ZOOM: WHAT'S IN FOCUS MATTERS

Zoom and focus are crucial tools in forming any great picture. By playing around with the zoom a photographer cannot only make a more coherent picture, but further increase its quality ten-fold.

ZOOMING IN

Increasing zoom is used primarily to enlarge the image's main subject. By increasing the size of the image's main subject, the image gains a more prominent main character, and decreases the difference between the fore, middle. and back grounds.

By increasing the zoom, a sense of depth is created, adding to the overall image quality. As you increase zoom, the greater the blur difference between what's in focus (subject) and what isn't (background) will be. However, the more you zoom, the greater the overall quality you'll be able to retain in your subject.

ZOOMING OUT

Zooming out does the opposite of zooming in, changing the emphasis of the photograph away from the subject. By decreasing the zoom, your image will have an increased sense of speed and distance, however it'll create volatility in image quality. With more of the background exposed, and only the ability to focus in one area, creating a greater sense of chaos in your pictures is easier. However, shooting out of focus shots usually won't turn out well with this photographic style.

By zooming out, the sense of depth is modified, but it still can exist. Whereas zooming in will make it bigger, zooming out will make what is in the background much, much smaller. Also important to note: when zooming out, it'll be harder to avoid any environmental disturbances such as people, animals, or brush, be sure to keep that in mind when you get ready to take the picture.

ADDITIONAL TIPS AND TRICKS

- Start at a zoom of 2.5x, and adjust from there. 2.5x is the zoom where most games start to combine the fore, middle, and back grounds

- When zooming in, adding a bit of aperture can go a long way. By making the background into individual bokehs, overall image quality increases

Continue with our teaching series to learn more photography techniques such as Context, Suns & Scapes, and Selection. Click here for more from Project Overtake.