Stealing the Show

Earlier we asked our readers in the Your Photo Tips.com Flickr Group to give us some of their best one sentence photography tips and we had a great response! For the next few weeks I’ll be elaborating, in my own words, what those photo tips mean to me and how they can help you become a better photographer. So if you missed the original post you can find it at 16 Quick Tips For New Photographers.

Because this will be an ongoing series this will be where I tell you to bookmark the website or subscribe to our feed so you don’t miss the upcoming posts!

Dynamic Depth Of Field

- Lanny gave this advice

Discover depth of field – has more power than you realize.

The depth of field can certainly have an impact on a photograph. Learning how to control and manipulate the depth of field for aesthetic purposes can be a huge tool in the arsenal of a great photographer.

So we already know that depth of field is controlled through aperture, focal length, and subject to camera distance, and that using a large aperture will produce a shallow depth of field.

As simple as that may sound, keep in mind that the more shallow the depth of field the smaller the focus plane. So focus is of utmost importance in these situations.

Precision focusing in an image using an extremely shallow depth of field will allow you to highlight a small area of the composition. Using the contrast between blur and detail you can pull your viewers attention to your intended point of focus.

Crown

You can also draw your viewers attention away from areas of the frame that may be of less value. Portrait photographers use this technique to blur the backgrounds especially when in an area that may not necessarily be complementary to the subject.

© lisman-2274_2

Landscape photographers will use a wider depth of field to ensure that every detail of the frame is available to be consumed by the viewer.

The Road to Carndonagh

Street photographers tend to use a depth of field that is somewhere in between because the surrounding area really helps to implant the subject into his/her environment but you still want the subject to be of focus to the viewer.

A touch of pink

Understand, however, that any experimentation with depth of field, aperture, and focal lengths are highly encouraged. I’ve seen some truly beautiful works of broken rules artwork. Practice, experiment, practice some more…

Photographs;
Stealing the Show by PatriciaPix, you can find more work at PatriciaPix Photography
Crown by the_wolf_brigade, you can find his blog at The mediation of life
© lisman-2274_2 by Rex Lisman Photography
The Road to Carndonagh by secondcareer
A touch of pink by sionufullana who also has some videos on youtube but they’re in Spanish so I’m not entirely sure what’s going on there (yes I am Hispanic but not bilingual).

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