth of field is indeed shallow to begin with. can we train ourselves to take those steps from where we are, so that we can learn to see beyond the immediate? can we try to change our fixed focal length? i don't know. perhaps. i'd like us to start with the confidence, however, that there is beauty beyond what we see in our immediate distance. all it takes a few steps. and those are only a matter of time.
in essence, we are all born with a very shallow depth of field. everything beyond what is immediately before us is blurry, unfocused. with a fixed focal length, there is little we can do except walk ahead. and when we do walk ahead, there is a little more that we can see. and only then do we realize that what we could make little out of just a step ago, we see with much more clarity now. and oh, it is beautiful!
the photo that currently serves as the header for my blog catalyzed this thinking process. on the extreme right, you can see the leaves that are oh, so sharply in focus. as you go leftward in the photo, you see less and less focus. indeed it would have taken me only a few steps to see them in focus. and yes, i know i would have been enraptured by their beauty.
now how to extend this analogy further, i'm uncertain :). should i stick with the fixed focus, or could it be made variable? well, first, we could go about understanding that our depth of field is indeed shallow to begin with. can we train ourselves to take those steps from where we are, so that we can learn to see beyond the immediate? can we try to change our fixed focal length? i don't know. perhaps. i'd like us to start with the confidence, however, that there is beauty beyond what we see in our immediate distance. all it takes a few steps. and those are only a matter of time.
2 comments:
b claims that to increase the depth of field, one has to decrease the apperture, which in turn causes the image to become dim? to compensate for this, one can decrease the shutter speed. what would be the equivalent thing in the analogy? :)
ask b not to complicate matters further :). tell him i am talking about a fixed focal length, fixed aperture lens :P
i'll try to think about this though, and see if i can come up with anything. maybe n can? :)
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