Ever notice how some photos have subjects that just seem to POP off the background? More than likely, they are photos with a very shallow depth of field. The term, depth of field (DoF), is ”the portion of a scene that appears acceptably sharp in the image”¹.
DoF is a relatively straight-forward technique and is determined by a number of factors, such as subject distance, focal length, aperture and format size¹. However, for this tutorial, we are going to concentrate on using aperture to control our DoF.
The premise of the technique is that the smaller your aperture, the larger your DoF. To understand DoF, you must understand aperture, shutter speed and the correlation between the two. You may recall this discussion in my article in the Spring 2008 issue of Canadian Scrapbooker, Capturing the Light: Aperture & Exposure. Aperture is the measure of the shutter’s opening which allows light to enter the lens. I have found that the part that sometimes confuses people is that a higher (or smaller) aperture is represented by a larger number (e.g.: f/22). Conversely, a lower (or larger) aperture is denoted by a smaller number, such as f/1.8. Once you can remember this, it will become easier!
I have taken a series of photographs to demonstrate the effects of changing your aperture to control your DoF. I lined up our personalized mugs and using various apertures, snapped these photos. In all photos, I was focused on my name on the red mug. In the first photo, the small aperture of f/22 allowed for a large enough DoF to allow all four mugs to be in focus, relatively. The mugs on the outer edges are a bit softer but this is due to my close proximity to the subjects.
Taken with Nikon D70 at f/22, 1/2.5 sec., ISO 800
Next, I increased my aperture by half, to f/11. Note how the DoF is changing and becoming smaller.
Taken with Nikon D70 at f/11, 1/10 sec., ISO 800
Taken with Nikon D70 at f/8, 1/15 sec., ISO 800
Decreasing my aperture by half again, to f/4, the outer cups are completely out of focus and the third cup is on its’ way:
- Taken with Nikon D70 at f/4, 1/ 60 sec., ISO 800
At f/2.8, the focus is solely on the red cup.
- Taken with Nikon D70 at f/2.8, 1/125 sec., ISO 800
I could have further reduced by DoF by snapping another photo at f/1.8. (In fact, I thought I had, but it wasn’t on my disk when I was uploading by photos and I was too lazy to set my cups back up! 
)
I’d also like to draw your attention on the shutter speeds in the previous photos – notice how it is becoming faster, as the aperture is increasing? This is the correlation between shutter speed and aperture as discussed in our Spring 2008 article – as the aperture is becoming wider, the shutter speed has to increase so as to control the amount of light entering the lens. This allows for consistent lighting in all five images.
Alright – any questions? If so, please leave me a comment on this post or email me! So… who’s ready to play along?
Your January assignment:
Using this tutorial as a guide, take a series of photos at various apertures to highlight different depths of field. Then send me your photo with the SMALLEST depth of field!
Deadline: 11:59 pm EST, January 31st, 2010
Please submit your photo(s), along with camera settings, using our submission form linked above, for a chance to be entered into our draw. A randomly chosen entry will be drawn after the deadline. Please click HERE to review the rules regarding this draw before submitting. Please note – submissions that are not relative to the tutorial and/or do not abide by these rules will NOT be posted on the blog, or entered into the drawing.
Our January prize pack will be revealed shortly!
Happy Clicking!
Sue has been behind a camera for more than 25 years, working professionally as a photographer for the last ten years. While she began the hobby of scrapbooking in 2000, as a complement to her photographer career, it soon grew into a rival passion! Sue loves to enlarge one of her favourite photos and make it the focal point of her page, using her supplies to bring the focus onto her photography. She has, in recent years, turned more to scrapbooking "moments" rather than "events", choosing to leave her children more insight into her point of view of their lives.
oohh I like this assignment !
So Sue… We are working in the Manual mode…. on our digital SLR’s right? I have a D40X….. and I confess to not having read the manual! I’d love to play though…. …. but maybe I should start with SLR’s for DUMMIES! I can’t even find the setting to shoot in B&W and I know it’s on there somewhere… sigh!
thanks for inspiring me to PLAY more….
