Photo Term Series Post #7: Depth of Field (DOF)
“Depth of field (DOF) is the distance in front of and beyond the subject that appears to be in focus. There is only one distance at which a subject is precisely in focus, but focus falls off gradually on either side of that distance, and there is a region in which the blurring is imperceptible under normal viewing conditions.” – Wikipedia
DOF field varies with aperture, from shallow at wide aperture (foreground and background blurred), to infinite at small aperture (Pinhole Camera Effect).
Note: Wide aperture (shallow DOF) is represented with a smaller f/stop while a smaller aperture (deep DOF) is represented with a larger f/stop.
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[...] Note: f-stop values are a key reference in discussing Depth of Field (DOF). (See Photo Term Series Post #7: Depth of Field (DOF)) Bookmark to: One Response to ‘Photo Term Series #6: f-stop, f/stop or f-number’ [...]
[...] Noise and grain do not make an image better or worse by default. Noise and grain when consciously applied to a photograph can be a component of the photographers’ vision just as depth of field or shutter speed. I look forward to the day that photography pundits move beyond the bashing of noise and grain and instead embrace it as another artistic dimension. [...]
[...] One other impact on images taken with telephoto lenses is the longer focal lengths narrow the depth of field. This requires a more precise placement of focus on your subject that you feel is most important. [...]
[...] If you’re like me you saw this and thought “Great! A really dramatic landscape that came out well”. The problem is that this is a low resolution version of a much larger and more detailed image. Not unlike on my camera LCD screen I thought this came out when seeing it. After I got home and saw the large file I spent the remainder of my evening beating myself up for taking this photo with the wrong setting. You can barely make it out, but the foreground is in soft focus. The rocks should have a very sharp edge and unfortunately they’re soft. Tired from a long day I mixed up my settings, not capturing the scene with a greater depth of field via a smaller aperture setting. The result is a soft focused image in the foreground and a well focused image in the background… all because I chose an aperture of f4 and set my focus manually to infinite. If I were to do it again I’d have set an aperture of f22 and manually focused on the rocks mid-scene. I have numerous images of a similar nature taken else where using the correct settings so I’m frustrated with my lack of focus and poor execution. In that regard this may very well be my most beautiful bad photo of the year. [...]
[...] The general tip to burn into your memory is focus 1/3 of the way into your photo with a smaller aperture setting to maximize your depth of field. [...]
[...] Sounds pretty technical! The short and sweet tip for those using shorter focal length lenses is to focus 1/3 of the way into your photo with a smaller aperture setting to maximize your depth of field. [...]