What is depth of fieldFind out what is depth of field and how to easily control it. There are several versions of the definition of depth of field.
Depth of Field Definitions (DoF):1. The distance between the closest and farthest points that appear in acceptably sharp focus in a photograph. This is one of the most important digital photography terms to understand. It can effect every single picture you will every take. The DoF varies with the lens aperture, focal length and distances for subject and background.2. We can achieve critical focus for only one plane in front of the camera, and all objects in this plane will be sharp. In addition, there will be an area just in front of and behind this plane that will appear reasonably sharp. This total region of adequate focus represents the depth of field. Ansel Adams 3. Depth of field is concerned with the nearest and furthest parts of the subject which can be rendered sharp at a given focusing setting. John Hedgecoe 4. is the range of distances in a photo where the image is said to be "sharp". Techically, only one plane of the image can be in perfect focus, but all distances lying within the Depth of Field are perceived as "acceptably" sharp. Why is Depth of Field important? Once you learn what it is and how to control it, depth of field can be used by you to selectively put emphasis on part of your photograph. Look at these these three photos. In the first photo on the left, all of the emphasis is on the male mannequin head. If you did not have the other 2 photos to refer to, you would not even know there was a female mannequin in the background. In the middle photo, the emphasis is on the female mannequin. The male mannequin is still recognizable and a bit of a distraction, but the main subject is clearly the woman. In the photo on the right, do you know what is the depth of field? It is very large. That means the range of things, close to far from the camera, that are sharply in focus, is big. Completely different photograph and they were all composed exactly the same. Only the depth of field and the focusing point were changed! How was this done? I set up my Canon 5d D-SLR on a tripod and set up my male photo subject close to the camera and my female photo subject far from the camera. Notice the little, white f 1.8 and f 16 numbers on the photographs. These are the aperture settings on each of the photographs. An f-stop of f-1.8 means a large lens opening was used. If it's the smallest number that can be used for a camera or it's lens, this is called wide-open. This gives the smallest depth of field possible. In the first 2 photos I used this setting and took turns, focusing on each of my subjects. So, controlling the depth of field combined with choosing what to focus on, change the photograph completely. In the third photo, I used a tiny lens aperture of f-16. I used manual focus and estimated a focus point between the distances of the two mannequins. This large f-stop number gave me a large range of depth of field. Both mannequins are in focus. This page titled what is depth of field is one of the basic photography tips on the this digital photography web site. Knowing what is depth of field and learning just a few composition tips, will help you enjoy your photography even more. Set aside a few moments to view several examples of depth of field in various photos and it will become second nature to you. Examples of Depth of Field This article has several photo examples on the proper use of DoF to improve your photos. The photos are critiqued on how the lighting and composition are also considered when determining your camera settings. Happy Shooting! Go Back from What is depth of field to Depth of Field |
There is nothing special about the photographs, but stay with me here for a minute.