That's why, in this article, I'm going to share everything you need to know about shallow and deep depth of field, including: How to achieve the perfect DoF. When to use a shallow or a deep depth of field. Lots of examples depicting the power of different DoF effects. Plenty of helpful tips along the way.
Depth of field, or often abbreviated as DoF, is arguably one of the defining characteristics of the medium of photography. We touched on depth of field photography in A Complete Guide to Aperture, mostly in relation to aperture's ability to creatively implement blur as a tool in isolating your subject.
Focal length. A short focal length (or wide-angle lens) will usually have a deeper depth of field. And a longer focal length, like a telephoto lens, will often have a more shallow depth of field. You can see below as the lens gets longer, the image around the subject gets blurrier.
For example, if the focal length is doubled, the subject distance is also doubled to keep the subject image size the same. This observation contrasts with the common notion that "focal length is twice as important to defocus as f/stop", [12] which applies to a constant subject distance, as opposed to constant image size.
Some of the most beautiful shots have used a shallow depth of field, as well as some of the most disturbing shots (still beautiful in their own way). You need to use subject matter, performance, lighting, color, and camera movement to help with the rest of the journey. SHALLOW DEPTH OF FIELD EXAMPLE:
Learn all there is to know about depth of field in photography, including photo examples of shallow & deep DOF, a cheat sheet and a calculator for beginners. Depth of field is one of the fundamental aspects that every photographer should understand as it has such a large bearing on your images.
Depth of Field: The distance between the closest and furthest points in an image that are in 'acceptable focus'. Narrow (or shallow, or small) Depth of Field: To have a shorter depth of
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