Depth of field is another aspect of a photograph you should consider when taking one. Do you want a shallow or deeper depth of field to your photos. Depth of field refers to the range of distance that is in focus. The shallower the depth, the less things are in focus and as you get a deeper depth, more gets into focus.
Shallow depth of field is better for photos where the subject is the main focus and you don't want the background to be distracting. The shallow depth will blur the background, which draws less attention from the viewers eyes.
A deeper depth of field allows the background to be in focus along with the subject. You use this when the background is interesting and you want to incorporate it into the photo. The background should not so interesting that it takes away focus from the subject.
Three main aspects control the depth of field: Focal length, f-stop, and distance from the camera. The more the subject fills the frame, as with larger focal lengths or getting closer to the camera, the more shallow the depth of field with be. Doing the opposite will give you a more deeper depth of field. Finally, the f-stop number will control the depth of field. This is the easiest way of the three to control the depth of field without changing the composition or perspective. The lower the f-stop, the larger the aperture size and the shallower the depth of field.
f/4.5, 1/160 Alex Chi 2011©
Above, the depth of field is shallow with a blurred background. The f-stop could not be opened wide enough to blur the back sufficiently so I backed away from the subject and used a 200mm zoom lens to create an even more shallow depth.
f/22, 1/160 Alex Chi 2011©
In this one, the background is interesting for the photo but I made sure the focus was in the subject by darkening the background. This was done using flashes that made the subject brighter than the scene, then adjusted the exposure for the subject. The depth of field was achieved by an f-stop of 22.
I like the way how you explain to people about the techniques of photographing while showing an example image above your explanations. This allows me to understand more what you are talking about.
ReplyDeleteWhen you differentiate between the cameras of Canon, Nikon, and Sony on their priorities, it explained to me how those priorities work. However, I wish you can tell me more about the difference between those different brand name cameras. Like why are they different, and why people preferred one brand over the other brand. Some posts seem to have less than 250 words; I think you can add more information.
http://nekphotography.blogspot.com/p/abcs-of-photography.html This blog may be helpful for you.
Yunhao Hsieh