Have You Been Using Depth of Field Wrong? Depth-of-Field Mistakes

In this video, we dive deep into the often overlooked and misunderstood topic of depth-of-field. Whether you're obsessed with bokeh or always set your camera to f5.6 or f8, understanding and using depth-of-field to your advantage is crucial for improving your portrait photography skills. Join us as we explore practical demonstrations, comparisons, and real-world examples to help you make informed decisions and take your portraits to the next level.
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Partial Transcript:
Welcome back everyone! In today’s video, we're going to do a deep dive on a topic that is often overlooked and misunderstood: depth-of-field. While many new photographers are obsessed with bokeh and shooting prime lenses wide open, there’s so much more to depth-of-field than just achieving those beautiful blurry backgrounds. On the other hand, some photographers might set their camera at f5.6 or f8 and leave it there all the time, resulting in too much depth-of-field for certain shots. Understanding and using depth-of-field to your advantage is crucial for improving your overall photography skills. By the end of this video, you'll have the skills to make better decisions and take your portraits to the next level. So let's get started!
In this video, We’re going to explore depth-of-field in detail, covering practical demonstrations, comparisons, and real-world examples to help you make informed decisions moving forward.
First, we'll break down what depth-of-field is and why it matters. Then, we’ll examine bokeh. After that, we'll see how changing the f-stop can impact sharpness throughout the image in this comparison with our model Chris. Then we’ll see how shooting wide open or stopped down on set can be used to your artistic advantage. Finally, I'll give you some practical tips for using depth-of-field strategically on your next shoot.
Understanding depth-of-field is essential for taking your photography to the next level. It allows you to control what is in focus and what isn't, helping you to create more compelling and professional-looking images.
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Let's start with a quick explanation of what depth-of-field is. Depth-of-field (DOF) is the distance between the nearest and the furthest objects in your shot that are considered to be in focus.
Several factors affect depth-of-field:
The Aperture: A wider aperture (a smaller f-number) results in a shallower depth-of-field, while a larger f-number will give you more depth-of-field.
Focal Length: The longer the focal length, the shallower the depth-of-field.
Focus Distance: The closer the subject to the lens, the shallower the depth-of-field. Increasing the distance between the lens and the subject increases the depth-of-field.
Chapters
00:00 - Introduction
02:28 - Defining Depth of Field
04:53 - Bokeh
06:38 - Depth of Field F-Stop Comparison
07:59 - Choosing the Right Lens
08:42 - Retouching
09:46 - Background Blur with Sophia
12:15 - Real World Example with Kasan
12:48 - Conclusion

[@isoawe1888]

Hey John. A little tip as an instructor that I found works ( especially with newbies). Always use forward slash when typing aperture. I think it reinforces the fact that it’s a fraction. A lot of people have trouble remembering which number has a bigger hole. f/2 rather than F2. Everyone understands they’d rather have 1/2 a pie rather than 1/8 of one. 😊

[@JohnGress]

Thanks. I’d never thought of it that way.

[@JoATTech]

And quite important note is, that for portrait crop (head and chest) F2.8 creates the best separation, because body is fully in focus and background is not. For wider openings of aperture usually the body is not fully in focus and it's not very pronounced from the blurry background. For other crops (medium, american or full body) usually the fastest the lens go creates the best separation, but if lens is not sharp wide open, then it's better to stop it down for better separation, because subject will appear crispier, even if bokeh is a bit less blurry separation will be better.

[@JesseGDuke]

John - Thank you. You are a master at balancing the technical aspects with practical application. 1000 x Thank you.

[@JohnGress]

Wow thank you so much!

[@jamesmonahan9408]

Lots of great info. Aways said that knowing DOF of apertures of focal lengths you are using is a must.

[@JohnGress]

Thanks!

[@QuantzPhoto]

Great visual samples and video John!!

[@JohnGress]

Thanks James! Someone told me I forgot about APS-C and mini medium format cameras!

[@florencioaviles408]

Great video. Thx for breakdown and comparisons

[@JohnGress]

Thanks for watching!

[@apiluckthammawimutti8770]

Excellent explanation, thank you John.

[@JohnGress]

Very welcome!

[@Elassyahmed]

That’s an excellent and very informative episode. Thank you

[@JohnGress]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!

[@user-qj7et4wv3q]

There is no such thing as using dof incorrectly, if the end result achieves your desired effect, then it is correct for your artistic intention and right for you. The same applies to any other aspect of photography, if not following the "rules" gets you to your intended result, then it is correct, regardless of anyone elses critique of your work.

[@shajimaheswaranPhotography]

Thank you

[@JohnGress]

You're welcome!

[@yanncabello6268]

The violent contrast between blur and sharpness is to photography what Mc Donald's is to gastronomy. It does not isolate the subject (composition does) but destroys the middle ground and depth, as multiple layers create depht and dimension. With only one overblurry layer for background, you get a flat mush of pixels giving the feeling that the subject is standing in front of a wallpaper or a green screen. If the environement is distracting, instead of destroying it, choose a more dynamic angle.

[@enochtv7190]

Adorama don’t ship items to Ghana?😍

[@000CloudStrife]

Evoto of course. No wonder the images looked weird. So much effort into taking good images to make the end product look bad.

[@JoATTech]

DoF is the same for the same crop regardless the focal length. Of course if you do not move the camera, then yes longer focal length will create shallower DoF, because you subject is bigger in the frame.