Instructor: N.

David King

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DEPTH OF FIELD IN PHOTOGRAPHY

Handout for Photography Students N. David King, Instructor
WHAT IS DEPTH OF Photographers generally have to deal with one of two FIELD? main optical issues for any given photograph: Motion (relative to the film plane and Depth of !ield. "his handout is a#out Depth of !ield. $ut what is it% Depth of !ield is a ma&or compositional tool used #y photographers to direct attention to specific areas of a print or' at the other e(treme' to allow the viewer)s eye to travel in focus over the entire print)s surface' as it appears to do in reality. *ere are two e(ample images.

D e p th o f F ie ld E x a m p le s

S h a llo w D e p t h o f F ie ld u s in g w id e a p e r t u r e a n d c lo s e fo c a l d is t a n c e

D e e p D e p th o f F ie ld u s in g s m a ll a p e r t u r e a n d g r e a t e r fo c a l d is t a n c e

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S'(P(ISE) IT*S ALL A

ILL'SIO

"he first image (the garden flowers on the left was shot with a wide aperture and is focused on the flower closest to the viewer. "he second image (on the right was shot with a smaller aperture and is focused on a yellow flower near the rear of that group of flowers. "hough it looks as if we are really increasing the area that is in focus from the first image to the second' that apparent increase is actually an optical illusion. In the second image there is still only one plane where the lens is critically focused. ,verywhere else - in front of or #ehind that plane of critical focus - is actually out of focus' increasingly so the further away it is from that point of focus. .o why does it loo/ sharp if it isn)t% "his illusion of sharpness happens #ecause of a nearly universal limitation in the resolution of the human eye. Typi+ally ,e hu-an. +annot re.ol"e detail .-aller than a/out 01$%%th of an in+h! "hat means' for e(ample' if you loo/ed at an area created #y lines and spaces where #oth the lines and the spaces #etween the lines that were less than 10+11th of an inch you would see it as a solid #loc/2 if the lines and spaces were larger than 10+11 th of an inch you could see the individual lines and spaces.

WHAT A D WHE(E IS "hat area from in front of the point or plane of critical THE DEPTH OF FIELD? focus to behind the point of critical focus that appears to #e focused on the print is called the 3Depth of !ield.4 It e(tends a#out twice as far #ehind the point of critical focus as it does in front of it. !ollowing is an illustration showing this

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$ut how can all this have an effect on a photograph when the grains of silver in the emulsion are microscopic in si6e% 7ell' it)s the lens) fault.

2I(2LES OF 2O

F'SIO

7hen an image is transmitted through a camera lens' each point of light reflecting from the su#&ect is pro&ected on the film plane1 as a circle. "hose circles of pro&ected light are called 38ircles of 8onfusion4 9 an apt name and not to #e confused with confused people standing in a circle. If those circles' when enlarged on a print' are 10+11th of an inch or smaller' most of us will see that part of the image as sharply focused. If they are larger than 10+11th of an inch it will #e out of focus. "he larger the circle' the more out of focus the image will loo/.

The Film Plane is also known as The Focal Plane. ! Da"id #ing $%%&

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3!ascinating9 #ut so what%4 you as/. 7ell' it turns out that there are several things that effect how large those circles of light are going to #e on the final image. $y controlling those varia#les we can control how much something loo/s li/e it is in focus. ;nd #y doing that' we can direct viewer attention to various parts of the image since it is literally painful for the optic nerve when it tries to focus something on a print that cannot #e focused since it is already <=" of focus. $y controlling the si6e of those confusing circles we can create an illusion of sharpness' that is' we can ma/e it loo/ li/e an area is in focus when in fact it is not.

WH3 DO *T O'( E3ES .o' if our eye is actually a sort of lens' why don)t we SEE DEPTH OF FIELD? see this Depth of !ield% 7hy don)t we see only one thing in focus and the rest of the world #lurry% 7ell' actually we do. >i/e a camera lens' our eye can only focus on one plane in space at a time. ?ou can prove this #y focusing on something close then letting your peripheral vision #ecome aware of the things at greater distance without changing focus. "hose things at greater distance will #e o#viously #lurry. $ut we humans have something the camera doesn)t have: a #rain. 7ell some of us do' anyway. ;nd for those that do' the #rain directs an ama6ing function. ;s we scan a scene from front to #ac/' say a landscape' our #rain causes our eyes to nearly instantly refocus as they pay attention to various areas. "he effect is we thin/ we see everything in focus #ecause no matter where we loo/ it I. in focus. $ut it is our #rain that accomplishes it. !or a lens without a #rain' we need to try something very different in order to accomplish the same 3sense4 of how we see a print as how we see the original.

