Mastering depth of field can be a before and after in your photos. And this happens going beyond a big opening or a small opening. If in the article Depth of Field: Explanatory Table you will find a clear, concrete and concise explanation of what Depth of Field is, today we go further and explain how to master it. Why don’t you sometimes get that blurry background you aspire to or why don’t you get what you want to focus on?
In this article I will give you tricks and tricks so that the depth of field no longer resists you and you get the photo you want, and you don’t have to settle for the one you get.
- And I’m going to do it in the language that characterizes the blog.
- That of earthlings;).
- Avoid technical details and complex explanations.
- That we are here to make things easier.
- Not to complicate them;) Do you stay?You won’t regret it!.
To master a concept, you must first know it, right? Well, let’s start here. Depth of field is the net or focused area of an image, Mario explains it in a very graphic and fun way in this video:
Therefore, an image where almost everything is sharp (or net) has a great depth of field, if on the contrary only a small part of the scene is sharp, unlike the remaining blur, is a shallow photograph. field so far, of course, right? Still, we see it better with a graphic and two sample photos.
Now look at these two images to better understand the concept
As you can see, the whole scene is focused, you can see the details of all the planes, from the rocks and grass in the foreground, to the mountains in the background with their snow.
On the other hand, in this photograph, we can only see a few flowers with their stems, which is on the nearest plane than intuitively or we see more blurry and the background becomes a practically smooth area.
Important information before proceeding. The focus plan is perpendicular to the firing direction. If you look at this diagram, when you take a picture, the top bird would be out of focus, with a very small depth of field, it could be blurry.
Depth of field, without a technical concept, what it is, is an instrument of composition, is the technique at the service of creativity. With this, you can compose the image the way you want, erase annoying backgrounds, focus attention on a single point of the image, create spectacular portraits or see a complete landscape from start to finish. Depth of field allows you to own the image. . Change the scene however you want.
If you think about it, it’s like you have a magic wand to make elements disappear, or to tell the viewer without a word to look for.
Do you now understand why mastering it is a before and after in your photographs ?; Q Well, let’s keep making the most of it. Today, I set out to dispel all your doubts and open a new universe to you.
There are four factors that influence depth of field, let’s look one by one.
It is a factor that depends on the equipment, specifically the lens, the diaphragm is the part of your lens that regulates the light input, the smaller the number (f /), the higher the aperture, the more light will enter and the Depth of Field will be lower. In turn, it is the most used to control depth of field, because it is the easiest to handle.
To be clear, because the concept is confusing when expressed backwards:
The target. For example, lenses that are normally delivered with the kit generally do not have a maximum aperture greater than f/ 3. 5, some do not even exceed f / 5. 6, this means that the blur capacity is much more limited, if applicable, just find an answer to why you do not get those portraits in which only the eyes seem sharp.
Don’t be discouraged, you should know that there are some tips that can help you focus, now we’ll see you later. There are many reasons to purchase a bright lens (with an aperture of at least f/2), but if the lens kit is the target you have, learn how to get the most out of it. The biggest limitation may be yourself;).
Another limitation is side effects. It’s not about opening or closing the diaphragm and that’s it, this has consequences. If you know anything about the triangle of light, you’ll know which ones, otherwise I’ll tell you. The more you open the diaphragm, the more light there is, the closer you close it, the less light there is, which, to get proper exposure, you’ll have to play with other values like ISO or shutter speed, but that’s another. Import. But I had to tell you, don’t get frustrated if you don’t get the results you want!The triangle of light is a concept that must be mastered before casting to dominate the depth of field if one does not want to fail in the attempt;).
Another factor influencing depth of field is the distance from which you focus. You’re interested in knowing that the same depth of field is generally not achieved behind the depth versus the focus plan. Usually, behind the focused plane, there will be a greater depth of field.
If you want to get the same depth of field from the front as from the back, you’ll need to approach the focus subject.
In this graph, I think you’ll see it more clearly, using the same focal length and aperture, when we move away from the subject (from the plane we want to focus on), we find that there’s more area behind that stays focused (the yellow zone is the one that stays focused).
Therefore, a trick to achieve a greater blur is to get closer to the subject;).
Here you can see it even clearer. The shaded area is the area that will cause the focus.
First of all, I understand that you know what focal length is, otherwise take a break and go to this article, now that you know (or knew) what it was about, let’s continue;).
The focal length you use also affects depth of field. This is the report, taking into account the same distance of focus, aperture, etc. :
This is one of the reasons why wide angles are best suited for landscape photography, as they provide greater depth of field or a higher focus area.
First, note that the confusion circle is usually defaulted in calculators for certain common configurations. In maximum magnifications of 20x25cm, 25cm of viewing distance and “standard” visual acuity. You are now interested in knowing this value if you want to make much bigger increases and very well control which parts are focused and which are not.
Now let’s move on to the theme, the circle of confusion is the maximum size that a blur point must have on the image on the camera sensor so that the observer can see it clearly in the final image. It depends on the size of the sensor, the visual acuity of the observer, the distance from which the photo will be viewed, and the print size. And how do you know what its value is? Here’s a calculator:
But I remind you that in normal situations, the Depth of Field calculator will set you by default and you will get very acceptable results.
What is the opening of the sensor at the same distance?Depth of field is low. And therefore, the smaller the sensor, the greater the depth of field.
To see all these clearer concepts without moving from your armchair, I tell you a secret, there are so-called photo simulators and there is one, precisely, that comes to you from the cinema to understand everything we are talking about. DOF simulator.
Leave it open in another window, when you’re done reading the article, go to the simulator and practice these concepts. When you see that you’ve deleted it, write down the next outing in your diary to practice it with your camera!
Get greater depth of field (sharper area)
Get a smaller depth of field (blurred area):
This does not mean that you have to fill in each of the points, but each of them will help you reach a depth of field more or less. For example, we go back to the lens kit, you want a small depth of field to make a portrait with a blurry background. I will take my lens as an example, which is an 18-55 mm f / 3. 5-5. 6. To get a larger blur, you’ll need:
As you can see, some of these tricks can help you get a bigger blur with the lens of the kit;). Write them down!
This concept will help you photograph landscapes or stars, especially with short focal length lenses (10-35 mm), which will help you reach maximum depth of field. To calculate it there are tables and calculators, here is all the extensive information.
But before proceeding, I leave you some advice: when you have the hyperfocal distance, go ahead, focus at a slightly greater distance than the one you calculated, if you don’t get there, if only for very little, what’s left on the horizon will be blurry. It’s better to pass, so make sure;).
Here is a video summary of how to calculate hyperfocal
Are there applications that can help you calculate depth of field, for example, are you online or by another?With it, you can calculate the necessary adjustments to achieve the desired level of sharpness. Other free apps:
Warning: These calculators won’t help you calculate depth of field in macrophotography. It is best to try this macro-specific calculator.
Having reached the end of the article will be useless if you do not put what you have read into practice. Get into the simulator, invert it until you have a clear head, and then put it into practice. This is how you learn. Reading is the first step on the way, the goal is reached on foot;).
If you found it helpful to share it, we may be able to clarify your doubts to any of your contacts and if something has not been clear to you do not hesitate, leave your comment below and we will try to clarify Thank you and see you soon!