Depth of Field

Depth of Field

-DOF refers to the area of a scene in front of and behind the main subject that is in focus. The term great depth of field, is used to describe a photograph where the majority of the scene is sharply defined. Sharp depth of field describes an image where noticeable portions of the foreground/ background areas of the scene are out of focus.

How can playing with the depth of field enhance your photo? Background elements can often steal the attention away from the main subject in a photo. Photographers will sometimes manipulate DOF to emphasize the focal point of a composition through visual contrast.

What three factors affect the DOF in your image?

• Size of the lens aperture or f-stop setting: As the size of the aperture decreases, the DOF increases, causing more of a scene to appear in focus and vice versa because the size of the aperture is inversely related to the DOF.

• The focal length of the lens: The focal length is inversely related to DOF. As you zoom in the length increase while the DOF decreases. Wide-angle shots have great depth, while narrow-angle shots often have a shallow depth of field.

• The distance from the camera to the subject: Physical distance can affect the DOF in a composition. DOF increases with distance and decreases as you move the camera physically closer to the subject.

Difference in aperture size