This was shot in Milano during the rain, I had seen this location when I was shooting my Piazza 24 Maggio Flash movie - but by the time I had finished shooting those images the shop was closed. So I revisited it when it was raining again, which this time of year is often. When shooting street scenes I disdain using a tripod so I shoot hand held, frequently with the lens wide open. This means the "Depth of Field" is very shallow. Explained another way, not everything will be in crisp focus. In the bottom photo I shot 4 images. The first 2 were focused on the row of flowers just behind the ones under the plastic covering. The second group of 2 were focused on the desk.

You may ask why I shoot 2 photos of the same thing. When I shoot anything where there is a long shutter speed, I will shoot at least 2 photos, sometimes 3 or 4. The likelyhood that 1 image out of 2 or 3 or 4 is much better than if I had just shot one frame. Just the act of pushing the button may very well impart just enough motion to the camera & lens to make the first shot blured slightly. By holding the button down for a 2-3 frame burst allows the camera to be steady on at least one of them.

In the editing process I then picked the sharpest 2 photos, one from each group, and in Photoshop, carefully aligned them. After that I then selectively blended them so the flowers & the desk would be in focus in the final assembled image above.

Gear: Canon professional digital camera, 85 mm f1.8 Canon lens @ f1.8, 400 ISO and then processed using Photoshop CS4 and using the Adobe RAW converter.

If you would like to use this image, or any of my images for mock or comp use, please just ask. There is never a charge for this service. Educational use is permitted without charge, unless published, but please ask first. All commercial use is available only with a limited copyright release prior to use from the copyright holder, Steve Thornton. Thanks for looking!