Christian Photographers Community

I thought I would put together a "Depth of Field" tutorial.

Depth of field is the amount of distance between the nearest and farthest objects that appear to be in acceptable sharp focus in a photograph.

Sometimes you want a shallow depth of field to isolate your subject from the background.  A good example would be with portraits.  Sometimes you want a large depth of field to get everything in focus.  A good example would be landscape.

What controls depth of field?  There are three things that control your depth of field.

1.   Aperture Value
2.   Lens Focus Length
3.   Physical Distance From Your Subject

1.   Aperture Value

Here are some pictures I took at different aperture values to show the difference.  These pictures were taken at 6 feet from the cups with the lens at 150 mm.  The cup on the left is 3.5 inches in front on the middle cup.  The cup on the right is 3.5 inches in back of the middle cup.

Aperture Value of f/2.8

(https://www.christianphotographers.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.buddywoodsphoto.com%2Fphotos%2Fi-kmNpVR6%2F0%2FL%2Fi-kmNpVR6-L.jpg&hash=3f1d7764fcc37137bec62769e3eefe1f68659fa6) (http://www.buddywoodsphoto.com/Other/Depth-of-Field/n-KTmFq/i-kmNpVR6/A)





Aperture Value of f/4

(https://www.christianphotographers.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.buddywoodsphoto.com%2Fphotos%2Fi-WHzVpFg%2F0%2FL%2Fi-WHzVpFg-L.jpg&hash=b1dff892b7bd3d7ee4af9f8806fc68e08794af36) (http://www.buddywoodsphoto.com/Other/Depth-of-Field/n-KTmFq/i-WHzVpFg/A)





Aperture Value of f/8

(https://www.christianphotographers.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.buddywoodsphoto.com%2Fphotos%2Fi-3Gz79ZQ%2F0%2FL%2Fi-3Gz79ZQ-L.jpg&hash=7335c6d69a96fc970fac7effc00105d0027a2dc2) (http://www.buddywoodsphoto.com/Other/Depth-of-Field/n-KTmFq/i-3Gz79ZQ/A)





Aperture Value of f/16

(https://www.christianphotographers.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.buddywoodsphoto.com%2Fphotos%2Fi-m4GcJfD%2F0%2FL%2Fi-m4GcJfD-L.jpg&hash=af6c11f2d91487bad340548bd824e4d44b6e8faa) (http://www.buddywoodsphoto.com/Other/Depth-of-Field/n-KTmFq/i-m4GcJfD/A)





As you can see, the lower the F stop number the shallower the depth the field.  The lower the F stop number the wider the aperture will open letting more light in.








2.   Lens Focus Length


This first picture below the lens was set at 66 mm.  The second picture below the lens was set at 150 mm.  Both were taken at 6 feet from the subject and f/2.8.


Aperture Value of f/2.8 @ 66 mm

(https://www.christianphotographers.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.buddywoodsphoto.com%2Fphotos%2Fi-RjvwcGs%2F0%2FL%2Fi-RjvwcGs-L.jpg&hash=77521375ddefcc50eedc1da00dfefd4b895dcac5) (http://www.buddywoodsphoto.com/Other/Depth-of-Field/n-KTmFq/i-RjvwcGs/A)





Aperture Value of f/2.8 @ 150 mm

(https://www.christianphotographers.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.buddywoodsphoto.com%2Fphotos%2Fi-kmNpVR6%2F0%2FL%2Fi-kmNpVR6-L.jpg&hash=3f1d7764fcc37137bec62769e3eefe1f68659fa6) (http://www.buddywoodsphoto.com/Other/Depth-of-Field/n-KTmFq/i-kmNpVR6/A)





As you can see, the wider the angle of the lens the larger the depth of field.








3.   Physical Distance From Your Subject

This first pictures below was taken at 10 feet from the subject.  The second picture below was taken at 6 feet from the subject.  Both were taken at f/2.8 and 150 mm.

Aperture Value of f/2.8 @ 10 feet

(https://www.christianphotographers.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.buddywoodsphoto.com%2Fphotos%2Fi-qMZGWCL%2F0%2FL%2Fi-qMZGWCL-L.jpg&hash=8e8f2602c82299d7d3becf206d65db2dee64bea5) (http://www.buddywoodsphoto.com/Other/Depth-of-Field/n-KTmFq/i-qMZGWCL/A)





Aperture Value of f/2.8 @ 6 feet

(https://www.christianphotographers.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.buddywoodsphoto.com%2Fphotos%2Fi-kmNpVR6%2F0%2FL%2Fi-kmNpVR6-L.jpg&hash=3f1d7764fcc37137bec62769e3eefe1f68659fa6) (http://www.buddywoodsphoto.com/Other/Depth-of-Field/n-KTmFq/i-kmNpVR6/A)





As you can see, the farther you get back from your subject the larger the depth of field will be.

In conclusion there are three things that will control you depth of field.

1.   Aperture Value
2.   Lens Focus Length
3.   Physical Distance From Your Subject

Excellent presentation, Buddy.

Quote from: LaughingPeppers on August 16, 2014, 09:23:02 PM
Excellent presentation, Buddy.

Thank you Mario!

Well done Buddy!  You kept a sometimes confusing subject, simple and easy to follow.

Quote from: BigSkyKen on August 16, 2014, 11:49:56 PM
Well done Buddy!  You kept a sometimes confusing subject, simple and easy to follow.

Thank you, Ken!