It is a cautionary adage that behooves us to not gloss over the details of the matter at hand. As I was finding the origin of the expression, I found a more positive precedent that talks about God is in the detail. This is a more positive and upbeat expression that encourages us to focus on the details to achieve perfection.
When we talk about details in photography, the macro photography is the epitome of details. Photographers go to great lengths to achieve the details that are not easy to achieve due to the law of optics (nature). The details are obtained through magnification and at required magnifications, the depth of field is very low. The simplistic definition of depth of field is the amount of subject that is in focus in front and back of the target object. In macro photography, the depth of field can be as low as one millimeter. One of the techniques that is deployed by photographers is called focus stacking. In this technique, the photographer takes a series of photos scanning the image in such a way that in any given photo, only a portion of the target is in focus. The photographer shifts the focus over the length/width of the subject and then using specialized software mergers the images (stacks them). The software then takes the area that is in focus from each of the images and reconstructs an overall sharp image of the subject, albeit at higher magnification, thus enabling us to see the detail that is otherwise not possible.
The following image is one of the set of 5 images that I merged to illustrate my point. It is not exactly a desirable image because only a small portion is in focus.
Dispensing with further belaboring the point, I have stacked five images that have been in focus at different point of the image and combined it using specialized software to arrive at the image below.
As it can be seen that the final result is much better. The point I want to make in this article is the parallel I see in my own life at various stages. As a student, my focus was on academics only and nothing else mattered. Once I started working, right from the day one my focus was on building my career. Then my focus shifted to a successful career and financial security, both at that moment and for future when I no longer am working. As I went through the linear progression of focusing on a single aspect of my life, I say that I built a composite of life that is deemed reasonably complete and successful like the image above.
Then I wondered could I have gotten similar results if not the same result had I focused on the big picture instead of focusing on slices of what is current status life?
The image above is certainly sharp where needed, is comparable to the composite image in terms of being in focus. But can someone reading this and has an opportunity to not follow what is more or less norm of focusing on a single or may be two aspects of life rather than pull back and take a look at the big picture? It may not look as bright as the previous one, but the details exist at a deeper level than it appears. It may be less visible but equally as good. It will remain a mystery for me as I certainly cannot go back in time and redo everything differently.
