Articles Table of Contents   Page 1: Keep and Use Classic Lenses For an Unusual Look Page 2: Shoot One and Only One Subject Page 3: Shoot One Lens, and Not a Zoom Page 4: Choosing a Lens by Focal Length Page 5: Fast Lenses—Shutter Speeds / Background Blur (Bokeh) Page 6: Shoot a Fast Lens at Dusk or Dawn Page 7: Blur Can Be Beautiful Page 8: Making Sharp Photos Handheld Page 9: Shoot Another Format (Size or Aspect Ratio) Page 10: Use Manual Exposure for Perfect Results Page 11: White Balance Tools Page 12: Understand Perspective and Size Variance Page 13: Look For Natural Patterns Page 14: Depth of Field Is Oh-So-Shallow Page 15: Depth of Field—How Far To Stop Down Page 16: Depth of Field and Megapixels Page 17: Never Go Traveling Without a Backup Camera Page 18: Don’t Assume a New Lens is Good! Page 19: Infinity Focus Requires Care! Page 20: How to Carry Large and Heavy Lenses Page 21: Shooting Tip: Use Mirror Lockup Page 22: Shooting Tip: Aurora Borealis Page 23: Shooting Tip: Grizzly Bear vs Black Bear Scat Page 24: A brief glossary of photographic terms

Shooting tip: blur can be beautiful

Blur of all kinds can be beautiful, including motion blur and background blur. So don’t be afraid to try images that have blur!

I grow several hundred sunflowers every year, my record being a thousand or so. Trouble-free, and more intricately beautiful than the pedestrian rose, they fascinate me. And it’s really funny to watch squirrels hanging upside down waving back and forth as they try to sever the head.

These shots were all taken at dusk with the flowers waving in the breeze, handheld with the Nikon D3, a favorite camera for such situations. The Zeiss ZF 100/2 Makro-Planar delivered the goods as usual, with its stunning bokeh and gorgeous color rendition.

Motion blur

Taken while riding my bike, in infrared.