Are You Using Depth of Field Wrong? Common Mistakes Explained & How to Fix Them

[@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.

[@SimpleeKomplex]

I can't thank you enough for this little gem 😃.

[@JohnGress]

@@SimpleeKomplex Thanks I hope it helps!

[@photo2000]

great tutorial!! love all the content John. Always refreshing to see actual professional photographers, who actually know the technical side of photography, produce correct content... so much half jumbled rubbish out there!!

[@JohnGress]

Thank you so so much!

[@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!

[@eitmartinez]

@JohnGress, I recently bought a Nikon Z 24-70/2.8 lens and never looked twice at the display on the lens. After watching your video, I checked the display and realized that it shows the depth of field markings (and they change depending on the aperture, focal length, and point of focus). Thanks for pointing this out in your video. This is great to know for when photographing groups.

[@JohnGress]

Awesome! I think this knowledge came from shooting film when you couldn't zoom in and check things on the back of the camera.

[@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.

[@jamesmonahan9408]

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

[@JohnGress]

Thanks!

[@apiluckthammawimutti8770]

Excellent explanation, thank you John.

[@JohnGress]

Very welcome!

[@florencioaviles408]

Great video. Thx for breakdown and comparisons

[@JohnGress]

Thanks for watching!

[@Elassyahmed]

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

[@JohnGress]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!

[@QuantzPhoto]

Great visual samples and video John!!

[@JohnGress]

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

[@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.

[@lukakoprivica]

Very informative!

[@JohnGress]

Thanks! I hope it helps.

[@photo2000]

7:28 I was assisting on a beauty shoot a while ago for a Vogue, and I couldnt believe how small an aperture was being used! F16, F22... and even then because it was medium format and lens distance to subject, the whole head wasn't in focus. And it needed ALOT of flash power for shooting at 100iso

[@JohnGress]

That had to be hell on the model too!

[@photo2000]

@@JohnGress she didnt complain... she had her eyes closed for most of it for styling purposes 😂 Briese lights

[@rickjbradbury]

Wait what. No ISO100 1/125th F8 only in studio.. what is this madness 😁

[@jackhowdeshell2529]

I was thinking the same! 😂

[@shajimaheswaranPhotography]

Thank you

[@JohnGress]

You're welcome!

[@chickerson1425]

Thanks for the bideo

[@JohnGress]

You bet!

[@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.

[@CarlosLemans]

Talk too much, low quality contents