{"id":80225,"date":"2018-03-23T02:09:33","date_gmt":"2018-03-23T09:09:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/?p=80225"},"modified":"2018-03-23T02:09:33","modified_gmt":"2018-03-23T09:09:33","slug":"sharpness-is-overrated-30-tips-to-shoot-blurry-and-out-of-focus-photos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2018\/03\/23\/sharpness-is-overrated-30-tips-to-shoot-blurry-and-out-of-focus-photos\/","title":{"rendered":"Sharpness is Overrated: 30 Tips to Shoot Blurry and Out-Of-Focus Photos"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Walking
Walking and blurry Cindy. Osaka, 2018<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dear friend,<\/p>\n

If you want more inspiration to shoot, intentionally shoot blurry and out of focus photos.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

Fighting back against the tyranny of sharp and in-focus photos<\/h2>\n
\"William
William Klein \/ St Patrick\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The biggest innovation of photographers such as William Klein<\/a> and Daido Moriyama<\/a> was rejecting this notion that photos had to be sharp and in focus.<\/p>\n

Some photos by William Klein<\/a> which better highlight human emotion through his use of blur:<\/p>\n

\"\"
William Klein: Candy Store<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
William Klein dancing kids<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Emotional photos by Daido Moriyama<\/a>, through his blurry, out of focus, and imperfect photos:<\/p>\n

\"\"
Daido Moriyama<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
Daido Dog<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
Daido Moriyama, ‘Provoke’ no 2, 1969<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What I learned from the impressionists<\/h2>\n
\"Van
Van Gogh video installation. Berlin, 2017<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you consider abstract art, the lesson is this:<\/p>\n

\n The purpose of art is to provoke an emotional response, not to be formally perfect.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

For example in the past, painting was all about creating photorealistic scenes. But the abstract, impressionist painters rejected this tyranny of photorealistic paintings, and decided to paint an emotion or mood instead. Thus the genius of Vincent Van Gogh.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Starry Night – Vincent van Gogh<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n

What is the point of photography?<\/h2>\n
\"\"
Henri Cartier-Bresson \/ HCB Foundation. FRANCE. The Var department. Hy\u00c3\u00a8res. 1932. Blurred bicycle.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Sharpness is a bourgeoise concept.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d – Henri Cartier-Bresson\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In photography, I feel the same. As photographers we must seek to capture an emotion, rather than make \u00e2\u20ac\u0153technically perfect\u00e2\u20ac\u009d photos for the sake of it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

To me this is liberating in many ways:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. You don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t need expensive camera equipment, or sharp lenses.<\/li>\n
  2. You can shoot more spontaneously<\/a>, like a child<\/a>. <\/li>\n
  3. You can shoot more without thinking.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    \n

    Some tips to shoot better blurry and out of focus photos:<\/p>\n

    1. Shoot out of focus<\/h2>\n

    If you have a manual setting on your lens, intentionally make your photos out of focus, to heighten the emotion, mood, or mystery of your scene.<\/p>\n

    A. For example, this is a photo I shot of a building at night with -1 exposure compensation on RICOH GR II in program mode<\/a>:<\/p>\n

    \"\"
    Osaka building<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    When it is in focus, the photo is a bit boring.<\/p>\n

    B. What I then did was set my RICOH GR II to macro mode, and focused on my hand. Then while holding the focus set to 1 meter, I pointed my camera up, and shot the building out of focus, thus making this photo, which is more interesting:<\/p>\n

    \"Out
    Out of focus bokeh lights in skyscraper building. Osaka, 2018<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Now the photograph has more emotion from the lights, which are bigger, and more abstract.<\/p>\n

    Assignment<\/strong>: Shoot buildings or lights at night with your focus prefocused to 1 meter. Experiment with different focusing distances, and shooting at night or during the day, to change the effect.<\/p>\n

    Some examples from Boston:
    \n

    \"bright
    Bright out of focus lights. NYC, 2018<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n
    \"Dutch
    Dutch angle composition. Boston bridge at night, out of focus.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
    \"Out
    Out of focus trees at night. Boston, 2018<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    More examples from London:<\/p>\n

    \"Abstract
    Abstract London bokeh, 2018<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    An example of shaking my camera while shooting:<\/p>\n

    \"Blurred
    Shaking and Blurred London skyline, 2018<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    \"blue<\/p>\n

    \n

    2. Shoot at night, while walking<\/h2>\n
    \"Red
    Red wall, Cindy walking. Kyoto Uji, 2018<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Another tip: shoot at night while walking. I usually shoot with my RICOH GR II in program mode and ISO 1600. This usually slows my shutter speed to around 1\/15th of a second, making my photos more blurry.<\/p>\n

