Camera Basics: Using Depth of Field to Shape Your Photos (VIDEOS)

Depth of field (DOF) is one of the most powerful creative concepts for all photographers because it helps accentuate the key subject of an image, control the background and foreground, and guide the viewers eyes through the frame. This tutorial from the Hamed Photography YouTube channel explains everything you need to understand in barely six minutes.

Hamed describes the essential term like this: “Depth of field refers to the area within a photo that appears acceptably sharp. Everything in front of or behind that zone becomes increasingly out of focus—creating photos with a soft, dreamy look or sharp, detailed images from front to back.”

According to Hamed, DOF is also a key element in visual storytelling. A shallow DOF, for example, is commonly employed by portrait photographers to isolate a subject from the background, and it can add a professional touch for more artistic images.

A deep DOF, on the other hand, is preferred for landscape photography and other genres where the goal is to maximize sharpness throughout the frame from foreground elements to those in the distance. Hamed also demonstrates how DOF can contribute to the “aesthetic style” of your imagery by enhancing mood and depth to a flat image by creating a sense of three-dimensional space.

Hamed notes that there are three key factors that affect DOF; namely. the focal length of your lens, the aperture you choose, and camera-to-subject-distance. He says that the interplay between this trio of variables will enable you to “shape your shots” with precision.

In basic terms here’s how it works: A wider aperture like f/1.8 or F/2.8 creates shallow DOF, blurring either the background or foreground of a scene (or both), while keeping the main subject detailed and sharp. Conversely, a narrow aperture like f/8 or f/11 keeps more of the image in focus.

Likewise, long focal lengths provide a shallow DOF, especially at wide apertures, while wider lenses inherently provide greater DOF. Then there’s the key consideration of camera-to-subject distance, where the closer you are to the subject, like with macro photography for example, the shallower the DOF.

Be sure to check out Hamed’s YouTube channel where he regularly posts how-to videos for photographers of all skill levels.

We also recommend watching the recent tutorial we posted in which a notable German pro lays out a comprehensive beginners guide to manual focus techniques for capturing sharp photographs in difficult light.