Digital Photography And Depth of Field

Posted on | October 25, 2009 | No Comments

If you want to be creative in your digital photography depth of field is one aspect you must get comfortable with. This is the distance between the nearest and farthest points that appears in acceptably sharp focus in digital photography. The range within which all subjects, though located at different distances from the camera, are in focus and with an aperture setting. In digital photography this takes more importance due to the fact on some occasions focal issues change depending on your lens.

When practicing your digital photography, ss a rule of thumb, the area 1/3 in front of and 2/3 behind the subject is the actual distance in focus. If for example you were looking at an item which varies over time (such as an assembly line), will the object always be at the working distance precisely or will it tend to move farther or nearer over time to the lens/camera combination? A depth of field from five to 16 feet, e.g., would mean everything closer than five feet and farther than 16 feet would be out of focus.

Another aspect of digital photography is this; Depth of field is influenced by the focal length of the lens in use, the f-number setting on the lens, and the distance from the camera to the subject. It can be shallow or deep, and can be totally controlled by the photographer. It is one of the most creative and profound effects available to photographers.

Depth of field varies with lens aperture, focal length, and camera-to-subject distance. Depth of field depends on the lens opening, the focal length of the lens, and the distance from the lens to the subject. With a greater depth of field, more of the scene near to far is in focus. Lens aperture and scene lighting will greatly influence the D.O.F. When the lens is set to a smaller aperture, a greater depth of field results i.e. subjects close to and further away from the camera will still appear in focus. In digital photography especially a shallow depth of field allows you to focus tightly on your subject, with any background or foreground out of focus.

You can control or exploit depth of field in your digital photography by varying three factors: the size of the aperture; the distance of the camera from the subject; and the focal length of the lens. If you decrease the size of the aperture, the depth of field increases; if you focus on a distant subject, depth of field will be greater than if you focus on a near subject; and if you fit a wide-angle lens to your camera, it will give you greater depth of field than a normal lens viewing the same scene. Many SLRs have a depth of field preview control – a button that closes the lens diaphragm to the aperture selected for an exposure so that the depth of field in the image can be checked on the viewing screen first.

If you are not sure how to make interesting composition in digital photography then I recommend starting with narrowing your depth of field. The best way becoming expertly skilled in digital photography is to practice, practice, and practice!

Best wishes, Amy

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