An array of plants and books on kitchen table in Jordyn Harrell's, SMU student, room on October 3, 2022, in Dallas, Texas. (SMU/Jordyn Harrell)
Aperture: 4 | ISO: 1600 | Shutter Speed: 1/60 sec
I learned how much the “little” details mattered from this assignment. I think it would’ve been a bit easier to take a picture of people in a more expansive setting (like Hughes Trigg, outside, or a restaurant). But since my options of location were limited this weekend, I took photos of my plants and books in my kitchen. The most difficult part was making sure the plant in the background was out of focus.
I have a small square kitchen table, so it was hard creating distance between the objects. I realized that I could shoot the photo straight on. I turned my table at an angle and placed the objects in a line diagonally. This allowed some separation of space between the objects. The objects foreground was able to soften quite easily but only the book in the background softened. I continued to mess around with the angles and positioning of the objects until the background became more blurred.
Though I had a difficult time achieving it, I think the depth of field composition is really cool. I hope that it gets easier to achieve/figure out as I continue to take photos. I would like to use this technique more often.
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