RustyBug
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Nifty Fifty wrote:
For you it seems so simple, and perhaps it actually is, but I must confess that I personally feel differently, and quite a few posts here from other forum members make me believe that I am not the only one.
As I mentioned in my last post, the extreme cut-and-paste look, in my experience, tends to result in a flatter image, one with less depth. There's usually a very sharp subject and a very blurred background, but nothing in between. More precisely, there's no space between them. This effect is most pronounced with longer focal lengths and a more distant background, or when the subject is additionally lit (e.g., with fill flash). It then looks like a collage where a sharply cut-out subject is glued onto a plain background paper. While this certainly makes the subject stand out, it doesn't create a sense of depth. At least not for me. And this "problem" (for some it's a problem, for others a design goal) is something I, for one, want to avoid.
I'd like to illustrate this with two examples. In the image showing the tomb, the shallow depth of field does indeed help to isolate the subject from its surroundings to a certain extent, but the space surrounding it still exists and is perceptible as such, not just as a background backdrop. To me, it appears three-dimensional.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54864712752_20ebc82224_b.jpgDSC05250 by Werner Wurst, on Flickr
Unfortunately, I don't have a sample image for a drastic cut-and-paste look (for reasons already mentioned), but the following photo, in which I underestimated the effect of the lack of depth of field, suffices to illustrate my point. I've already experimented with the contrast and reduced the sharpness, but the impression that the image, at least as far as the protagonist's upper body is concerned, consists of two overlapping layers, unfortunately remains. This simply makes the image unattractive to me, and I'm only keeping it for the sake of nostalgia. For me, even a subtle cut-and-paste effect makes the image lose its sense of depth. I'm sure I would have liked it much better if the main subject were less sharp, as that would have softened the effect.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55190971778_03af6213da_b.jpgDSC07554 (1) by Werner Wurst, on Flickr
I hope I've been able to make my personal perspective a bit clearer and explain why, for me personally, the cut-and-paste look isn't the pinnacle, but rather the death of 3D illusion, or rather, the effect of depth. Of course, other people may have different opinions and feelings, as is the case in many other areas of life.
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I hear ya ... but, also understand that the lack of depth and the presence of "pop" are neither mutually required, nor mutually exclusive. They matter of 3D / Depth / Modeling ... that is different from "pop". They can co-exist or be independently present / absent.
That said, I never believed that the "cutout" ... should be considered the "pinnacle", neither. I do recognize it is an extreme situation, and some folks find that intensity of such extreme enthralling. But, like so many things, an individual attribute of extremism, doesn't necessitate a subjective preference of good. Moonshine might have an extreme alcohol content, but folks that like a whiskey or a wine with complexity of flavors may have a preference other than the extreme position relegated toward alcohol content.
Again, the mention of "pop" is not the same thing as layering of depth throughout the scene, it is the rate of change being incurred (typically at the point of focus). For many folks, their consideration is that of focal plane (focus), but there are also the rate of changes in other things, too. The rate of change in aberration correction, and the rate of change for field curvature, or rate of change in micro-contrast are optical considerations beyond focus alone. As has been noted, too ... there may be non-optical rates of change in play also. So, yes, the tonal changes, hue changes, lighting contrast changes, etc. do combine (hence the term composition) with the optical attributes. Which ones / when are the more compelling lead / lag of the attributes ... infinitely variable matrix of combinations.
As to "no example" of an extreme cutout ... no need, I understand what you're referring to. 
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