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Aperture (F-Stop) affects Depth of Field #
Not only does the aperture setting affect the quantity of light that strikes the image sensor, it also affects an aspect unique to photography called Depth of Field, (“DoF” for short) which is the zone of focus in an image.
©Jezaira Knight |
©Edward Burtynsky |
| Shallow Depth of Field. Only a small portion of the image (the boy’s eyes) is in focus |
Deep Depth of Field. Notice how everything is in focus from the front of the scene all the way to the back? |
This handy graph gives you an overview of how aperture affects Depth of Field: The wider the aperture, the more shallow; the smaller the aperture, the deeper.
Wider Aperture = Shallow Depth of Field
Smaller Aperture = Deep Depth of Field #
Creative Applications:
When would you use one over the other? #
When you want the viewer to focus on one specific object, you would use shallow depth of field. When you want the viewer to see everything clearly, you would use deep depth of field.
Landscape photography is a genre that would typically use smaller apertures , generating deep depth of field, such as in this image by Ansel Adams. (Links to an external site.) Adams used a special camera known as a view camera (Links to an external site.), which could have apertures that went all the way down to F128! Todays digital cameras do not go that far, usually stopping somewhere between F22 and F36. This world-famous image uses a smaller aperture to keep everything in the frame in focus.
In Portraiture, it is typically considered a good strategy to use Shallow depth of field, as this isolates the person from distracting elements in the foreground and background. Notice how the foliage in the background is blurred, while the eyes are in sharp focus in this image by Nick Brandt: (Links to an external site.)
Creative Examples: #
Because improvement is our goal, you would be wise to look at as much good work as possible. Here are some examples from the masters. Notice how they use depth of field (“DoF”) to emphasize a single object, or the entire scene:
If you like to do a deeper dive into DoF, click on the link below:
Photographylife.com: What is Depth of Field (a good exploration of the concept)
