I'm back! I've already discussed about composition and lighting in my previous blogs but this blog will focus on the depth of field. What is the depth of field? Well the depth of field is the distance between the nearest and farthest objects in a scene that appear acceptably sharp in an image. This very important in photography because it determines what areas of the photo will be in focus. Using the very helpful book Read This If You Want To Take Great Photographs by Henry Carroll I will be experimenting with a shallow depth of field and deep depth of field.
"Depth of field is at its most shallow when shooting close-ups. By throwing an area of your image out of focus you're effectively getting rid of detail. This causes your subject to really stand out" (Carroll 44).
"A narrow aperture causes everything from the foreground through to the background to be in focus. A deep depth of field helps communicate the scale and detail of the landscape" (Carroll 48).
Here are two photos that I took that represent a shallow and deep depth of field:
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| Shallow Depth of Field |
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| Deep Depth of Field |
The photo on the left is an example of a shallow depth of field because the ice cream is in focus while everything else in the background is out of focus. The photo on the right is an example of a deep depth of field because the detail of the entire landscape can be seen.
Thank you for taking the time to read my post and hopefully you learned something about depth of field! Stay tuned for more and don't forget to comment and answer the question! :)
Question: Which is depth of field is better for taking landscape photos? Which depth of field is better for taking portraits?
Citation: Carroll, Henry. Read This If You Want To Take Great Photographs. Laurence King Pub. Ltd., 2014.
Hi Jamillah! I've never heard about depth of field until now and I didn't know it's importance in determining the way you take pictures. The deep depth of field seems better for taking landscape pictures, as you showed with the picture you took on the right, while the shallow depth of field is better for taking portraits, like in the ice cream picture.
ReplyDeleteHey Sophie! I'm glad you were able to learn about depth field. It is very important because it will help you to focus on your subjects properly while taking pictures. A deep depth of field is best used when you want to focus on multiple subjects in your picture and a shallow depth of field is best used for when you specifically want to focus on one subject.
DeleteI'm not very good at portraits, but with landscape, I always like to take pictures that have something in the shallow depth of field, as well as the deep depth of field that will exist simply basic it is a landscape image.
ReplyDeleteHi Ms. Robison! That's great that you're using both shallow and deep depth field for taking landscape photos. I'm sure if you keep practicing shallow depth of field you'll be good at taking portraits soon.
DeleteHey, Jamillah! I have learned about depth of field last year in photography class, so this post definitely brings back the nostalgic feels. Your pictures turned out amazing. I like how there are different uses for shallow and deep depth of field. Deep depth of field is better for taking landscape images, whereas shallow depth of field is typically ideal for portraits since you want to accentuate your subject.
ReplyDeleteHi Brandon! I've also learned about depth of field in photography class. Your absolutely right about deep depth of field is better for landscape photos and shallow depth of field is better for portraits. Thank you for the feedback!
DeleteGreat Blog, In my opinion I believe that the best way to take a landscape photo is to use deep depth of field. Because you want to have all the details and the beautiful landscape you are trying to show. Shallow depth of field shouldn't be used in a landscape shot, because it makes it distracting to focus the landscape when its out of focus.
ReplyDeleteHello Philip! Using the deep depth of field is what makes landscape images look amazing. A shallow depth of field is better for taking portraits when you want focus up close. Thank you for answering the question.
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