Define Depth of Field
- Thread Starter 4HourNap
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ksmattfish
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DOF is the area of acceptable sharpness within an image. The DOF can be shallow or deep.
oriecat
work in progress
I think you are defining DOF for yourself as meaning a wide depth of field. Depth of field is a range, the amount of the pic that is in focus, it was be a wide DOF where everything is in focus, or it can be a narrow DOF, where nothing but that one teeny thing is in focus.
I think people just mean that whatever DOF was chosen (narrow or wide or inbetween) works well with the composition of the pic. Sometimes it enhances the pic to have it one way, sometimes the other, and when people comment on it, that means they think it especially works the way it does.
I think people just mean that whatever DOF was chosen (narrow or wide or inbetween) works well with the composition of the pic. Sometimes it enhances the pic to have it one way, sometimes the other, and when people comment on it, that means they think it especially works the way it does.
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Off the top of my head...I define DOF as the range of distance from the camera that is in focus. It can be narrow or deep. When I say "nice use of DOF" I could be referring to the use of shallow DOF...as in a portrait when the subject is clear but the background (which might otherwise be a distraction) is blurry.
Another good use of DOF would be very deep...as in a landscape photo with both something in the immediate foreground and the background being sharp.
Yet another use would be selectively shallow DOF...for example if there were kids playing basket ball...some nearer and some farther away from the camera. You could Isolate a single player by using a shallow DOF and focusing on that player.
Every photo has a DOF, it's the areas that are or are not in focus that define the use of that DOF.
Another good use of DOF would be very deep...as in a landscape photo with both something in the immediate foreground and the background being sharp.
Yet another use would be selectively shallow DOF...for example if there were kids playing basket ball...some nearer and some farther away from the camera. You could Isolate a single player by using a shallow DOF and focusing on that player.
Every photo has a DOF, it's the areas that are or are not in focus that define the use of that DOF.
Hertz van Rental
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DoF has quite a specific and technical meaning when taking a picture. But when people view a photo the term becomes a bit of a moveable feast. 'Nice DoF' seems to be a vague term that people use when they like the way the photograper has used focussing and aperture in the picture. So I wouldn't worry about it - just understand it's technical use.