    In the above photo, I like it because of the dramatic red light, and the dark silhouette of Cindy which looks more mysterious. To get a deep red color, I shoot high-contrast color JPEG preset (positive film setting).<\/p>\n

    3. Photograph colorful emotion and mood<\/h2>\n
    \"Blur.
    Blur. Blue, orange, purple lights. Uji, 2018<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    One of the benefits of shooting with an LCD<\/a> screen: you see what your photos look like before you shoot them, especially when you see colorful scenes.<\/p>\n

    At night, I love seeing how the colors render in my camera. Whenever I see nice colors, like the deep purple-blue of the photo above, I will just shoot it while walking, or just handheld the photograph (without worrying about getting it sharp).<\/p>\n

    The reason I like this: the blurry color photograph at night abstracts the image. It becomes more about the color itself, rather than the subject matter of the photo.<\/p>\n

    4. Shoot a lot of random photos<\/h2>\n

    \"Blurry<\/p>\n

    This is another practical tip: when shooting at night, shoot a lot of random photos!<\/strong> Often you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know what kind of photo you want before you shoot it.<\/p>\n

    \"Blurry<\/p>\n

    Therefore, allow yourself to shoot random photos while walking, allow them to be blurry, and also tilt your camera (Dutch angle)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    \"Blurry<\/p>\n

    For example see all these photos I shot of Cindy at night while walking. With blurry photos, you will never have any idea how they will look like. Therefore, I just shot three quick photos of Cindy, while having no idea how the photo would turn out. I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t review or check my lcd screen until I went home. When I went home and looked at my photos in Lightroom, I was very pleased to see these three interesting blurry renditions of the same scene.<\/p>\n

    Now I have a benefit:<\/p>\n

    \n I have the choice and a variety of photos to choose from.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    \n

    5. Shoot with a flash while people are running around<\/h2>\n
    \"Amelia
    Amelia running around her room, with a flash. Orange County, 2018<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    To add a sense of motion and dynamism to your scene, shoot your subject with a flash<\/a> while they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re running around or moving around.<\/p>\n

    \"Flash
    Flash street photograph of man in suit while he was walking. Lisbon, 2018<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Settings to experiment on your camera\/flash:
    \n– Experiment with \u00e2\u20ac\u0153first curtain flash sync\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153second curtain\u00e2\u20ac\u009d to see the different motion blur effects.
    \n– Shoot with flash in manual mode, and adjust your shutter speed. Try shooting with a slower shutter speed, like 1\/15th, or even 1\/10th of a shutter speed.<\/p>\n

    \"Flash
    Flash street photograph, shot on film, flash, 1\/15th shutter speed.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
    \n

    6. Shoot with a flash through a clear umbrella when it is raining<\/h2>\n
    \"Flash
    Flash photograph in the rain through clear umbrella. Tokyo, 2017<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    This will make more mysterious photos. This works best with clear umbrellas when it is raining, especially in Japan.<\/p>\n

    \"Flash<\/p>\n

    For these photos, I used my RICOH GR II with the popup flash in program mode:<\/p>\n

    \"Out
    Out of focus street photo with flash, woman with clear umbrella. Tokyo, 2017<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
    \n

    7. Shoot in hot and steamy situations that fog up your lens<\/h2>\n
    \"Hanoi,
    Hanoi, 2016 #cindyproject<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    A portrait of Cindy in the shower, with the hot shower fogging up the lens, creating more drama and mystery to the photo.<\/p>\n

    Another photo of Cindy during the winter when we left the (cold) streets of London, and entered the Tate modern museum: the camera lens fogged up (because of the change of temperature). I made this photo of Cindy that looked dramatic:<\/p>\n

    \"Cindy
    Cindy with blurred hands on face. London, 2018<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Another example of a selfie in the bathroom inside a warm restaurant, shot with a flash:<\/p>\n

    \"Foggy
    Foggy out of focus selfie in London bathroom, 2018<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    This is what the same photo looks like without the blurry condensation fog:<\/p>\n

    \"Selfie
    Non foggy version.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    8. Shoot a silhouette of your subject<\/h2>\n
    \"Silhouette
    Silhouette of Cindy. Prague, 2018<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Photograph your subject with the light source behind their head, and use -1 or -2 exposure compensation.<\/p>\n

