This post may contain affiliate links. If you use these links to purchase something I may earn a small commission at no cost to you. You can read my full disclaimer here.
What is Depth of Field?
Depth of field is the portion or distance in the image that is “in focus”. High Depth of field would show your entire image from foreground to background in focus. A lower depth of field would show blurry backgrounds and foregrounds.
Which is better – low or high DOF? It depends on what you are shooting and how you want it portrayed.
High Depth of Field
High Depth of field is most frequently used with Landscape photography, to portray the entire scene and not just one portion of it. In this case the entire scene will be in focus, including the foreground and background.
On a DSLR or Mirrorless camera you would use a high F Stop (for example F/16). For an IPhone you would use your standard photo mode (or pano).
In the example below, you can see that the dirt and plants in the foreground are in focus, along with the water in the middle and the mountain in the background.
We won’t get into how hard it was (for my old ass) walking the Tolmie Peak trail, cause the view was worth it. When you gonna try to kill me again Jessica? I’m down.
Low Depth of Field
Low depth of Field is used when you want to bring attention to a specific subject, and not focus on things in the image that may distract from your subject. One example is portrait photography.
On a DSLR or Mirrorless camera you would use a low F Stop (for example F/2.8). On an iPhone you would want to use Portrait mode.
Last year during family night while the kids were decorating Christmas cookies, I had fun taking photos. I really love this one where the Christmas tree with lights creates a blurry frame around my daughter.
Low Depth of field can be a good way to tell a story with a photo. The story a photo tells may be different depending on your focus, even if the scene is the same.
In this example one photo is focused on the person with the foreground blurred. The second focused on the foreground with the person blurred. What do you see in each image? Happiness? Peace? Something else?
Don’t Know Which To Use?
If you are in a place where you can’t decide whether to use high or low DoF, why not try them both? Sometimes the best pictures you take are the ones where you tried something new on a whim.
What is the best high or low depth of field image that you have taken? Do you have a favorite image taken when you tried something new on a whim? Tell me in the comments!