Ok I am about to vent, prepare for it….. please oh please will angling magazine editors please, oh please stop using the article authors face as an out of focus background …gggaaaahhhhhhhh !
It has to be the most over used and most annoying photo effect that has ever been used it is almost more annoying when, during the mid 90’s, every fashion magazine “discovered” the ring flash. To give some examples without naming names, have a look in some of the carp angling monthly magazines ( not carpworld thankfully) and you will notice page after page, shot after shot of the sponsored anglers ugly mug as the out of focus background.
Let show you what I mean, and please note that this one was taken for comedy effect to show you.
You see ? what you have is my ugly mug ( and double chin) acting as the background to a shot of a CV safety rig. Now imagine every picture in the magazine shot in the same way ? It is like the advert for the file “being john malkovich”
My main problem is though, many carp anglers turned their backs on being professional models in favour of catching carp…. so when you are confronted with a gallery of out of focus pictures of their ugly mugs it turns the stomach.
Please magazine picture editors, can you ban this picture style or at least reduce it to 1 image per article ?
In case anyone is wondering how to produce this photo effect, it is really very simple. Take your camera and set the lowest aperture value you can ( on Canon Cameras this will be done with either Manual ( M) or Aperture Value ( AV) mode). You want to have the lowest numbered aperture you can select ( such as f2.8 – f4) this will give you the shallowest depth of field. Then set your focus point to be on the rig or tackle item held in front of the anglers face. If you want to know more have a look at the 2 photography articles I wrote called ( helpfully)
The Masterblanker 