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General => General discussion => Topic started by: Horney on 22 April 2009, 18:33

Title: How To: Use Depth of Field
Post by: Horney on 22 April 2009, 18:33
Depth of field. What is it? What can I do with it?

Depth of field is essentially the "area in focus" of a shot. In the examples below you can see with a large depth of field everything is in focus but with a shallow depth of field you can pin point something in a shot and really bring it out from the rest.

I'm not going to explain why it happens because it's complicated and it's boring but essentially the main thing is the lower the F number the shallower the depth of field. At f11 and above pretty much everything will be in focus at f1.8 only a small amount of the shot will be in focus.

A couple of examples:

A large depth of field

(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3150/3032497285_68be2a4b2f.jpg)

A shallow depth of field

(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3072/3033422164_21f149cf02.jpg)

What you need:

* A camera which allows you to adjust the aperture.

The theory:

Using Depth of Field (DoF) is mostly for artistic effect. Set your camera to aperture priority mode and chose the lowest f number you can go down to. This varies from lens to lens and even on where you have set the zoom to on a zoom lens. You are now set for a shallow DoF shot. Distance from subject and focal length also make a difference to the DoF. The closer you are to the subject the better and if you use the longest end of your lens that will also make the DoF shallower.

Focus on your subject and snap away! A good way to practice is to set up a shot in your house and the camera on the tripod. Then take 10 shots of exactly the same thing but start at the lowest F stop and work your way up. You'll really be able to see how it effects things. Once you've got the hang of controlling howe much DoF you want in a shot then you can really get creative.
 

Tips:

* Shooting Landscape? Use an F stop of F8 all the way up to F22 as you want everything in focus normally.
* Doing a closeup? Time to get that narrow depth of field and really pick out what you want from the shot.

Nick
Title: Re: How To: Use Depth of Field
Post by: Guy on 22 April 2009, 18:55
depth of field is our friend  :smiley:

can be used to really highlight your subject as Nick said..

(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3223/3149417464_dfefbc6728.jpg)

or I find it can be used to give context to something fairly abstract..

(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3405/3308448499_de3060b656.jpg)
Title: Re: How To: Use Depth of Field
Post by: bobbarley on 22 April 2009, 19:02
One more example :)

(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3127/3155881395_73a9dddafd.jpg)
Title: Re: How To: Use Depth of Field
Post by: Horney on 22 April 2009, 19:13
Well if we're going to have a DoF pissing contest it's time to pull out the big guns!

(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3462/3192604800_295119179f.jpg)

(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3354/3438248213_bba82517b4.jpg)

(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3343/3438252469_01fb09d09d.jpg)

Nick
Title: Re: How To: Use Depth of Field
Post by: shepgti on 22 April 2009, 19:28
3rd pick is awsome nick.  :wink:
Title: Re: How To: Use Depth of Field
Post by: the_stink on 23 April 2009, 11:33
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3417/3403307507_c5494fccfa_o.jpg)
Title: Re: How To: Use Depth of Field
Post by: cняis on 27 August 2011, 21:46
Just messing about with my first DSLR but you get the idea:

Large:
(http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w167/crevice1984/IMG_5119.jpg)
Shallow:
(http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w167/crevice1984/IMG_5118.jpg)
Large:
(http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w167/crevice1984/IMG_5105.jpg)
Shallow:
(http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w167/crevice1984/IMG_5106.jpg)
Title: Re: How To: Use Depth of Field
Post by: simonpolly on 06 September 2012, 14:29
Is this the same as shooting in macro.? Would that mean macro has a shallow depth.
Title: Re: How To: Use Depth of Field
Post by: Diamond Hell on 07 September 2012, 10:00
Not the same as shooting in macro, although a lot of macro shots do have a low depth of field.
Title: Re: How To: Use Depth of Field
Post by: jonnym on 16 November 2012, 20:23
Don't suppose anyone can tell me how to do the one where it;s blurred to the front of the photo and detailed at the rear? Not technical I know! I've managed to get the hand of the foreground focus like most of the photos but not the other way round.

Cheers
Title: Re: How To: Use Depth of Field
Post by: T_J_G on 16 November 2012, 20:56
Use a low aperture (f1.8 is ideal) and then focus on the part you want in focus.
Title: Re: How To: Use Depth of Field
Post by: jonnym on 16 November 2012, 22:00
Use a low aperture (f1.8 is ideal) and then focus on the part you want in focus.

