Do you really know what ‘depth of field’ is? Do you know how to apply it to your images to achieve fabulous results?
What is it?
Depth of field is the area between the closest and farthest objects in a photo that appear acceptably sharp OR the sharp area one third in front and two thirds behind your FOCUS point 🙂 Just think about that for a minute and study the images above. See how I’ve focused on the lead of the pencil in each shot but the amount of sharpness and blur change in each image? All I’ve done is change the aperture 🙂 Read on to find out more!
Why do you need to know all about it?
Whether your image has a shallow depth of field or a deep depth of field can make a huge difference to the artistic component of your photograph, so, a shallow depth of field (using a large aperture) will isolate your subject and create a beautiful blur in front of and behind your main subject. A deep depth of field (using a small aperture) will bring out all the details of a magnificent landscape.
What camera settings and other factors do I need to think about?
1. Aperture – By far the biggest factor in determining the look of your image using depth of field is by changing your aperture.
Large aperture = Small f-number (eg f2.8, f4) = Shallow depth of field = lots of blur around the subject – suits portraits, artistic images and used to isolate subjects.
Small aperture = Large f-number (eg f11, f16) = Deep depth of field = sharpness in the image from back to front – suits landscapes and detailed scenes.
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