Spinning

DSC_0730, originally uploaded by bjhiggins.

One of my favorite little moments from "The Lion King" is during "Circle of Life," where the focus shifts from the ants walking on a tree branch to the zebras running below them. (Mind you, I love a lot of that movie, and a number of other moments from that song, but that moment is relevant to the point I am discussing.) I love that they put that effort in, to play with focus, because it could be just as easy to just go f/64 on us and have everything be focused, but they don't. It makes it feel much more realistic.

When I took this shot, I was playing with the focus. I always have the camera set on autofocus, due to my shooting style. However, I have the option within my camera to select the zone where the autofocus is attempting to focus, so I'll play with it, selecting different zones, watching things switch in and out of focus.

With this shot, I could have made Jill the focus, but what's the point in that? She is looking away, so it only makes sense to focus on the same point that she is focusing on - namely, Jeff and Brian. They opted, along with Amanda, not to join us on the Mad Tea Party, so they waited outside while Jill, Jon, and I rode in one teacup, and Eric and Cara rode in another.

There they are, watching, waiting. At least, they seem to be. Jeff appears to be looking at his camera, perhaps trying to take a picture, while Brian is seemingly sticking his tongue out.

I enjoy this picture; I often find it interesting to have the focus be on the background, because it goes against the traditional logic of foreground vs. background. Sometimes it's more interesting to see what's happening behind the picture you seem to be taking.