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Taming The Beast… My popular program, A Beast Named Hyperfocal, explains the technical side of using hyperfocal focusing in your photography. Through a variety of slides, I show how to gain control and improve your compositions. The challenge now is to describe these benefits, in writing, without benefit of the A-V program! Briefly restated, when a lens is focused at the hyperfocal distance, the depth of field extends from ½ the hyperfocal distance, all the way to infinity. You could also say hyperfocal focusing maximizes the depth of field from infinity to some near point, for some given lens at some given aperture. The obvious question then is “why?”. This is indeed a valid response. The short answer might be, “to get as much sharp as possible”. You would again say, “why?” At this point, it becomes less craft and more art. I should mention that hyperfocal has its maximum utility with wide angle lenses, working at the smaller apertures. Lenses of about 35mm and shorter have the most effect. Ultra wide lenses in the 20mm region have a very dramatic effect. When I use wide angle lenses, I am mostly photographing landscapes; this then is my reference point. Generally, in a landscape, you want everything sharp. Out of focus areas tend to be distracting. The eye usually goes to the sharpest part of an image first. A fuzzy area can send conflicting signals to the brain. For the most part, the viewer does not want conflict! He or she just wants to view your photograph. I realize that artistic decisions may dictate some out of focus areas but this can be tricky. I have noticed most folks buy a telephoto lens long before acquiring a wide angle type. If you think about it, that should be no surprise. A telephoto lens makes stuff bigger; there is a noticeable “wow” effect at the viewfinder. By contrast, a wide angle lens just makes everything look smaller! How often do you see someone deliberately looking thru the “wrong” end of a telescope? Not only does the wide angle push everything back, it also includes lots of stuff! Compared to a telephoto, composition with a wide angle lens is more complex. You have many more elements in the image to juggle into a coherent whole. Such a lens can be daunting! There is another factor to consider. Photography is a two-dimensional media, yet we live in a 3 dimensional world. Every time we make a photograph, we compress this 3-d world onto a flat piece of film. We lose the dimension of depth. I learned this vividly upon moving to Colorado. I would go out photographing these magnificent mountain vistas and using a wide angle lens to get it all! But upon viewing the slides, they were quite disappointing. It took me a while to figure it out but the missing element was depth! I was mostly composing with everything at infinity. Once I started including near foreground objects, my sweeping vistas took on new drama. They had depth! The background still looked the same but by including a near foreground, it tricked the brain into seeing that missing dimension. It created extra layers in the slide that added depth. The foreground object had another very important benefit: it gave a viewer’s eye a natural point of entry into the photograph. Since this foreground element was large compared to the background, the eye began there. If the composition was properly constructed, the eye then moved on into the image and studied the background. Eventually, the eye returned to the foreground object and the process cycled again. This “cycling” tends to keep the viewer’s eye moving and therefore more interested in the image. This then is where our friend, Hyperfocal, comes into play. Hyperfocal gives us an easy way to determine just how close we can have this foreground object and still keep everything else in the photo sharp. The wider the lens, the more the foreground is needed to prevent a flat looking image. Happily, the wider the lens, the more dramatic hyperfocal is! I used to teach Hyperfocal focusing primarily as a technical issue. I now realize its’ true value lies in how the photographer approaches composition with wide angle lenses. Hyperfocal actually becomes a state a mind; a way of adding extra layers to the image in a meaningful and dramatic way. Learning to use a wide angle takes practice. I recommend photographing in a place with lots of stuff so you can practice composition; a junkyard is perfect! There are a gazillion subjects laying around. You will be overwhelmed at first but if you stay with it, you’ll start extracting compositions from the chaos. Use hyperfocal focusing to make a statement with the near object. Don’t be afraid to get in tight. Stop the lens down for maximum effect. If the chart says you can have an object at 3 feet, put one there! Get down low if you need too. Remember the background continues to look the same; it is your manipulation of the foreground that will add energy and excitement to the photograph. Since I discovered how to use a wide angle lens to best effect, it has become my favorite lens. It is light, compact and easy to hold. More important, it lets you be more creative. To think that a mathematical formula leads to stronger, more dramatic images is pretty cool! Copyright 2008 by Steve Traudt
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Contents Copyright 2008 by Steve Traudt and
Fay Timmerman
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