Shallow Depth of Field Examples

This page is a small gallery of shallow depth of field examples.

This first nature photo has just the right amount of shallow or "narrow" depth of field as it is sometimes called.

The background is fairly out of focus but we can still identify the trees.

Notice that in every one of these nature photos the sharply focused subject is placed near but NOT exactly in the middle of the composition.

The easiest way to achieve a shallow depth of field is to get your subject as close as possible to the lens.

It is actually usually a challenge to get enough range of sharp focus when doing macro-photography.

The Ladybug photo has a nice composition because of the curved veins running through the flower petals.The curl of the edge of the petal creates a framing device to draw our attention to the ladybug.

The bright orange of the sharply-focused butterfly make a nice color contrast with the out-of-focus, green foliage background.

The splash of orange from the distant flower adds a bit of a secondary interest point which balances out the composition.

This extreme close-up of the Wolf Spider is enough to make your skin crawl.

His hind legs are completely out of focus even though they are not that far away. It's the relative distance compared to the focus point's distance to the lens that drastically cuts down on the range of things that are sharp.

The piece of candy with the I Love You message stands out for 3 reasons. One is the control of focus to keep it sharp while the candies that are closer and farther away are slightly blurred.

Two is the fact that it is the one piece with writing on it. And finally it is white which also makes it stand out.

Your choice of aperture, of course is also a determining factor with depth of field. You must you a tiny lens open (the highest numbered f-stop) to get a reasonable amount of things in your macro photography pictures to be sharp.

It's often desirable to get a shallow or narrow depth of field when doing portrait photography.

Macro Photography. If you enjoy these close-up photos, there are more sample photos, tips and techniques related to macro photography here.

Happy Shooting!
Photo TipMan

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