Focus vs. Depth of Field

The ability to hear the subtle whisper of the Holy Spirit is a lot like following a trail made in a forest by deer or other animals. Up close, there is no evidence that anything has disturbed the homogenous layer of leaves or grass or the scattering of sticks and other debris on the forest floor. Even clues as obvious as tracks are extremely difficult to detect unless they are out in the open or in sand or mud. Typical trails can only be seen from a certain distance. A wider focus is necessary in order to detect the subtle patterns in the disturbance of the random chaotic distribution of fallen leaves that indicates purpose and direction. Anyone skilled in wood lore has literally learned to see the forest as well as the trees. They have especially trained themselves to appreciate the wealth of information that is conveyed by the trails in the woods. They know that most trails lead directly to a place of food, water, or shelter for the animals that created the trail. In the same manner, if we learn to detect it, God’s gentle whispering voice will reveal a path that will guide us, feed us, and shelter us – spiritually and physically. (excerpt from Following The Cloud, p. 6)

On my job, I am constantly admonished to “Focus” – pay close attention to the little details that cause larger issues. After analyzing a recent mistake that I had to correct, I realized that the problem is not “focus” at all, it’s “depth of field”. In the field of photography, depth of field refers to the distance between the nearest and farthest objects in a scene that appear acceptably sharp. A lens can precisely focus at only one distance at a time, but the fuzziness is gradual on each side of the focused distance, so that within the depth of field, the lack of focus is imperceptible under normal viewing conditions.

Working in AutoCAD especially encourages zooming in very close on the details to get them absolutely perfect. I realized that I had been so focused on the details (the precision of the individual lines) that I couldn’t see the whole components that interfered with each other. “Wider focus” refers to depth of field. In everything that we do, we need to broaden our focus. We need to be able to see the forest as well as the trees. We need to be able to see the whole machine as well as the individual parts. To successfully follow the path in any woods, we need to have just the right depth of field.