Depth of field is the area of an image in focus. A shallow depth of field means that less of the image will be in focus, while a deep depth of field means that the majority of an image will be in focus.
A shallow depth of field is often used in macro and portrait photography as the blurred background allows our focus to be drawn to the subject being photographed in the foreground, while a deep depth of field is commonly seen in landscape photography where everything captured is important and adds to the overall image.
Below are two images I've taken which demonstrate this:
A shallow depth of field is often used in macro and portrait photography as the blurred background allows our focus to be drawn to the subject being photographed in the foreground, while a deep depth of field is commonly seen in landscape photography where everything captured is important and adds to the overall image.
Below are two images I've taken which demonstrate this:
Depth of field can generally be changed through a lenses aperture (f-stop) while the point of focus is changed by the focus ring on a camera. A wider aperture (smaller f-stop) allows more light into the lens allowing for a faster shutter speed as well as a larger depth of field- meaning you'll have a larger focus range.
The focus ring on a lens can be set to either manual or automatic, with manual focus allowing more control over your focal point |
Uta Barth is a photographer well known for her out of focus images - an unusual approach to photography. Her 1995 series 'Fields' focus on this by focusing on an object in the foreground of an image then removing it leaving an out of focus background to be photographed. Her photos can be perceived as abstract as she later began moving the camera while taking a photograph in an attempt to recreate what we see while moving our heads resulting in a motion blurred and out of focus image.
Her photos allow the viewer to think of the background in relation to the absent subject that was previously in foreground of the photo. |
"I found out that I could not choose a subject, throw it out of focus, and then have a good picture. I found that I had to learn to see No-focus from the beginning. "
- Ralph Eugene Meatyard
Ralph Eugene Meatyard was a photographer who also questioned focus. With a lack of focus in his images Meatyard was able to create abstract and surreal images which would suggest the presence of spiritual beings and oppose the idea of photography being a medium to capture reality.
Through long shutter speeds he was able to capture white scribbles of light and blurred faces further presenting the idea of capturing things beyond reality. A book titled 'Why it does not have to be in focus' by Jackie Higgins further explored these ideas of out of focus photos Below are some photos I took in which I varied my use of focus I aimed to replicate their styles in taking out of focus photos- interested in orbs of light I set out to photograph them whenever I came across a light. The images are ordered from no focus to shallow focus in which I aimed to capture details of objects: |
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