Large Depth of Field Example
by Bruce
(New York)
Outside the National Tennis Center at Flushing Meadows
To get a large depth of field, I took this photo using a lens aperture setting of f-16, and at the most wide-angle setting possible (24mm) with my 24-105mm zoom lens.
Two of the most important factors in controlling your depth of field are the lens opening and the focal length. You have control over both of them.
A small opening, like f/16 gives you the opportunity to have close and more distant objects in sharp focus.
For a full-frame dslr, the 24 mm lens setting is a very wide-angle setting and is the second vital camera setting you can use need to affect the depth of field.
This example was taken of the Unisphere , just outside of the US Open tennis facility in New York.
p.s. Also note the use of diagonal lines and the rule of thirds to improve the photo's composition.
Landscape with Lake
by Petr Kratochvil
(Czechoslovakia)
Landscape with Lake
In this photo example, photographer Petr Kratochvil used the following camera settings:
Camera: Canon EOS 50D
Shutter speed: 1/50
Aperture: f-7.1
Sensitivity: ISO 100
Focal length of the lens: 17 mm
The biggest factor in getting a good depth of field, was the 17mm lens setting, a wide angle view.
The lens aperture was only moderately small, but the extreme wide-angle setting on the lens gave adequate depth of field in this example. When you combine a very wide focal length setting with a small lens aperture you'll have everything in sharp in focus and have achieved a very large depth of field.