I use a similar photograph to the one above to stress to my students how important focus is in a photograph. I was looking through some photographs from years past the other day, and I ran across the set of images this one originates from, and I couldn’t help remembering how a three-day run at photographing jackrabbits and ground squirrels solidified this concept in my head. Why show these critters in a post about focus? If you’ve ever tried to maintain crystal clear clarity while photographing animals that have lightning fast reflexes (with focal lengths between 200mm and 400mm), then you know what I mean.

I learned how to really hunker down on photography from arguably one of the best wildlife photographers in the nation, Wyman Meinzer. Early in his career, Wyman was known as a maverick of sorts when he would submit tack-sharp images of running whitetail deer he had taken while manually focusing an FD 500mm f/4.5 flourite lens mounted on a Canon F1N. The likes of Field & Stream and American Sportsman were stunned by the clarity of the images (usually taken on Kodachrome or Fujichrome Velvia, 100 ISO or lower), and it was his tenacity for sharp, eye-drawing imagery that I picked up when shooting with him.

Focus really does matter. In all actuality, why wouldn’t it? If you want a tip from this: THINK ABOUT YOUR FOCUS! This isn’t saying that every shot NEEDS to be in focus (my style generally lends itself to something in the image being in focus), but this is a call to working on that part of the craft that is psychologically so important for the creator (the photographer) and the viewer. I really can’t stress this enough to my students that accepting an out-of-focus shot (when it certainly needs to be in focus) is not acceptable. Even those shots that are barely out of focus. No amount of “sharpening” in Photoshop actually saves a blurry image. Obviously, sometimes things happen. Sometimes, the shutter speed is too slow, and maybe a happy accident, or non-accident, occurs, and you are provided with a unique vantage of the subject. This does happen. I also can’t say that every shot any working photographer (myself included) takes is in focus. The photographer that tells you so is not being honest. However, the more you work at this technical aspect of photography, the better understanding you have for how to treat it in a way that compliments your technique and style!

Methodical use of focus is a great way to direct how an image, your art, your creation, is supposed to be viewed. We have all these wonderful tools of aesthetics to help us maintain as much control of an image as possible. Just as a photographer would use depth of field and composition, light and form, so he/she can use focus to direct where a viewer’s eyes go first. It’s no secret in the photography community that a viewing eye will quickly drift to where an image is sharp. This is why portraits and photographs of wild and domesticated animals maintain sharpness in the subjects’ eyes. You’ve probably been asked before by your subject (unless they are indeed animals) about why you are moving the camera up and down before snapping the shot. If you’re like me, you’re using auto-focus to make sure the eyes are sharp before re-composing the shot.

Focus, as you can see, is such a powerful tool. Combined with shutter speed and aperture (depth of field), you have three of the greatest technical aspects of photography at your fingertips, able to wield them in order to manipulate three of the greatest aesthetic features of any image. Useful? I would think so! Something to always work on? Definitely! Again, I’m a fan of shots that are in focus. Blame it on my training, my background, the part of the industry that I’m in. I just feel that sharp images convey more of the story that I’m trying to tell. Even shots that show extreme motion, such as David duChemin’s well-known gondola shots, although seemingly out of focus, were shots rendered due to movement and time. I guarantee you that before the time-created blurs and streaks were even a component of the image itself, the photographer placed his plane of focus in the proper place.

I hope I didn’t come across as polemically against out-of-focus images. I’m not that at all, and if I was, I would be shooting down some of the greatest photojournalistic works we have ever seen in photographic history. What I am saying is that it pays to focus (pun intended) on creating sharp images when needed. We haven’t begun to talk about exhibiting images in certain parts of the industry in relationship to their sharpness, but we’ll end here.

I’d love to hear your comments about your perspective on out-of-focus images. It’s an ever-changing visual world, and with it, opinions and attitudes about these types of things change as well. It’s an important concept to discuss, because at some point, focus becomes less about technical aptitude, and more about personal and professional vision and creativity. It’s necessary to get to the second part!

More to come…

That’s right, an HD video/documentary course, in Junction, Texas, Texas Tech University satellite campus, May 12 – May 27. If you are frequent readers, you know I’m a photography instructor (of sorts) at Texas Tech University, and for five years now, I have been teaching a field photography course with Wyman Meinzer at the Junction, Texas, campus. This year, we’ve decided to test out a new course in high-definition video. I’m basing it off of the foundations of the photography course, which is “get your feet wet working like a professional.” For 15 days, students and instructors alike work tirelessly, pursuing the story of the land and the people on it. Each year is a treat, finding ourselves with a new bunch of students and some familiar and veteran areas of the state to point our lenses. We travel well over 1,000 miles during our 15 days, and we see a lot of country. If the video/documentary course turns out anything like the photography course, and it should (we’re going along with them), then it’s bound to be a challenging, yet inspiring, experience for all parties involved.

