MAKING DEPTH OF FIELD WORK FOR YOU

PHOTO TIP - Depth of field is the area of a scene that the camera's lens renders in acceptable focus. Remember though, that depth of field goes from sharp to unsharp by degrees. Only the exact point of focus is critically sharp. As you get further away from the exact point of focus, the focus becomes less and less sharp. The term circle of confusion is used to refer to the distance from the point of focus where the eye begins to perceive the lack of sharpness. It is the areas in front of and behind the actual point of focus but which appear to the human eye to be in focus that constitute the area within the depth of field. So how can depth of field work for you? It is not always desirable for all areas of an image to to be in sharp focus. Shallow depth of field can, for instance. be used to isolate a subject from its background. One area of photography where this can prove useful is in nature and wildlife photography. Say you're shooting an African lion at a zoo. The background looks natural,except of course for the green garden hose. Use a narrow depth of field. Render the big cat in focus and the background out of focus. The hose disappears, the lion stands out from the background and the tree that would otherwise appear to be growing out of the lion's head is considerably less distracting. There are also times when you want maximum depth of field, Hyperfocal distance is one means of achieving this. Hyperfocal distance is simply the closest possible focusing distance where the depth of field extends to infinity.Consult your camera's instruction manual as most cameras feature a simple method of setting the lens at hyperfocal distance. This extended depth of field is what will allow you to render both the boulder five feet away from you as well as the mountains and clouds in the distance in relatively sharp focus. LARRY ELKINS ELKINSPHOTOS FINE ART PHOTOGRAPHY