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WHAT EFFE2TS DEPTH OF "here are #asically four things that can have an effect FIELD? on the Depth of !ield of a given photographic print. "hey are9 0! The Fo+al Length of the len. /eing u.ed! $! The Fo+al di.tan+e 4in .i-ple ter-.5 the di.tan+e fro- the +a-era to the .u/6e+t7! 8! The Aperture 4f9.top7 of the len. /eing u.ed! And &! The degree of enlarge-ent of the final print! >et)s e(amine these influences one at a time.

LE

FO2AL LE

EFFE2T OF :TH

"he focal length of the ta/ing lens has a ma&or impact on the Depth of !ield of the final photograph. "he #asic rule is straightforward: The SHO(TE( the Fo+al Length of the len.5 the DEEPE( the Depth of Field! 7ideAangle lenses' in small format terms' lenses with focal lengths of appro(imately 5@mm or wider' show deep Depth of !ield' especially compared to their telephoto #rethren. "elephotos' those focal lengths of appro(imately B1mm and longer show shallow Depth of !ield. "hat is why landscapes with wide lenses generally show nearly everything in focus while animal shots ta/en with long telephoto lenses have such shallow Depth of !ield with all #ut the animal out of focus. OTE: It is important to note that the Depth of !ield is #ased on lens focal length and not on the angle of view of a lens. ; 3Normal4 lens on a :(@4 view camera is appro(imately 15@mm. It has a#out the same angle of view as a @1mm lens for small format' #ut it has the same Depth of !ield as a 15@mm light telephoto would have when used on that small format camera.

EFFE2T OF "he distance the camera is from the su#&ect also FO2AL DISTA 2E greatly influences Depth of !ield+. "he rule for this influence is:
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The :(EATE( the Fo+al Di.tan+e5 the DEEPE( the Depth of Field! "hat means that when you are photographing something where you are focusing at a distance' the Depth of !ield e(tends deeply into the scene. It also e(plains why macro photography - the photography of images with a#out a 1:1 image to su#&ect relationship - has such a shallow Depth of !ield.

'SI

: APE(T'(E TO 2O T(OL DEPTH OF FIELD

"he third influence upon Depth of !ield is the one most often used creatively #y the photographer so it reDuires a more inAdepth e(planation. "he rule itself sounds simple enough: The S;ALLE( the Aperture5 the DEEPE( the Depth of Field! Eephrased to incorporate fA.tops' the rule would read: The LA(:E( the f9.top nu-/er5 the DEEPE( the Depth of Field! $ut why would changing the aperture of a lens have any effect whatsoever on the illusion of focus on a photographic print% Doesn)t that &ust cut down on the intensity of light falling on the photosensitive surface% "he answer is that changing the aperture si6e forces the light passing through the lensAset to change its angles and that has an effect on the si6e of the 8ircles of 8onfusion. >oo/ closely at the following illustration.

The Focal Distance is technically the distance from the film plane (also called the focalplane or the plane where the image is eing foc!sed y the lens" to the plane of critical foc!s. #ote the ill!stration descri ing Depth of Field. Depth of Field in Photography: Student Handout ! Da"id #ing $%%&

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E ffe c t o f A p e r tu r e o n D e p th o f F ie ld
C o m p a r a t iv e C ir c le s o f C o n f u s io n
1 0+ 1 1 4

W id e A p e r tu r e

C r itic a l F o c a l D is ta n c e

F ilm p la n e

N a rro w A p e rtu re

1 0+ 1 1 4

C o m p a r a tiv e C ir c le s o f C o n fu s io n

Eemem#er' at the very first of this discussion we e(plained how the si6e of the 8ircle of 8onfusion pro&ected #y the lens will have an effect on what appears to #e sharp on the image% It turns out that smaller apertures reduce the si6e of the 8ircles of 8onfusion #eing pro&ected on the film)s emulsion. In the illustration a#ove' the red lines are from a point of light at the !ocal Distance. No matter what si6e the aperture is' it always is pro&ected as a point of light on the film or chip. $ut the green lines represent a point of light reflecting from something farther away from the lens than the !ocal Distance. It then ends up #eing focused #ehind the !ocal Plane. ;s the cone of light passes through the film it forms the 8ircle of 8onfusion for that point of light. $y ma/ing the aperture smaller one constricts the diameter of the cone and the resulting circle. ?ou can see this effect clearly in the illustration. If' when those circles are enlarged on the print' they #ecome larger than 10+11th of an inch that area will
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loo/ as if it is out of focus (top portion of illustration . *owever' closing down the aperture changed the angles of the light there#y creating smaller 8ircles of 8onfusion. If they remain smaller than 10+11 th of an inch on the final print' it will loo/ li/e they were in focus (#ottom portion of illustration .

