Depth OF Field Simplified

Often times as a beginner photographer I would read forums and magazines as well as books to get a better grasp of this whole photography thing. It wasn’t until a recent email that I was reminded that there was once a time when I didn’t know all of the terminology that comes with this great medium. I mostly learned that stuff in photo-journalism class or through other readings.

A recent email from Jane asks

What is DoF? I see it in some articles and I think it means depth of field, but I’m not sure what depth of field is either. I’m new to photography and love your website but sometimes I get lost. Please help.

First, thanks Jane, I’m glad you like the website. Second, I do understand that sometimes it feels like you’re parading through a maze of information, especially when you’re new, and it’s easy to get overwhelmed and lost.

DOF/DoF, is exactly what you guessed. It is an acronym for Depth Of Field.

Wikipedia defines Depth Of Field as

In optics, particularly as it relates to film and photography, the depth of field (DOF) is the portion of a scene that appears sharp in the image. Although a lens can precisely focus at only one distance, the decrease in sharpness is gradual on either side of the focused distance, so that within the DOF, the unsharpness is imperceptible under normal viewing conditions.

Simply put Depth Of Field is the relation of what is sharp or in focus compared to what is not.

Your aperture and focal length are the two main determining factors (as well as the distance between subject and background/subject and camera) in Depth Of Field. Larger apertures (smaller f-stops) create a shallow Depth of Field as seen below.

Notice the strawberries in the middle front are sharp and receive your immediate attention. This is the major purpose of a shallow Depth Of Field, by shoving everything except the main subject out of focus you draw the viewer into the subject. This is often done in food photography and portraiture.

Conversely, you might want to use a smaller aperture (larger f-stop) in landscape photography when the overall detail will best describe the scene. This helps to ensure that the whole scene is sharp and in focus, but remember that a larger f-stop may require a tripod and a timer.

I hope this answers Jane’s question simply enough. If you have a question about photography feel free to use the contact form and I’ll try my best to answer it for you.

Photographs:

Luscious by champloo
Scopello, Sicily summer 2007 by matteo86photonature

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1. Dynamic Depth Of Field
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3. A Different Kind Of Focus
4. Why I Use Aperture Priority Mode
5. 5 Tips for Photographing Children