Focus

This week’s blog post topic is focus. Through out my life many people have told me you have plenty of time. However I can’t remember even one person telling me you need more focus. 

It seems more and more these days, people are marketing to me with their newsletters. It’s become so intense, I’ve started not even opening up newsletters, that I used to value. I never wish this to be the case with my newsletter or my blog! So I promise not to do it! This is one of my focus points. My goal is to assist in some way. Read on for more…

I had a teacher back in the day, that stood before my history class. On his desk was a stack of all the history books that were used prior to his class. He remarked “I guess ya’all recognize these books huh?” Yes, the class moaned…

Then he properly and deliberately picked up every one of those books and threw them in a metal trash can with the loudest BANG! Yes, at that point he had the distinct focus of every one of us in the room! Then he stated “Now I’m gonna tell you how it really happened!” 

I loved that class! Yes, every single one of us got an “A”… In a very short period of time, he had our focus… his teaching style was like that for every session.

This Blog Post Is Your Metal Trash Can! 

You do not have plenty of time! Time is exceptionally short… do not waste a single second of it! “You need focus Daniel San!” “One who can capture fly with chopsticks… Can do anything!”

What people lack in today’s world is focus. Just think of all the things that have been developed every single day, to rob you of your focus? The news shows… possibly your work and keeping up with the new corporate way, of “how do we do more with less”… how about the 24/7 world of gossip on FB?… geez let’s not even talk about tic tok or instagram… 

There is so much out there now a days strategically and scientifically placed to do exactly what it does… redirect your focus, and place it where the powers that be wish it to go. 

Now, More Than Ever, You Need Focus! 

Now is the time you need to be stronger. Some how… Some way, we all need to concentrate more on what’s important to us! Not what “they” wish us to worry about.  

So here are some suggestions for ways to increase focus. Personally and Photographically.

• Make a to do list. And then do it! Not make the list and forget it or deviate from it. 
• Set time limits for tasks. Do you do that? Or do you ignore the task or forget the time? 
• Take regular breaks. This one is a tough one for me! Sometimes I get so wrapped up editing my images, or studying Photography, time and or a break do not enter the equation. 
• Break dancing looks fun… but if I tried this, no matter how much I focused, I would break. ^_^
• Ooh! Let me watch a tutorial! Now this one I’ve done many, many times! My students tell me they have watched many of my tutorials more than once. In fact many times. 

I have done this one myself… A LOT of times! This is one key component to learning and focus. Rewatching tutorials is like re-reading the encyclopedia to get the things you missed. I’ve recently re-studied some pretty complicated Photographic procedures.

Focus With Photography Is Two Fold!

A blurry image is basically unusable. Blurry concepts are the same thing, unusable! Now I do not expect everyone to have the same commitment to Photography that I do. I admit it. I’m obsessed. I am constantly thinking about some faction of my work.

From concept, to the edit, or the print… I am driven to create something different. Photography and all that it entails is in the forefront of my thoughts. The trip to the location… Gear I might need, not camera gear either, but special clothing, or binoculars… just stuff.

It really chaps my hide when I go to all the trouble to prepare for a specific shot, or a specific location, and I forget something! Then I’m mad at myself because I did not focus enough, and I wasted time. It’s very difficult to do things over.

This exact thing recently happened to me on the coast of Oregon… I was in my spot, in the best light I’ve ever had, and I forgot my tripod in camp! So I could not use my D-850 to Photograph the scene the way I wanted to.

I needed that tripod! It’s ALWAYS in my truck! But this time I was in a clients vehicle and I forgot to transfer it! I remembered my Trekking Poles which were also necessary, but forgot my tripod!

I guess I’m really saying that it’s pretty easy now a days to squirrel off in another direction.

Tips For Focus With Photography

There are multitudes of articles and videos all over the internet, so I’m not going to reinvent the wheel. The suggestions below are not usually mentioned.

• The first suggestion is to focus on you. Enhance your calm and use a quiet soul to elevate your experience and the scenario.
• Always use a tripod! At least when possible… Even when shooting off of a tripod, using the best techniques, you can still get camera blur. Remember to turn off image stabilization when on a tripod. Leaving this on will cause the camera to overcompensate. When you are not on a tripod?
  
  Look for something steady to use instead, like a rock, or a fence post. Always use the shutter speed that is higher than your lens focal length. So 50mm lens? At least 1/60 of a second. 200mm lens? At least 1/250 sec.
  
  Remember the longer the focal length the more shutter speed you need. So for 250mm I’d use at least a 500th. For moving subjects invest in a gimbal tripod head. Long exposures are also fun on a tripod with slow shutter speeds.
• Set back button focus on your camera and learn to use it. This one is huge! When using the shutter button half way you can not believe the camera movement this can cause! Also use your self timer. For shots under 30 seconds I just saved you the price of a cable release.
• Learn depth of field! The app PhotoPills is awesome for this! A quick tip? You really only need two F Stops… f/2.8 and f/13. Use 2.8 for a sharp subject and blurry background, (bokeh) and f/13 for sharp landscapes.
  
  Still depth of field comes into play… with a 14mm lens focused at 8 feet, everything is in focus from 4 feet to infinity. Any F stop above f/13 will introduce lens diffraction which causes blurry images. On hot days? Don’t forget about heat haze or heat shimmer. With long lenses this will really be apparent!
• Learn the focus modes on your camera. Back in the day everything was manual focus. Today? That has changed in a huge way with technology. Once you learn the focus modes on your camera, along with when, and how to apply them, the only time I would use manual focus is with astro Photography.
• One Last point stated best by Ansel Adams…”Theres nothing worse than a sharp image of a fuzzy concept.”

It’s Up To You To Remain Focused

Personally I have goals… I have not met them yet. Actually I will probably never fully attain all of my goals. I keep making new ones. I believe whole heartily that the day we stop learning or dreaming is the day we die.

I’ve seen a lot of people in my life pass away because they no longer had something to live for. They lost their drive. They lost their dreams, they lost focus…

In my present lifestyle I have less distractions. I have what seems like more time because less factions are drawing my attention elsewhere. Yes! I like it! I specifically changed my lifestyle in order to remove distractions.

I have always said “crop out the crap!”… In your Photography and in your life! What will you do to increase your focus? Personally and Photographically?…