EFFE2T OF I;A:E Despite the ease photographers en&oy of changing E LA(:E;E T print si6e #y simply sliding the enlarger up and down' the si6e of the print can greatly change the Depth of !ield on a print and with it the whole composition. "his sometimes catches the photography #y surprise. $ut the photograph was made in the camera. *ow can the enlargement of a print in the dar/room effect the Depth of !ield% It)s o#vious once you thin/ a#out the process of enlargement. In fact the word 3enlargement4 is the clue. "he actual 8ircles of 8onfusion on the film itself are measured not in hundredths #ut in thousandths of an inch. "hat is why contact prints always loo/ so good and sharp and it is in the enlarged print that things start to fall apart. ;s the image itself is enlarged' so are those circles of confusion. Depth of !ield ta#les and charts' as well as the Depth of !ield scale printed on some lenses' are all #ased on the ma/ing of an B(11 inch print from the negative. .maller prints with minimal enalrgement' such as contact prints or even wallet prints' have smaller 8ircles of 8onfusion' #ut #y the same to/en' larger prints have larger 8ircles of 8onfusion. .o for an image where the 8ircles of 8onfusion were' say' 10+@1th of an inch on an B(11 print' and therefore appearing sharp and focused' the same circles might #e 101F@th of an inch on an 11(1: and now starting to loo/ soft. Increase the enlargement to 1C(+1 and they start to loo/ very soft indeed. "hat means that the e(pected or intended si6e of your desired final print needs to #e ta/en into consideration when you ad&ust the varia#les to esta#lish a given Depth of !ield when you are ta/ing the shot. It is as important to previsuali6ation as are the tonalities of the
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image.

IF ALL THAT IS T('E5 WH3 DO LA(:E FO(;AT PHOTOS OFTE HA<E E=T(AO(DI A(3 DEPTH OF FIELD?

7ait a minute' isn)t there a pro#lem here% If a large format camera is ta/ing a normal view #ut with a lens that has the focal length of a telephoto on a small format' and it might #e focused closeAup for small product wor/' how can it create a photo with the e(traordinary Depth of !ield reDuired #y that /ind of shooting% .imple9 it cheats. >arge format lenses have Depth of !ield appropriate to their focal lengths #ut large format cameras have something small format cameras generally do not: they have the a#ility to tilt the plane of Depth of !ield using the optical movements of the lens and film standards. $ut you)ll have to wait for the right class to learn how to do that.

THE WH3 DO DI:ITAL PHOTOS SEE; TO HA<E :(EATE( DEPTH OF FIELD?

Digital images seem often to have much greater Depth of !ield than filmA#ased images' especially in the point and shoot type of cameras. $ut unli/e large format view cameras' they don)t have optical movements to tilt the plane of Depth of !ield. "he reason is that the imaging chip is much smaller than the frame of film even in small format photography. ; 15@ frame is roughly an inch and oneA half wide #y an inch tall. $ut many chips are only +05 rd of an inch' and sometimes smaller. "he lens that will achieve the same angle of view as a @1mm lens for small format film may actually only #e 11mm or so. It will therefore have a#out the same Depth of !ield as a 11mm e(treme wideAangle or fisheye lens on the film format.

<n the .>EA"ype Ni/on @F11' for e(ample' the 6oom lens)s ma(imum lens focal length is actually only F@mm' #ut the angle of view is the same as a 511mm on a small format film camera.
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2O

2L'SIO

Depth of !ield is a powerful compositional tool that allows the photographer to isolate areas in a photograph or to give the viewer the same impression they have when viewing an actual scene. !ew tools allow a greater amount of aesthetic fle(i#ility and power. 7hen the photographer ta/es advantage of all of the influences availa#le' and' for e(ample' selects the shooting distance' the focal length of the lens' the aperture si6e' and also plans specifically for a given enlargement si6e' he or she has virtually unlimited variation in the Depth of !ield they can achieve.

(ELATED TOPI2S Eelated to this discussion of Depth of field are the following topics:

*yperfocal Distance 3Hone4 !ocusing <ptical 3Infinity4 Point.

TE=T (EFE(E

2ES

Please reference the related area in your te(t #oo/. "hose are: Photography 4>th Edition7 /y London ? 'pton .tarting on Page @C Photography 4$nd Edition7 /y Warren starting on Page F:

All content, narrative, photographs, and illustrations are by N. David King

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