    9. Shoot your loved ones at home<\/h2>\n
    \"Blurry
    Blurry Cindy, low angle perspective. Hanoi, 2017<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    A photo of Cindy while she was yawning, while we were sitting on our couch at home. Her hand gesture and obscuring her face makes a more dramatic photo.<\/p>\n

    10. Shoot out of focus photos through condensed windows in the winter<\/h2>\n
    \"Blurry
    Blurry Cindy shot through foggy car window. Boston, 2018<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    If you can get condensation or water drops on windows, it will add a nice melancholy mood. Here are some photos I shot while in (very cold) Boston<\/a>:<\/p>\n

    \"Condensation
    Condensation on window, out of focus. Focus set on the water droplets. Macro mode, RICOH GR II.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
    \"Boston
    Boston frosted window, 2018. Shot from inside a car, looking out of the driver window<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
    \n

    11. Photograph trees at night while walking<\/h2>\n
    \"Blurry
    Blurry trees at night, shot in program mode, ISO 1600. London, 2018<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Trees shot at night look spooky. Go for an evening walk at a local park, look up, and shoot the trees while walking:<\/p>\n

    \"\"
    Blurry trees at night, shot in program mode, ISO 1600. London, 2018<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Shoot some horizontal orientation, some photos vertical orientation:<\/p>\n

    \"Blurry
    Blurry trees at night, shot in program mode, ISO 1600. London, 2018<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Also for some photos to exaggerate the blur, literally shake your photos while shooting<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

    \"Blurry
    Blurry trees at night, shot in program mode, ISO 1600. London, 2018<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
    \n

    12. Shoot while leaving restaurants or establishments<\/h2>\n
    \"Man
    Man in bowler hat. Night street photo, London 2018<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Some of my best random street photos are when I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m entering or exiting an establishment.<\/p>\n

    As an experiment, always keep your camera on and ready with you, either on your neck or wrist. If you shoot sith RICOH GR II, use the ERIC KIM NECK STRAP<\/a>, or for other cameras use an HENRI NECK STRAP<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    For wrist straps on RICOH GR II, get ERIC KIM WRIST STRAP<\/a>, or for other cameras get HENRI WRIST STRAP<\/a> (also check out PHANTOM BLACK edition<\/a>).<\/p>\n

    When you leave a bar or restaurant at night, shoot whoever is exiting the place, or whoever is entering. Do this while moving, to get dramatic and dynamic street photos<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    \n

    13. Fishing technique in street photography at night, with flash<\/h2>\n
    \"Fishing
    Fishing technique. Flash Tokyo street photo, 2018<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    When shooting night street photography<\/a>, you can try the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153fishing technique<\/a>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d: find an interesting background, and wait for people to enter your frame, to create a blur.<\/p>\n

    \n

    14. Shoot through the window (outside in the cold, into warm establishments)<\/h2>\n
    \"Man
    Man with eye looking through foggy window. London, 2018<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Shoot more street photography when it is cold outside, in the winter. Shoot into bars, restaurants, or other establishments through the windows. This will often blur the subjects inside.<\/p>\n

    \"Contact
    Contact sheet. Man at night through glass. London, 2018<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Another example:<\/p>\n

    \"Abstract
    Abstract at night. London, 2018. Inside is a lot warmer than outside, thus the window is foggy.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
    \n

    15. Focus on the background further away<\/h2>\n

    \"Tokyo<\/p>\n

    To add more depth<\/a> or layers<\/a> to your photos, focus on the subject or background furthest<\/em> away from you.<\/p>\n

    \"Finger
    Finger pointing toward a monument. Focus on the monument (not what is closest to me).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    If you shoot manual focus, set your focus to 5 meters to infinity, at f8 for zone focusing<\/a> in street photography.<\/p>\n

    Or when shooting portraits<\/a>, put your camera really close to your subject, but focus on the background:<\/p>\n

    \"Portrait
    Portrait of Cindy, her eye in the foreground, but focus on background. Lisbon, 2018<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
    \n

    16. Shoot through glass cups and wine glasses<\/h2>\n
    \"Blue
    Blue and yellow blurry photo of my mom. Lisbon, 2018<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    When you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re at home eating dinner, or at a restaurant, shoot through a cup or wine glass. Put your camera really close to the cup, and fill the frame, to blur your subject.<\/p>\n

    \"\"
    My mom through wine glass, blurred.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    A photo of Cindy through the bottom of a water cup:<\/p>\n

    \"\"
    Distorted picture of Cindy through a glass cup, with her hand on her forehead.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Another photo of Cindy through a wine glass at night at a restaurant:<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    \n

