Depth of field. We suggest how to use it

13/01/2025 | Author: woodenshop.co.uk

If you want to sharpen a part of your photo or increase its blur, and you want the photographs you take to be of really good quality, then you need to learn what depth of field is in photography. Our tutorial will help with this. It will make your photos not only unique, but also professional.

What is depth of field in photography?

According to the rules that every photographer, even a beginner, should know, depth of field in photography is a parameter that determines the range of distance from the plane of the matrix. It makes objects observed and recorded by optical devices appear sharp. In other words, it is the ability of the lens to render sharpened images of objects located at different distances from the matrix, that is, not lying in the plane of focus. Depth of field in photography is responsible for which part of the frame is sharp and which is blurred. In photography, a distinction is made between:

a small range of the space in question – this is referred to as shallow depth of field;
a large range of the space – this is referred to as an extensive depth of field.

Depth of field – how to set? Aperture vs. depth of field in photography

Depth of field in photography is created by selecting the appropriate lens parameters. It depends on three basic factors. Among them we distinguish:

aperture value,
the focal length of the lens,
the distance from the photographed subject.

These parameters are enough to determine the sharpness of the image projected by the lens. Depending on the size of the sensor or film, this image is magnified to a different degree, which affects the depth of field we observe. A beginner photographer should remember that at the same focusing distance and for the same focal length, the basic parameter that shapes the depth of field in photography is the appropriate aperture setting. It can be used by using the depth of field scale on the lens.

If the aperture is small (a large aperture number, such as f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6), a greater depth of field can be achieved. In this case, the entire frame is clear. This is used for landscape or wide-angle photography. So you already know what the aperture in the camera is used for and how to get a large depth of field. However, this is not the end of the theory… What about shallow depth of field?

How to set a shallow depth of field?

When the aperture is large (a small aperture number, such as f/11, f/14, f/22), it is easy to achieve a shallow depth of field in photography. In the resulting image, the subject being photographed is in focus, while the background and foreground are slightly blurred. This is used in portrait photography or when using a macro subject to focus the viewer’s attention more strongly on the subject being photographed.

Depth of field in photography – how to see it?

Depth of field, obtained with the help of an appropriate lens setting, is used to show sharp and out-of-focus zones in a photo. The sharpened parts of the photo are much more important to the photographer and his viewer than those shown as blurred. This is especially important in portrait photography, when the photographer wants to draw attention to the face and eyes of the subject, for example.

When setting up the camera, you can limit the focus zone to exactly the parts you want to show clearly. In landscape photography, on the other hand, the photographer wants to show his viewers all the plans as sharp. In this case, not only the foreground, but also the background will be sharpened, clearly visible and with clear details.

Depth of field in photography is one of the parameters that will allow you to take interesting, good quality photos. In fact, the existence of the depth-of-field phenomenon is the most important reason for the introduction of the aperture mechanism in cameras. Working with an aperture is not easy, but the easiest way to change the depth of field is to operate just the aperture opening. Such operation is the most convenient, as it does not require the photographer to change either the location from which the subject or landscape is photographed or the focal length on the camera.