You have probably heard references to the hyperfocal distance but never really understood or used it. The HFD refers to how much depth of field you’ll have in a photo given a particular f/ stop and lens and where exactly you focus in the composition. This concept is usually applied to landscape work. The definition of HFD is: The closest distance from the point of focus to the lens where objects at infinity are acceptably sharp. (The hyperfocal distance is entirely dependent upon what level of sharpness is considered to be acceptable. The criterion for the desired acceptable sharpness is specified through the circle of confusion diameter limit. This is the largest acceptable diameter that an infinitesimal point is allowed to spread out in the picture. It is usu-
ally considered to be .03mm.) What all this comes down to in simplified terms is where to focus in your picture for maximum depth of field. What the hyperfocal distance does not take into consideration is that if you have to choose between the foreground being slightly out of focus or the background being slightly soft, it’s best to make the foreground tack sharp and sacrifice the background. This is my opinion, and I base it on the fact that a dominant foreground is so prominent, so eye catching, that it must be sharp or the picture will be visually annoying. The photo of Keukenhof Gardens below and the landscape in Chile on the previous page are examples. Sure, I would like the entire image from front to be tack sharp, but if that’s not possible, then it’s the foreground that needs to be as sharp as possible.
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