Depth of Field

What is Depth of Field?• The distance from foreground to background that is

in acceptable focus.• If the camera is equipped with a zooming in/out

feature, then you can usually see the camera automatically adjusting the depth of field.

• Most of the time the digital camera focuses the depth of field for you automatically.

• Because the camera does it automatically and we cannot necessarily choose our f-stop to define our focus, we can create this image using techniques in Photoshop.

Why to Use Depth of Field?• Differential focusing is a great way of

isolating your main subject from distracting surroundings or directing the eye to a specific part of the frame.

• It adds a strong 3D feel to a photograph.

• Using this technique allows the background to not compete for attention with the main subject.

What is an f-stop?• F-stop means aperture

diameter• Reducing the aperture

diameter increases the f-number, which increases the depth of field.

• Higher the number, the more in focus ONE spot will be in the image.

• Lower the number, the more in focus the ENTIRE image will be overall.

Sources• Frost, L. (2006). The A-Z of creative

digital photography: Inspirational techniques explained in full. Cincinnati: David & Charles Limited.