q and a
Focus on Landscapes
by Rachel on Feb.28, 2009, under landscape, q and a, technique
So today is a first here on the Shutteresque blog, where we take a question from the audience! My friend Jon asked me, “If you’re trying to take a picture of a cityscape, how do you pick a focal point?”
When you are shooting with a point-and-shoot camera, there’s probably not much you can do other than try to pick the most distinctive/unique building, or some other element of the scene which stands out and deserves to be the center of attention. The easiest way is to find what draws your eye naturally once you’ve composed a shot, and focus on that. Generally that will be the element that draws the viewer’s eye as well, so having it in focus is an easy choice. But you can get creative; sometimes I like to leave the entire cityscape ever-so-slightly blurred, and focus on a tree nearer to me.
If you’re shooting with a camera with manual controls — and this does include some ‘point and shoots,’ I note — you have a few more options beyond just picking a focal point and taking what the camera gives you. But to really make use of those options you need a bit of understanding of precisely how a photographic image is exposed.
Onwards to the quick summary/refresher course!
