I have been told a number of times that I should crop out any foreground Blur because it's distracting.
When I look at this shot I like the fact that it has a blurry foreground, but I have also been told many times that I have no taste. Can somebody explain why doing what I have done above can be distracting. I made a version with the foreground cropped and though it looked flat and uninteresting.
Canon EOS 7D, EF-S 10-22, EF 24-105L, EF 50 f1.2L, EF 70-300L, 430EX.
"Criticism is something you can easily avoid, by saying nothing, doing nothing and being nothing." - Tara Moss
I have trouble with this to.
Maybe someone can help us.
Yellowstone 2012 (1 of 1)-2 by hdnitehawk01, on Flickr
Here the foreground blur gives a sense of distance and scale to the hill/iceberg in the back. You can see how much water there is, and the relative sizes of the ice chunks, etc. You can see it's a fair way back, which helps convey the size of the ice in the background.
There is no such thing as a rule you should blindly follow 100% of the time, including cropping out blurry foregrounds.
On Flickr - Namethatnobodyelsetook on Flickr
R8 | R7 | 7DII | 10-18mm STM | 24-70mm f/4L | Sigma 35mm f/1.4 | 50mm f/1.8 | 85mm f/1.8 | 70-300mm f/4-5.6L | RF 100-500mm f/4-5-7.1L
+1....and isn't that what matters.....Originally Posted by Raid
But I do also like the foreground blur. I think it adds to the shot.
BTW...this is one of my recent favorite shots that I've seen. Viewed over 36,000 times and favorited over 700 times. Without the foreground and background blur, it is just another shot:
surfers love ... by David Kracht, on Flickr
And that is what I was going for in the shot.
To me my picture represents the common persons actual view of what wildlife looks like at Yellowstone.
Although few of us leave with this visual image in our mind. We remember an elk laying behind a log in its natural environment.
Back to the original post, as a component of a picture there is nothing wrong with foreground blur in a photograph. How we use foreground blur in a picture there may be something wrong with. But then also a very sharp in focus area of a picture can be a negative if it is improperly used and placed.
To me foreground and background blur is just another paint on the pallet, use it where appropriate.
Last edited by HDNitehawk; 03-06-2014 at 04:07 PM.
This is only relevant because I was interested in how this shot was created. At first I thought it was done with a tilt/shift as well. But the EXIF is for a Nikon 50 mm f/1.8 lens @ f/5. So I imagine the effect was accomplished in post.
To me the shot is interesting because it framed the beach. But also when looking at it the bokeh does not look natural, it looks it was done in PS. The people on the stairs are in focus on the right, but part of the beach in the center is out of focus.
HD - Believe it or not they were still lying there in July of 2013. Recognize the charred log, etc.
If you see me with a wrench, call 911
North side of the West Thumb.
I believe you. I have been staying at a friends cabin for the last four years in West Yellowstone. Certain spots you always have a good chance at seeing something.
I also would believe you if you told me there were 100 people still there with a PS trying to get 10 yards from a sleeping elk.
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