Photo-J Week 5-Depth of Field

When I first picked up a camera my initial struggle was to make sure all my pictures were in focus. The challenge my class was presented with this week was only having part of our photos in focus. By adjusting the aperture, we were able to blur the background and foreground of the image while keeping one of the subjects in focus. This created a shallow depth of field. The trouble with setting up this shot was that objects don't always appear in a row in everyday life. I set out to take the picture along with my roommate on her morning walk. I figured it would be easy to create a foreground and background with other bikers and walkers along the Trinity trail. Unfortunately, I had neglected to adjust my white balance and had left it on Tungsten lighting. This made the majority of my pictures very washed out, even with a very low ISO. In addition to that, it was hard to find the right aperture setting to drop off the vast amount of background scenery. Luckily, I was able to get some help from a friend on adjusting my settings to expose the correct amount of light. It was then easier to focus in on Lara's face for the photo below.  

Lara Branaman, a senior communication studies major peeks up from behind the front desk at Sherley residence hall on the campus of Texas Christian University. Branaman is a residential assistant in Sherley and greets students as they return to their dorms.