Control focus, depth, and perspective
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The idea in everyday life
Place focus deliberately and understand how distance, aperture, focal length, and camera position shape the image.
Focal length frames the view, but camera position controls perspective relationships.
One step at a time.
Use the sample or information you have permission to use. Keep your work as you go. You can pause between steps.
- 1
Learn single and continuous autofocus, focus area selection, subject detection, focus lock, and manual override on your camera.
- 2
Test depth of field by changing aperture, subject distance, focal length, and background distance.
- 3
Move your feet to compare perspective before zooming only to resize the subject.
- 4
Enlarge the image to check the part that must be sharp. Find a shutter speed that reliably avoids unwanted blur with your camera and subject.
See how it works.
Ava steps closer with a wider lens to emphasize hands working toward the camera, then uses continuous focus for repeated kneading motion.
Did you cover these?
- Your work includes a focus and perspective photo series with camera settings, distances, the area meant to be sharp, and notes on what went wrong.
- Check this common mistake: Letting the camera choose the nearest high-contrast object while the actual subject remains soft.
- The intended subject plane is consistently sharp and perspective supports the relationship you want to show.
What to finish
A focus and perspective photo series with camera settings, distances, the area meant to be sharp, and notes on what went wrong.
Watch for this
Letting the camera choose the nearest high-contrast object while the actual subject remains soft.
How can I tell I understand it?
The intended subject plane is consistently sharp and perspective supports the relationship you want to show.
Quick knowledge check
Answer all 3 questions. Get at least 2 right and the lesson completes automatically.
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Answer all 3 questions above and get at least 2 right. You can review the explanations and try again.
Go to the knowledge checkOptional course overview video · same video as Lesson 1
Photography Basics in 10 Minutes
From David Manning. Watch here or open it on YouTube .
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