Ahh so the same aperture as for the foreground shot. I understand now! Thank you!!
Title: Re: How To: Use Depth of Field
Post by: T_J_G on 17 November 2012, 10:04
Yeah just focus on a different part. Try manual focus to get it spot on.
Title: Re: How To: Use Depth of Field
Post by: LakerLover on 26 January 2013, 16:27
i have a Canon 300D old school but just as good :) my aperture goes like this -2..1..0..1..+2    can you tell me witch gives me background focus or the opposite background blur i dont have the f settings  :undecided: please help  :smiley:
Title: Re: How To: Use Depth of Field
Post by: shepgti on 26 January 2013, 16:43
i have a Canon 300D old school but just as good :) my aperture goes like this -2..1..0..1..+2    can you tell me witch gives me background focus or the opposite background blur i dont have the f settings  :undecided: please help  :smiley:

thats not your aperture, sounds like exposure compensation settings or bracketing settings.

aperture will start with F
Title: Re: How To: Use Depth of Field
Post by: LakerLover on 26 January 2013, 22:06
i have no F setting in TV, P or AV  :shocked: il google it  :smiley:
Title: Re: How To: Use Depth of Field
Post by: shepgti on 26 January 2013, 22:41
i have no F setting in TV, P or AV  :shocked: il google it  :smiley:

av is aperture priority on a canon so then you can choose your f stop with the thumb/finger wheels
Title: Re: How To: Use Depth of Field
Post by: DubFan on 26 January 2013, 23:07
i have no F setting in TV, P or AV  :shocked: il google it  :smiley:

Watch the following videos from Canon:

Here's an explanation of aperture (f-stops), shutter speeds and ISO. http://youtu.be/DBshTYrFbKI (http://youtu.be/DBshTYrFbKI)

Introduction to shooting modes on Canon: http://youtu.be/S2YSzyPQow0 (http://youtu.be/S2YSzyPQow0)

Introduction to Depth of Field: http://youtu.be/l3zdybilbCY (http://youtu.be/l3zdybilbCY)

Actually there's quite a few good videos: http://www.youtube.com/user/CanonAustralia/videos?view=0 (http://www.youtube.com/user/CanonAustralia/videos?view=0)
Title: Re: How To: Use Depth of Field
Post by: LakerLover on 29 January 2013, 16:31
So on AV setting om my Canon 300D Have no F but the number on AV setting go from 5.6 to 36 does that sound right! appreciate all the help, i must sound like a right fool :/ had my camera for 5 years and only starting to use it to its full potential :/   
Title: Re: How To: Use Depth of Field
Post by: LakerLover on 29 January 2013, 16:34
ok its going from 3.5 to 22 now :/ that sounds more right!!
Title: Re: How To: Use Depth of Field
Post by: T_J_G on 29 January 2013, 16:59
Yeah that's the one. Try to stay between 3.5 and 16. Set it on AV and take a pic at f3.5 and do that same but with f16 and you'll see the difference. When shooting at f16 your shutter speed will slow right down so may need a steady hand/resting place/tripod
Title: Re: How To: Use Depth of Field
Post by: DubFan on 29 January 2013, 19:41
Here's an example:
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-L4BDaNSrdXY/TicHAqn9MQI/AAAAAAAAAFw/_vJ8piRNytQ/s1600/dofEg.jpg)

Notice at 5.6 the background is all blurry and once you get to f/22, more of the background is in focus.
Title: Re: How To: Use Depth of Field
Post by: LakerLover on 03 February 2013, 13:50
Think i got the hang of it  :grin: :grin: :grin: Thanks guys for all your advice  :smiley:


(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8089/8440301491_0aa24f7f70_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/92595495@N07/8440301491/)
zwater (http://www.flickr.com/photos/92595495@N07/8440301491/) by NBA-88 (http://www.flickr.com/people/92595495@N07/), on Flickr
Title: Re: How To: Use Depth of Field
Post by: Organisys on 06 March 2013, 13:06
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8455/8051567016_fa272e73be.jpg)

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8171/8051337877_6bef3e2182.jpg)
Title: Re: How To: Use Depth of Field
Post by: Gavv8 on 16 March 2013, 18:34
(http://i1213.photobucket.com/albums/cc477/gavv8/058_zpsedc36d65.jpg)
Played around using info from this thread today, thanks!
Title: Re: How To: Use Depth of Field
Post by: DubFan on 03 May 2014, 23:48
Here's a depth of field comparison, shot with my kids toy farm, so bear in mind that the figures are only about 8cm high.
Shot with Canon 60D and Canon 50mm f1.4 USM lens.

(https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2901/13912606199_56401dc1ab_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/ncpK7F)

Canon 50mm f1.4 - depth of field/aperture comparison (https://flic.kr/p/ncpK7F) by AlistairBeavis (https://www.flickr.com/people/47903765@N00/), on Flickr
Title: Re: How To: Use Depth of Field
Post by: Bandit127 on 04 May 2014, 06:06
An excellent thread.

A couple of things worth noting in addition:
If your camera has a dial with PASM settings, then "A" puts the camera in to Aperture Priority mode. You should then be able to set the aperture directly. While covered for a Canon earlier, all cameras with PASM modes work like this.

Depth of field also relates to sensor size (http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/digital-camera-sensor-size.htm). The following will all give the same depth of field.
Fuji X20 (2/3 sensor). F2.0
DSLR with an APS sensor. F5.2
DSLR with a full frame sensor. F7.9
So if you have a compact camera you might find it difficult to get very blurred backgrounds. It is still worth experimenting with though and can be fun.