OOF Foregrounds

[leica M2 fan]

How do you guys feel about OOF foregrounds. I never, never have taken a picture with intentional OOF foreground. Today, however, I was looking throught the gallery and I came upon a picture by fellow RFF member Pherdinand entitled " Bling". This photo so enthralled me with the OOF guy in front leading the eyes to the couple in the booth. I am thinking why have I never considered this aspect of a good photo? Selective focusing is a great tool. Just thought I would share this revelation, for me at least. Something new and exciting to try in the near future. 😀

 

[egpj]

Indeed, I am with you on the selective focus thing. Have been playing around with that for some time. One of my favorites is attached. It can really add to isolating the subject. I have kind of been backing away from that a little though. I did it allot while learning depth of field and what it could do for me. Exhaust yourself on out of focus shots (foreground and background) and learn from it. It is loads fun though isn't it!😉

 

[leica M2 fan]

Glenn

Glenn

Very nice photo, the OOF person is not so distracting to me anymore, in fact I kinda like it. The principal person in your shot has such a kind face and an interesting face, it helps the composition.Thanks for your help and comment.

 

[leica M2 fan]

Glenn

Glenn

Went in to you galleries. You have outstanding B&W photos there. They are
excellent shots and your framing, composition and subject matter are awesome. Your picture if Diana is striking , she has such an interesting face. Good job.

 

[5nap5hot]

I am taking a course in composition. One thing the instructor says time and again is bring the subject to the front of the frame for dramatic effect.

 

[nico]

I like to use selective focus sometimes...

 

[peter_n]

I was looking at Pherdi's photo last night too. Selective focus can be a powerful technique and there are great examples above. Below is one from my gallery that shows three people in line; the nearest and furthest being somewhat out of focus. The isolation of the main subject is helped because of the angle of the light source and the contrast between the lit face of the main subject and the shadowed face of the girl behind her.

 

[leica M2 fan]

Great examples Nico and Ferider -

Great examples Nico and Ferider -

Thanks for sharing. Nico, the two picture examples are really excellent. I like the first one very much because that is exactly what caught my eye in Pherdinand's picture. The second one is equally good of the man, thanks again.
Ferider, your example is also excellent. Your pictures are great and we're lucky to have you on this forum.

 

[egpj]

Went in to you galleries. You have outstanding B&W photos there. They are
excellent shots and your framing, composition and subject matter are awesome. Your picture if Diana is striking , she has such an interesting face. Good job.

Thanks for the kind words. I enjoy those images but they are never good enough.😉
Best of light to you.

 

[leica M2 fan]

Peter -

Peter -

That is absolutely beautiful, a wonderful photo ! Did you take it with a RF? If it was a RF did you visualize the OOF areas? I assume you used a fairly wide open lens setting and maybe a short tele? I am so aware now of OOF foregrounds I can hardly wait to try this out. Thanks to you all !🙂

 

[enochRoot]

indeed peter! i had to comment...beautiful!

 

[peter_n]

Thanks guys! 🙂 It was taken with a Leica M6TTL and a 90mm/f2.8 Tele-Elmarit lens Tony. Aperture was set at either f2.8 or just above and I was focusing on the main subject's profile. I knew my position was good in relation to the light source (slanting sunlight from a window) and the contrast really helped with the focusing. I remember thinking after I took the shot - well I got that one focused properly - but it was only when I saw the neg did I see the contrast with the girl in back. That was total luck.

 

[5nap5hot]

So if one wanted to keep the foreground in focus... how do you do that? Do you focus on the foreground ... then recompose the shot and use depth of field to capture the mid and background?

I was trying to shoot some railway tracks today and I wanted to pin the rail line in the lower right corner of the frame. I haven't done much shooting with a rangefinder before. I was trying out my new Bessa R3M on it's first roll.

 

[rxmd]

I've attached a recent OOF foreground shot of mine. Composition could be better, but there was simply no way of having both fore- and background in focus. Bessa R handheld at 1/8, 800 ASA, Skopar 35/f2.5 wide open.

So if one wanted to keep the foreground in focus... how do you do that? Do you focus on the foreground ... then recompose the shot and use depth of field to capture the mid and background?

If you use depth of field, don't focus on the foreground, focus on something that is rougly at one-third of the depth of field that you want to have in your picture. If you use a rangefinder, you have to think beforehand what aperture you will need; if you have time for the shot, you can focus on the front and back, see what distances you need and read the needed aperture from the lens' depth-of-field scale. If you use an SLR, use the DOF preview button if your camera has one.

Or you use a tilt lens. With the DOF approach, everything in between will be in focus; the advantage of a tilt lens is that you can keep stuff out of focus as well.

I was trying to shoot some railway tracks today and I wanted to pin the rail line in the lower right corner of the frame. I haven't done much shooting with a rangefinder before. I was trying out my new Bessa R3M on it's first roll.

If you do that kind of shot often, a rangefinder might not be the right tool for the job.

Philipp

 

[Russ]

Great photos, Nico.

I think OOF foreground can be really important in portrait situations.

Yes, it can help greatly.

Russ

 

[darkkavenger]

Fed-3b with Industar-61 - 1/30s @ f/2.8
Kodak TX400
(my scanner is very badly rendering & sorry for the dust)

 

[pvdhaar]

Nothing wrong with OOF foregrounds, as long as it serves to lead the eye to the subject..

 

[leica M2 fan]

Max and Peter -
Those last examples are truly great . This is just the absolute best forum!

 

[darkkavenger]

aww, why thank you! just a little test film that i ran through a Fed-3 🙂