Depth of Field

Depth of field is a photographic term that refers to how in or out of focus the subject is in a picture with regard to its background. Depth of field is controlled by three things: the aperture of the lens, the focal length of the lens used and the distance to the subject being photographed. DSLR cameras have the ability to play around with depth of field. This in-class activity was aimed at getting us to better understand how depth of field is affected by the above mentioned factors (aperture, focal length and distance to subject).

Shallow Depth of Field

As one can see the background of this photo was blown out of focus putting an emphasis on the subject, in this case, Matteo. This was done by controlling certain aspects of the photograph. Firstly, a long focal length of 70mm was used to provide shallower depth of field. Secondly, a large aperture of f/2.8 was used to provide a shallow depth of field in the photograph.

Camera Model: Sony Alpha DSLR a900
Lens: Sony Carl Zeiss 24-70mm
Aperture: f/2.8
Shutter Speed: 1/1000
ISO: 100

 ______________________________

Large (Deep) Depth of Field

Contrary to the last photo, a smaller aperture was used in this photo to provide a larger depth of field. This is why both Matteo and the background are in focus. Although the focal length was kept the same as in  the last at the 70mm setting, the aperture in this picture was changed to f/14.

Camera Model: Sony Alpha DSLR a900

Lens: Sony Carl Zeiss 24-70mm

Aperture: f/14

Shutter Speed: 1/60

ISO: 100

On a personal note, it is clear that the first photo is more appealing than the second. This is due to the fact that the subject in the second photo seems lost in a "busy" background. The trees in the first photo are blown out of focus and thus prove to be less distracting.