Depth of Field AKA DoF

Depth of Filed is also called DoF. Usually most people refer to DoF by how "Shallow" or "Deep" the Depth of Field is. In Rookie terms this is where one decide how much of the picture is in focus and how much isn't. 

***Make sure you read Aperture 101 before reading on***

Look at the below pictures. Which one seems to have the main subject pop out at you?

As one can see in "Picture 1" the subject matter really pops out. The overall image has depth because only the main subject is in focus. While in "Picture 2" the background is more in focus and it makes the main subject get lost in the background. In this case I wanted to have my subject stand out like in picture 1, so I set my camera up to the widest aperture (lowest f-number) to produce a shallow depth of field.

Lets look at another example of Depth Field. The DoF in the lego picture below is super shallow. The DoF is so shallow that the other Lego men in front and behind the blue lego man are out of focus. I utilized the DoF to draw attention to one lego man and not the others. My desired effect to isolate the subject was achieved through the use of DoF.

Only the Blue Lego Man is in Focus

Lastly, the key to mastering DoF is focus location. Look at the 2 below pictures. Both shots are similar to each other but each shot tells a different story. "Picture 1" draws attention to the face while "Picture 2" draws attention to the hand. If my main intentions was to focus on the face then "Picture 2" would not work. When dealing with a shallow DoF be mindful of what you want in focus. I would recommend going to manual focus to really take control of your focus location.

Picture 1

Picture 2