Depth of field is one of those areas that can be confusing. But, it's a vital step to being an effective photographer! Here's what you need to know…
For today's landscape photography photo tip - we will revisit depth of field. Notably,
the ideal photography depth of field aperture and the photography depth of field definition.
It seems there have been a number of questions about DOF, so we will start with the photography depth of field definition and then move to an interesting tip you may not have heard of.
For the photography depth of field definition - Dof is the amount of your photograph that is in acceptably sharp focus. We use the term "acceptably sharp" because in any photo, there is a specific plane that is in sharp focus. Anything in front of that plane and anything behind it is starting to get a bit blurry.
The photo gets more and more out of focus, the further it gets away from the - in focus - plane. While not perfectly in focus, there is a certain distance that is acceptable. This is the photography depth of field definition.
The distance from the perfectly in focus plane - before the focus becomes unacceptable - varies depending on the distance to the subject, the lens used, and the aperture. As a rule of thumb, measure the distance from the camera to the subject. About 1/3rd of that distance in front of the focal plane and about 2/3rds of that distance behind is generally a workable DOF.
Another way to control the depth is with judicious use of the photography depth of field aperture settings. A wide open aperture will give you the shallowest depth of field possible for that lens. A lens stopped down to the smallest setting will give you the widest DOF.
By the way, the smallest aperture is denoted by the largest number on the adjusting ring and vice versa. The numbers on the aperture adjusting ring represent a fraction. So think of f4 as 1/4th and f8 as 1/8th. Obviously since it is a fraction, f4 is a bigger opening than f8.
Here is a fun tip to try... Back in the 70's and 80's one of the most popular filters was a star filter. This made the lights in a photo (the sun, street lights - whatever) look like a star.
While it is a pretty cool effect, it was greatly overdone. Almost every photo - particularly night shots - had stars everywhere! Because it was overdone, it fell out of favor... but there are times when it is a useful technique and can add a little zest to a photo.
You can often get this effect by setting your lens to its smallest aperture - usually f22 or greater. You can shoot your landscapes - showing the sun as a star burst. This can add some visual interest to a sun that is just sitting there. Give it a try!
In previous articles on DOF we've discussed the distance calculations and the fact that the actual depth of field can change depending on the lens and aperture settings used. But, you really can't learn this stuff by reading about it. You have to get out there and DO IT!
A great project is to set up a subject, put your camera on a tripod and take a bunch of photos - with all your lenses - at all the various aperture settings.
A couple hours of experimenting will teach you more about photography depth of field aperture settings than 90% of all photographers out there! I hope this article has clarified the photography depth of field definition.