Lara
I love playing with depth of field, especially at the zoo when I want to minimize the look of the cage, sometimes I can almost make it dissappear.
I need to try this with some objects to really wrap my head around it.
Thanks for the inspiration!
Ohhhhh…….I’ve gotten this effect by accident sometimes……now I can actually do it (on purpose)…..yeah!!!!!!
This is my fave thing to play around with on my camera
nice mugs
really like this…I need to try this out
Cool effect! I must try this!
Just testing for the BLOG HOP!!!!!! Join in everyone
Allison Orthner
Okay, this was totally neat seeing the changes in the photos…can’t wait to learn about this and apply to some photos. This had to be my favorite post I think…they were all great, but I really liked this one and can’t wait to try it out.
Neat!
precise instructions – thank you!
such an important tool to master in photography! Thanks for the information!
Awesome! I love this effect!!! especially with long grass blurry in front!!
I can’t believe how much detail you give in your tutorials! They are simply wonderful! This is one area I have played around with–without understanding it much. Thanks so much!!
I did submit to this assignment and won a prize. It was a lot of fun!
What a fun effect
thanks for the super info.
this is so neat! I wish I could do this with my little camera.
) I am so going to go back to these tutorials and learn all these tricks of the trade when I eventually invest in a dslr.
great tutorial on depth of field
Excellent tutorial
This is my favourite way to play. Need more practice with manual, thought I would practice lots over the summer, but time just flew by!
Great tutorial!!
I love the effect of a short DOF
I loved this tutorial… it has such beautiful results!
I love this effect and the ease of the instructions.
I remember doing this in high school- better get the camera out now and try it again! thx
Going to be practicing this one LOTS! Love the effects of changing the DoF.
amazing tips! thanks
Ohhh. My husband is the DON of DOF… seriously. We still have our SLR’s, however would love to get that Nikon you have. Sounds fabulous!
Sandra d.
Oh Cool!!! Love this one!
I always seem to struggle with this one. Thanks for the tutorial… it helped me understand better.
another clarification and review…love it! I love doing this technique! Thanks!
I read this tutorial back in January and tried it but I wasn’t getting the results I expected. Hmm … may be time to try it again. Question though – do you manually adjust your shutter speed or does the camera do it automatically as you adjust the aperture? thanks
totally cool, I do find I sometimes try to assemble people in a certain line to get this affect!
Very interesting!! Thanks for the tips!
How interesting.Thanks for the tips.
I think I am going to have to practice this one. Can’t wait to try.
I love to use a short aperture.
Tomorrow I will play with shutter speed.
Playing with depth of field can be so much fun. Thanks for the tips.
I love blurred backgrounds so much, sometimes I forget to change my aperature! I have to work on choosing the write aperature for the photo…wide open IS NOT always the best choice!
I used to be so confused by aperture. Another great tutorial.
Depth of field is one of my favorite techniques to play with!
I love using DoF for portraits of my family! They always turn out great!
cool technique…love raspberry sherbert!!
Cool!!!! Love the mugs too!
I cant wait to play with this technique
Great examples here.
One of my favourite tutorials, had fun taking LOTS of pictures.
I really love those mugs. Thanks for the tips
First, cool mugs! Second, great tip!
smaller aperture, larger number; larger aperture, smaller number. got it!!
love this technique and still need lots of practice
i loved doing this one. i have a really cool shot of my favorite mug at my aunts house from this lesson
Someday I will master all of these different terms and techniques!! Little by little, I am getting there.
I’m going to go and experiment….
oooh me likey this!!!!
Great information
I’m in love with a short depth of field – love aperture, love the blur!!
Great tips!
I loved this tutorial and played along! Thanks for the fun!!
Awesome! I love that I can now practice taking photos that “blur” out the parts of the image/objects that I am not putting a focus on, and put the focus on my main subject….and do it correctly!
I thought Sue explained this one well. Especially showing it with the cups!!!
I ove playing with Depth of Field
Wow…perfect explanation of this technique! I’ve always wanted to know how to “blur” things out, and now I know! Thanks!
Love the visual – it makes perfect sense now!