Depth of field is probably the most important function the lens brings to the camera.
And after learning how to frame, this is more than likely the next useful feature you have to learn in order to acquire a decent snapshot.
Depth of field is controlled by the lens' aperture.
However, it's setting are controlled by the camera on the modern gadgets.
Old cameras with manual focus and film used lenses that had the aperture ring near the mount, so the basic camera controlled only the shutter speed.
Now the aperture setting is at hand, controlled by one of the two dials your camera body has, if we're talking DSLR.
Depth of field is the distance between the nearest and farthest objects in a scene that appear acceptably sharp in an image.
In other words, how much focus do you have.
In a portrait with a low DoF the subject's eyes will be sharp and crisp while the ears and hair will have a slight blur in them.
Gradually, as you look in the distance, that blur becomes more and more pronounced until there's nothing clear to see.
A high DoF will mean that the blur that will optically ensue will have a much smaller area, and it will usually occur in the back of the image, where it will not be noticed that fast because the subject of the image does not involve it.
Also, DoF is effected by the camera's distance to the subject.
But with DSLR and a good lens with a wide aperture (f/1.
4, f/1.
8, f2.
0) it's much easier to acquire a beautiful blur in the background, called bokeh.
The bokeh is really a feature of the lens.
The better the lens, the more beautiful the bokeh.
The bokeh is an totally unclear and foggy blur.
Choose your focus in a picture.
Then choose your framing.
If you want a sharp but targeted focus, open the aperture to its maximum value.
Consequently, increase the shutter speed as to compensate, because the wide aperture will allow a lot more light to enter to the sensor through the lens.
When the lighting conditions for shooting have been effectively compensated, take the shot.
Check it out.
Repeat with various degrees of adjustments to the shutter speed and aperture values.
Remember, they compensate each other.
Increasing one means decreasing the other and vice versa.
Do not always go for the shallowest focus.
In landscapes a deep focus is much more appropriate unless a close-up of a particular element is in order.
In portraits a shallow focus is better, provided you have the subject in focus; bokeh starting to develop around the forehead will look to much like teleporting.
And after learning how to frame, this is more than likely the next useful feature you have to learn in order to acquire a decent snapshot.
Depth of field is controlled by the lens' aperture.
However, it's setting are controlled by the camera on the modern gadgets.
Old cameras with manual focus and film used lenses that had the aperture ring near the mount, so the basic camera controlled only the shutter speed.
Now the aperture setting is at hand, controlled by one of the two dials your camera body has, if we're talking DSLR.
Depth of field is the distance between the nearest and farthest objects in a scene that appear acceptably sharp in an image.
In other words, how much focus do you have.
In a portrait with a low DoF the subject's eyes will be sharp and crisp while the ears and hair will have a slight blur in them.
Gradually, as you look in the distance, that blur becomes more and more pronounced until there's nothing clear to see.
A high DoF will mean that the blur that will optically ensue will have a much smaller area, and it will usually occur in the back of the image, where it will not be noticed that fast because the subject of the image does not involve it.
Also, DoF is effected by the camera's distance to the subject.
But with DSLR and a good lens with a wide aperture (f/1.
4, f/1.
8, f2.
0) it's much easier to acquire a beautiful blur in the background, called bokeh.
The bokeh is really a feature of the lens.
The better the lens, the more beautiful the bokeh.
The bokeh is an totally unclear and foggy blur.
Choose your focus in a picture.
Then choose your framing.
If you want a sharp but targeted focus, open the aperture to its maximum value.
Consequently, increase the shutter speed as to compensate, because the wide aperture will allow a lot more light to enter to the sensor through the lens.
When the lighting conditions for shooting have been effectively compensated, take the shot.
Check it out.
Repeat with various degrees of adjustments to the shutter speed and aperture values.
Remember, they compensate each other.
Increasing one means decreasing the other and vice versa.
Do not always go for the shallowest focus.
In landscapes a deep focus is much more appropriate unless a close-up of a particular element is in order.
In portraits a shallow focus is better, provided you have the subject in focus; bokeh starting to develop around the forehead will look to much like teleporting.
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