Focus can mean a lot of different things. It can mean physically focusing on something in your life or the focus/center point of a photo. You could go a million different directions with this theme, get super creative with it!

Here are some things to think about when starting shooting with this theme:

• Focusing on this present moment in time, what are some of the major things that are happening in your life or your community right now?
• Do you feel like things in your life and your community are in sharp focus for you right now, or would you describe your experience of life as being a bit more blurry or something else completely?
• Photographs can freeze and preserve a unique moment in time. Here and now, what unique moment in time do you want to capture for yourself and to tell others about?
• In photography, we can use changes to shutter speed to impact the time frame that we capture in a photo. What are some things that you are experiencing now that would best be captured by a fast shutter speed? What about a slow speed?
• Some people say that “Energy flows where our attention goes.” Where is your attention going and your energy flowing at this moment?
• Do you mindfulness, meditation, yoga, or other practices that help to center yourself in the present moment? How do these practices impact you and your lived experience right now?

With these questions in mind, you can do anything with this theme. Completely feel free to take your own approach on this theme as well, make it your own! Focus is everywhere around us and in our lives more than we realize!

Grab your furry friend! This image is meant to draw your attention straight to your fluffy friend’s eyes. Get some treats or something to make your pet hold still while you’re taking this shot. I found a spot next to a window where the sun was coming in because the depth of the lighting helps a lot and brings out the eyes even more. Then, get your pet to look into the camera and be ready to snap the shot. This may take a few tries because your pet may lose attention, but don’t give up. Be patient and you will get the photo you want eventually.

For this photo, you’ll want to find something you like the color of and take a photo of it. For this image, I picked a beautiful pink rose. Then take this photo and put it into photoshop mix and use the “brush” tool. This tool allows you to paint over the image, and whatever you paint on takes away the color in that area. So you simply paint all around whatever you want to keep in color and then you’re done and you have an amazing color pop image!

Go outside in the winter and bring your favorite drink! Find a nice patch of fresh snow with no footprints. Take your drink and carefully drop it into the snow. Finally, you take the shot of your cool beverage in the snow. I suggest a drink of a bright color because it really makes it pop up against the white snow. Also, I waited until the snow was slightly melting so that some of the snow went over and it sunk into the snow a bit, giving it more depth.