Photo Tips: Depth of Field

Depth of Field: the zone of sharpness within a photo that will appear in focus.

If you have a smartphone with Portrait Mode, your phone will automatically focus on the subject for you. In most cases, a person.

But to play with depth of field a little bit more, there are a couple factors to consider. 1) your aperture (f-stop) and 2) distance from the subject to the camera.

Aperture
The size of your aperture controls the amount of light entering your lens. It is determined by the f-stop on your camera.

If you want a subject to stand out with a more out-of-focus background, try a larger aperture (f/2.8). If you want the subject and background to both be in focus, try a smaller aperture (f/32).

Larger Aperture (subject in focus, background blurred):


Smaller Aperture (background and subject in focus):

 

Distance
The shorter the distance from your camera to the subject, the smaller the depth of field (background is out of focus). When the subject is further away, it will increase your depth of field (background becomes clearer).

These are just a couple tips that can help when you either want a subject in focus with a blurry background, or if you're capturing something like a landscape that you want enirely in focus. If you have specific questions or tips, please email [email protected]!

Don't forget our Client Photo Contest is coming up in October! Be sure to watch for more details about what you could win in our next newsletter.

Written by Alyssa Nelson, Marketing & Advertising Specialist, Plaza Travel