Understanding Depth Of Field

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Vicky Photography Tips

Understanding Depth Of Field
Lately I have been taking a lot of portraits where one can notice that the subject is sharp and stands out against a soft blurry background. Now I am pretty sure you must have seen similar shots and often wondered how to achieve such effects. Well then let me put you out of your misery and introduce you to the wonderful concept of ‘depth of field’(DOF).

Technically depth of field can be described as the range of object distances within which objects are imaged with acceptable sharpness. Simply put, depth of field refers to how quickly items in the background lose clarity compared to the focal point of the photograph. When most of the picture is sharp, we say there’s lots of depth-of-field, when only part is sharp we say low depth-of-field. It’s the low or shallow dof that when used cleverly gives outstanding results like this:

Now that you have seen the photograph let me tell you about the 3 main factors which control DOF:

1. Aperture: The aperture and dof have a simple & direct relationship between them-the smaller the aperture the more extensive the depth of   field and vice versa.

2. The focal length of the lens: The wider the angle-of-view, greater is the depth-of-field. The longer the focal length, the more restricted the zone of sharpness is.

3. The Camera-to-Subject Distance: The closer you get to the subject the more limited the depth becomes and vice versa. Therefore if you want a blurry background come closer to your subject.

Summary: How to attain the desired depth of field.

For shallow or low depth of field: 
a) Use a large aperture like f/2.
b) Zoom in and use a longer focal length.
c) Get as close to your subject as possible.

For large depth of field: 
a) Use a small aperture like f/16.
b) Zoom out and use a shorter focal length.
c) Move further away from your subject.

So now that you have learnt about DOF pick up your cams and get clicking. Don’t forget to  drop in and share your photographs. In case of any further doubts feel free to drop in your query in the comments section, I’ll be more than happy to help

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