Demolition

I decided to focus on the fence in this image, and not the face of the

bystander. I thought that it would highlight the fence as being a

division between the inside and outside. Do you think it would be

more effective to focus more on the face? any thoughts would be great!

 

Rob

I see what you were trying to achieve by your choice of focus but I really think at some point the overall technical quality of the shot overrides the vision. Maybe not, that's just my opinions which doesn't mean much. :) I think it would just be a better photo if the close face AND the fence were both sharply focused. Nice idea!

I really respond positively to this kind of basic idea, that is, something in the foreground that is in focus that comments on something in the background that is out of focus. That part is effectively represented in this photograph.

 

However, an identifiable object that is meant to be out of focus generally should be considerably out of focus. Otherwise one can have an uneasy sense that the object should be in focus and didn't quite make it. So I think that the foreground is too in focus. If you had opportunity to "move" the person, you could have had him be closer to the camera and simultaneously farther to the left in order to keep the approximately-same amount of space covered by him, while making him more out of focus.