Introduction
The depth of field in photography affects how clear and in focus the background or certain parts of the picture are. Depending on how small or large your aperture is is how sharp the picture is behind and in front of your focus point. The aperture is how large the opening in your camera is that lets the light in. A shallow depth of field is a small aperture which means that only the subject is in focus and the background and foreground are blurry. If you have a larger aperture the picture will have more in focus which is a larger depth of field. As a photographer the understanding of depth of field is helpful if you want to put more attention on your subject than anywhere else in the picture. A shallow depth of field is used most in portraits because you want more attention on just one subject. When you use a larger depth of field more is in focus. This is used more in street photography and a lot with layered pictures because you want everything in focus.
Aperture Numbers
Examples
These photos are listed in order from the smallest aperture to the biggest. The first ones have a smaller aperture, which results in a shallower depth of field so less is in focus. The last ones have a larger depth of field so more of the background is in focus.
DOF at Different Distances
2 feet away
4 feet away
6 feet away
The amount of distance between the camera and subject also affects the depth of field. All these pictures are at different distances from the camera but are taken with the same apertures. The first ones are f/2, second are f/5.6, and third are f/22. Each f stop would have the same depth of field if they were all at the same distance. But the larger the distance, the bigger the depth of field, and more is in focus.
DOF Images
These are all taken with the aperture of f/1.8. The subject is sharper while the foreground and background are blurry.
Featured Image
I chose the last picture as my featured image because the subject is really sharp. The other kid and the railings in the background are blurry so all the attention goes to the kid in the red shirt. Also having a kid or person as your main focus point brings character to the picture.