This post is about assuming that an out of focus shot is automatically a failed one. Amateur photographers, including me, too often focus on focus. To such an extent that missing a shot is better than shooting it out of focus. Without a doubt, a focusing fail can ruin a photograph, but experienced photographers know that what makes a good or great photo is so much more than crisp focus. Emotions can be captured and conveyed through less than perfect photographs. Sometimes more.
Here, I hope you will agree, is an example of this.
I took this shot while standing on my front stoop. (LR was used to adjust the exposure and lighten the shadow on her face) I had just received, via UPS’s third and last attempt at delivery, my used 75mm M lens. Having just mounted it, I was taking some test photos when this father and daughter walked by. Absorbed as I was in learning the lens, I wasn’t looking for a photo. Then I saw the little girl watching me. I just raised the camera and snapped this shot assuming that if I took the time to focus the little girl would have turned back around. Her judgment is all there, despite my focus being off.
Life is rarely crisp and clear.