P52 Week 11 – Inclusion by closing the aperture

Last week I explored isolating a subject by opening my aperture as a part of working through “The Visual Toolbox”.  This week was all about creating a sense of inclusion by maintaining a larger depth of field by closing down the aperture.

The weather out in our part of Washington was just incredible towards the end of last week so I too the opportunity to spend a few minutes one afternoon practicing some small aperture shots around Liberty Bay in Poulsbo.

It was a terribly bright afternoon so I had no problems closing down my aperture without having to adjust my ISO.  Resulting in images that were bright and full of contrast.  As someone that does not spend much time shooting landscape or with a very small aperture, the process of composing these shots with intent and properly editing them afterwards was a bit of a challenge.  Having a shallow depth of field is so helpful when trying to guide a viewers eye through an image.  When pretty much everything is in focus compositional elements become even more important.  Add to that the dynamic range between highlights and shadows.  Yikes!  Tackling a “sense of inclusion” becomes a task much more difficult that it would appear.