If there’s anything that can be said about our classes in Junction, it’s one of the only times you can receive that much one-on-one mentoring for the price (which by the way, is a great deal more affordable than other workshops). Also, you don’t have to be a TTU student now to take the course (that’s right, this is sort of a pitch). However, before you sign up, you will have to submit an application to Tech, a formality, to be enrolled in the course. If anything (if you have a degree or not), you’ll get three hours of college credit in 15 days. How cool is that!?

If you’re interested, please shoot me an e-mail. I’m sure there’s some technical details I left out, but I can dig up anything!

This post should really be titled “Jerod Foster’s opinionated list of what photography students need, besides a camera and MacBook Pro.” At the risk of being too forward, this is a small compilation of what I believe takes a photography student from someone that is just simply attending class to becoming an individual storyteller. I have taught photography now for a little over two years at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas, and over the course of those semesters, I’ve noticed certain characteristics in students that make them more successful in and outside the classroom. I like to think of this list as a work in progress, and by no means should you take this to be THE exhaustive list on being an “A” student (apply this as a metaphor if you are not in school). However, it’s a good head start in choosing photography as a career path.

*Disclaimer: I left out passion and vision for reason. Developmentally, these are what we as photographers strive for, and at the same time, we inherently use to communicate with our cameras. Without these, the following list would be truly difficult to adhere to, however, the following five items may spark or reinvigorate one’s own residing passion for the craft!

1. Willingness to learn

“Be open-minded” is a cliche phrase, but it’s true! Not one successful photographer has ever developed his/her style without experimentation and creative exercise. Many did not have the time or resources students have in an institutional classroom, however, they developed their style and craft as a result of eagerness and focus. If you are a student passionate about this line of work, take full advantage of where you are, ask all the questions you want answers to, pick your instructor’s brain about communicating with the tool we call a camera, and take notes (mentally or physically). All the while, adapt this knowledge to your style, your vision, and be ready to learn more. It does not end when you have a diploma or certificate in hand.

2. An eye for others

“Who is your favorite photographer.” I ask this question of all my students at some point in their first semester as a photo/visual communication majors. I’m often answered with steady stares, but no answers. This is not all that surprising if you think about it. For one thing, it’s not as if photographers’ bylines are printed in large, bold font next to their photographs in the standard magazine. And in today’s fast-paced media world, who really has time to search for the byline in the first place, right? I’ll tell you who: other photographers. Students have the best opportunity to become totally infatuated with their field of study, and really delve deep in to classic works such as those of Adams, Bresson, and Newman (my favorite portrait maker), to more contemporary images made by folks like McNally, Cowart, and Orwig. Just as important as studying work of “big names,” is the effort put in to studying, critiquing, and appreciating peers’ images, and local/regional photographers, as well as those photographers make “paradigm shifting” changes in the convergence of stills and video, such as LaForet. Take the time to visit a different photographer’s portfolio everyday. You never know what you will find or what will inspire you!

3. A good ear (for the classroom and for others)

I’ve heard countless times the significance of the eye in photography, and by all means, there would be no images without a strong vision! I’ve also heard successful lifelong photographers speak of having a good ear. If you were to sit down with an editorial photographer, an environmental portrait maker, or a photojournalist, listening to who they are photographing is just as important as the eye is in telling their story through images. I’d be willing to bet that even fashion photographers have a similar relationship with listening. Be able to communicate audibly with your subjects, not only visually, and your images take on a new life: their life meshed with your vision. Of course, listening in the classroom would be helpful as well.

4. A story

No matter what type of photography you study or pursue, in school or otherwise, you are communicating something. Whatever the format of the story, whether it is extremely tactile such as the victims of the devastating destruction in Haiti’s capitol, or abstract art, it is crucial to the message of the image, and the core of why we become photographers. Study other stories, learn to look for them, and listen and watch for their appearance. The human race has always been made up of storytellers. If you don’t believe me, just take a look at ancient art and writing, and then listen to your grandmother “spin those yarns.” You’ll notice the stories, and as photographers, it’s our job to learn how to further communicate their message in to visuals!

5. Influence

Where would we be without it? I once heard that creativity is half stolen. Whether this is true or not, I do believe that nothing begets nothing, and influence develops into much of those characteristics I’ve already outlined. Find a mentor, it doesn’t even necessarily have to be a photographer, that inspires you to pick your camera up every day. Find multiple mentors for that matter. You will always be influenced by something, no matter how much of a rogue photographer you might think you are. Here’s the catch: influence is not a bad thing. It’s something to take into account each time you make a new photograph, and then you massage that influence to fit your own style and voice as a visual storyteller.