Assignment 5: Depth of Field

Deep depth of field. Achieve with small aperture and/or wider angle lens.

Shallow depth of field. Achieve with wide aperture and/or longer (telephoto) lens.

Lens with adjustable aperture 

Typical range f-stops

In class:

Explore depth-of-field using Aperture Priority Mode. 

Nikon: use "A" mode

Canon: use "Av" mode
Other brands: ask instructor

The photographer chooses the aperture and the camera automatically adjusts shutter speed for optimal exposure.

Shoot in fairly bright conditions to ensure adequate exposure, or use higher ISO.

• Find a situation where there is a distinct foreground object and the background is far away.
• Set camera to manual focus.   Focus on the foreground object for all variations. 
• Use a medium-to-long focal length setting. Avoid wide angle. Instead zoom in and step back. 
• Shoot the image three times, varying the apertures. Create at least 3 3-image sets.

1. f4 or wider (f2.8, f1.4 okay)
2. f8
3. f16 or smaller (f22 okay)

Out of Class Shooting (for Monday 2/12) Bring files to class to review and/or share

Choose specific subjects and shoot them with varied depths of field, while maintaining the same composition/framing. Also maintain the same focus on the subject. This means 2-3 variations of the same "shot" but created with a range of apertures to vary the depth of field. Again, shoot on aperture priority.

In the examples below, we see the same subject, focus and framing, but with different depths of field. How does this affect the image? Which do you prefer? Why?

f4.0

f18