D of F – Depth of Field Pictures
Depth of field is where the focal range of the camera is tightly confined to a certain distance. The result of this is to blur everything closer to the camera than the range set as well as everything further away that your desired object.
Setting the depth of field requires two things, a suitable zoom lens and a wide aperture.
The more your lens allows you to open the aperture, the more pronounced your D of F will be and the more blur will be in your images.
In the photo above, the lavender stems nearer than the bee are out of focus, as is the background. It is only the subject that is in focus. This draws the eye to the element of the image that you want people to focus on.
You will find that the more you zoom onto your subject, the more depth you introduce to the image, enhancing the effect further.
If you don’t have a zoom lens you will not be able to create this affect easily….. although there is always someone out there who will beg to differ!
Play around with your camera settings and see what D od F images you can create.
Useful tips for getting started, thanks
Do you happen to know what lens I should buy for a Canon 70D so I can take good depth of field pictures like the one you have above?
An 18-135 IS will do the job for great depth of field
Great guide, thx
Buy a genuine all round Canon Zoom up to 135 and you will have a good around lens.
Just took my first half decent DofF photo after following your tips…. thank you!
I have an issue with dim lit Depth of Field pics….. really struggling….. it CANNOT be done!
Everything can be done
Some photos are difficult to achieve, but not impossible. Quite often it will require some specialist kit to get your perfect shot, but a good photographer with bad kit will get the shot every time.
Photography is a continual learning process and every image you take will help to build your knowledge base of skill.