    17. Use a flash, and don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t focus on what is closest to you<\/h2>\n
    \"Cindy
    Cindy with hand over face. Lisbon, 2018<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Above is an example of a photo of Cindy, with the focus on her face, shot with a flash (and her hand closer to me). This adds more depth and mystery to the photo.<\/p>\n

    If you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re curious, below is how the photo looks without a flash:<\/p>\n

    \"cindy<\/p>\n

    Or an example in street photography, I saw a woman with orange hair walking towards me, and I waited for her to enter, and I shot with a flash<\/a>, with the focus set at around 5 meters.<\/p>\n

    \"Woman
    Woman with orange hair. Lisbon, 2018. Shoot with flash, with focus on background.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
    \n

    18. Shoot shadows<\/h2>\n
    \"Cindy
    Cindy shadow. Lisbon, 2018<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Leonardo da Vinci<\/a> figured out that shadows are blurry outlines, not sharp. Thus, shoot more shadows<\/a> to make more mysterious photos.<\/p>\n

    \n

    19. Shoot with a flash on a reflective (mirror) surface<\/h2>\n
    \"Flash
    Flash on reflective mirror elevator. Saigon, 2017<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Experiment shooting with a flash on reflective or mirror surfaces.<\/p>\n

    20. Shoot when it is foggy outside<\/h2>\n
    \"Fog
    Fog at night. Orange County, 2014<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    This will give you a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153film noir\u00e2\u20ac\u009d mood, popular in cinema<\/a> (Third Man film).<\/p>\n

    \n

    21. Shoot through puddles or reflections in water while walking<\/h2>\n
    \"blurred
    Reflection of water while walking. Tate modern, 2018<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    22. Dutch angle and blur<\/h2>\n
    \"\"
    Dutch angle tilt, blur, street photograph.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    To create heightened drama in your photos, combine both a blurry photo with the Dutch angle composition<\/a> in photography.<\/p>\n

    23. Colorful background, and blur of your subject walking<\/h2>\n
    \"Blurry
    Blurry Cindy walking, with red background, and a touch of green. Lisbon, 2018<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    24. Shooting street photographs with a flash while they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re walking toward you<\/h2>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    Street photographs shot on Leica, with the Leica SF 20flash, in manual mode, with 1\/15th shutter speed. Note how the subjects close to me are sharp, but the background is blurry:<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    25. Street photographs of subjects walking toward you (without flash)<\/h2>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    Street photos shot at around 1\/15th shutter speed (without flash):<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    \n

    26. Street photographs with flash, with smoke<\/h2>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    I am anti smoking, but smoking with a flash makes for some pretty cool and dramatic photos.<\/p>\n

    \n

    27. Photographs silhouetted people through blurry windows and surfaces<\/h2>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    28. Experiment and have fun!<\/h2>\n
    \"\"
    Red blur of Cindy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s face. Marseille, 2018<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    You never know what a photo will look like until you experiment shooting!<\/p>\n

    Shoot by experimenting with your camera and technical settings:
    \n– Try shooting shutter-priority in your camera, and experiment with different shutter speeds
    \n– Experiment shooting while moving your camera (shake it left and right, up and down, in circular motions, or while moving towards your subject or pulling away from your subject).
    \n– Experiment zooming with a zoom lens while using a slow shutter speed.<\/p>\n

    29. Dance with your subject!<\/h2>\n
    \"Cindy
    Cindy blur. Saigon, 2017<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    The photographer Richard Avedon<\/a> would often dance with his subjects, and ask his subjects to jump up and down, to make more dynamic and blurry photos.<\/p>\n

    Assignment: Ask your subject to move around, dance, wiggle their limbs, legs, and arms to capture photos of them in motion, to get better blurred photos.<\/p>\n

    30. Shoot with your heart<\/h2>\n
    \"Shot
    Shot with a slower shutter speed. You can feel the movement in this picture with the motion blur. Cindy, 2016<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Ultimately remember, photography is all about capturing the joy of being alive, photographing your loved ones, and making beautiful visual art!<\/p>\n

    Disregard technical perfection: seek emotional impact through your photos. If motion blur and out of focus photos will help you achieve your artistic vision, experiment, have fun, and shoot with your heart and soul<\/a>!<\/p>\n

    Have fun,<\/p>\n

    ERIC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Dear friend, If you want more inspiration to shoot, intentionally shoot blurry and out of focus photos.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":79906,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-80225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-posts"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Eric-Kim-Photography-UJI-Osaka-2018-0611264.jpg?fit=3000%2C1987&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80225","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80225"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80225\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":80234,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80225\/revisions\/80234"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79906"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}