A Beginner's Guide to Depth of Field

Depth of field is one of the most fundamental and powerful tools a photographer has at their disposal, and as such, mastering it is crucial to taking full technical and creative control of your images. If you are new to photography and wondering about how depth of field works, check out this fantastic video tutorial that will show you everything you need to know. 

Coming to you from Esteban Toro with B&H Photo and Video, this helpful video tutorial will show you the ins and outs of depth of field. Essentially, depth of field is how much of your image is reasonably in focus. For example, portrait photographers often like to shoot with a narrow depth of field (using a wide aperture), as it keeps the subject in focus and turns everything behind and in front of them into blurry, nebulous blobs, helping to keep the viewer's attention on the model. On the other hand, landscape photographers often shoot with a deep depth of field (narrow aperture), as they want everything in the scene to be sharp so as to show all of the detail. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Toro.

Alex Cooke's picture

Alex Cooke is a Cleveland-based portrait, events, and landscape photographer. He holds an M.S. in Applied Mathematics and a doctorate in Music Composition. He is also an avid equestrian.

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