Weekly Photo Challenge: Focus

Cheri Lucas Rowlands tells us about the basics of depth of field and aperture and compares the effects of using a shallow depth of field to a a greater one. She asks that we :-

• Snap a photo of something or someone in focus, against a blurred background.
• Share a panorama or landscape in sharp focus, in which you can see details far away.
• Use a camera app to force focus (or blur) in an experimental way.
• Take multiple photos of the same scene or subject using different aperture settings and publishing the results.
  

  our beach from Meringo Headland

  It looks as though everything is in focus in this landscape, from near to far. Yet the flowers at the edge of the cliff attracted me, so I focussed on them next.

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  Kennedia flowers and Lomandra in the foreground

  We were up on the headland to look for the Southern Right Whale that was resting in the curve of our beach. It was large, yet all that showed above the water every now and then was a gentle protrusion covered with barnacles! A few times we saw the whale lift her head, but not when I had the camera. According to Wikipedia The southern right whale (Eubalaena australis) is a baleen whale, one of three species classified as right whales belonging to the genus Eubalaena. Like other right whales, the southern right whale is readily distinguished from others by the callosities on its head, a broad back without a dorsal fin, and a long arching mouth that begins above the eye. Its skin is very dark grey or black, occasionally with some white patches on the belly.

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  Southern Right Whale

  We usually see Humpback whales here, waving their flukes, leaping out of the water, blowing, tail slapping … always rather dramatic and entertaining. The Southern Right whales are very quiet by comparison, appearing and disappearing silently as they surface to breathe. Another observer told us there have been others resting around Batemans Bay, and I remember last year there was a small group at Broulee for several weeks. If you look again at that top photo of the beach, try to imagine the very big whale just under the shallow water not far out from the centre of the beach. Perhaps there is even a slightly darker patch of water there? The links above are to better photos of the whales in local waters.

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  See more entries on Focus here!