Examples of Depth of Field

These examples of depth of field illustrate why it's such an important element to consider when composing your photo. Each photo has a critique below it to explaining how the lighting and/or the subject matter determine what kind of depth of field should be used.

This photo of Strawfield by Larisa Larisa was taken with a Nikon D5000. It was shot at f-8.0 and a 22mm focal length.

With this camera, a 22m focal length is a wide-angle setting and a deep depth of field will result when shooting a landscape photo like this.

This depth of field example shows why a shallow depth of field is often used in close-up and macro photography. A shallow depth of field makes the background go blurry and separates the subject from the background.

This nature photo was taken with a 170mm focal length at f5.6 and a Canon 5D Mark II. Vera Kratochvil named it Blue Morpho Butterfly.

Anna Cernova took this remarkable elegant Engagement Ring photo with a Canon 450D, set at 55mm and a lens setting for f5.6. The flowers in the background are blurred enough to not be a distraction, but sharp enough to be easily identified as more flowers.

Petr Kratochvil set his Canon 5d Mark II to f13 in order to keep all of the water droplets on the leavew in focus.

The closer you are to your subject the more important it becomes to "stop down" your lens to have a deep enough depth of field to maintain sharpness through the photograph.

This black and white photo of the chessboard is more interesting with a shallow depth of field. The white knight is emphasized more because of the narrow depth of field, combined with the extreme wide-angle focal length that Anna Cervova used.

Here is a great example of a situation where you want a large range of distances to have good focus. It would be distracting if the snow in the bottom right section of the photograph were blurry.

That snow area in the foreground on the right and the snow on the left were included in the composition on the sides and act like framing devises. Notice that the channel of water comes in from the lower left and serves as a diagonal leading line into the photograph.

This snow scene has great depth because there are several different distances in the image for our eyes to travel to.

Here is a good example of when a shallow or narrow depth of field is desirable. The lighting on the yellow flowers in the foreground is the same as the lighting on the more distant yellow flowers directly behind them. If everything were in focus, there would be no visual separation between the two groups.

The yellowish color on the tree tops in the distance tie in nicely with the color of the flowers. Notice that the Rule of Thirds in Photography was generally used in all four of these photographs.

This is one of those examples of depth of field where a wide-angle lens setting was chosen. This has two effects on the composition.

Wide-angle lenses will give you a deep depth of field and they create more rapidly converging lines. The narrowing brick walkway produces a feeling of a long distant downward journey to the valley below.

The lighting at dusk was a a soft broad light and shadows do not play into the composition. The feeling of depth is created by the narrow depth of field.

If a wide angle lens setting had been used, there would have been a larger range of things in focus. The progression of the pavement from sharp to out of focus creates the feeling of a large expansive area. The viewer might ponder why has the ball been left there by itself. Was the game interrupted or are the players taking a break out of the camera's view?

These examples of depth of field show that it's an important consideration when composing your photograph.

What is Depth of Field? Here are a few different definitions and more examples of depth of field with a specific side by side demonstration using 3 different focus points.

Shallow Depth of Field Examples. This page has a few more sample photos that show the importance of paying attention to Depth of Field.

Deep Depth of Field Examples. Photos that have a deep or large depth of field.

For a simple explanation of depth of field, watch this short video produced by Canon Camera:

Add your examples below.

Happy Shooting!
Photo TipMan

Now it's Your Turn

Do you have any good examples of depth of field? Share it with our readers so everyone can enjoy and learn.

What Other Visitors Have Said

Click below to see what other people have added.

Back from Examples of Depth of Field to Depth of Field