Aperture - Depth of Field - Mon 23/09/13

This mornings subject is Aperture, it's function in allowing light to enter the lens and how it relates to depth of field within a photograph.  A wide aperture i.e a low numbered f stop (f/1.8) will create a wide/shallow depth of field as opposed to a narrow/long depth of field which is a high numbered f stop (f/22).

I have chosen three photographers work to illustrate a wide/shallow depth of field.

1) Vivian Maier - Street Photographer
A street photographer who uses both wide/shallow and narrow/long depth of field (DOF) but mainly wide/shallow DOF when specifically photographing people in order to bring attention to the person she is depicting.  I chose this particular image because I like the way the photographer has drawn attention to the boy and the box, it makes me question what his reason for being there is and whether he is being cheeky by rooting in a box that doesn't belong to him.

2) Heather Angel - Nature Photographer
A nature photographer who uses a lot of macro photography to isolate detail in both plants and animals.  Using a wide/shallow DOF once again brings attention to her chosen subject.  In this image, the wide/shallow DOF really makes me study the flower and I feel adds a tranquil quality to the image as the distant lily pads are out of focus.

3) Eve Arnold - Photojournalism Photographer
Very famous for her work with Marylin Monroe and uses a wide/shallow DOF to bring as much attention as possible to her work.  My attention is really drawn to the woman sitting at the bar and I feel the wide/shallow DOF heightens the perception of loneliness and perhaps sorrow that I feel is portrayed here. I also wonder if the empty glass is hers or has she been left alone?  The wide/shallow depth of field in the image is further pronounced by the fact there is an out of focus area both in front of the woman as well as behind her.

The following three examples I have chosen are to illustrate a narrow/long DOF.

1) Joel Meyerowitz - Street/Portrait/Landscape Photographer

This photographer quite often uses a narrow/long DOF in his street photography to capture as much detail as possible in the scene he is capturing.  My eye roams right around the entirety of this image and it projects a feeling of 'business' to me which wouldn't happen had the photographer used a wide/shallow DOF.

2) Richard Avedon - Portrait Photographer
Extremely famous portrait photographer who traditionally uses a wide/shallow DOF in his work but however in this portrait taken from his Reportage photography about a mental institution he has used a narrow/long DOF.  This allows the viewer to see all of the in-mates and their environment and 'feel' for the plight of these people.  If he had used a wide/shallow DOF this image would not have the same impact or convey the message in such a detailed way.

 
3) Sam Abell - Photojournalism Photographer
This photographer, well know for his work with National Geographic, utilises a narrow/long DOF in his photography a great deal. In this image a narrow/long DOF has been used to great effect as Sam Abell likes to create depth within a photo and this wouldn't be achievable by using a wide/shallow DOF.

My Own Work

The following image is one I have taken that illustrates a wide/shallow DOF.  It is not taken using the widest aperture available but because of my close proximity to the subject, the aperture I have used has resulted in with only a few of the flower heads and leaves in focus.

f/5.6 1/320s ISO-200 110mm

The next two images have a similar view point but are taken using a narrow/long DOF (f/20) and a wide/shallow DOF (f5.6).  It demonstrates that even at a fairly close proximity to the subject a narrow/long DOF will show a lot more detail within the image. The first image appears to be very 'busy' to my eyes but in the second image of the spider and web, more attention is drawn to the spider as the background detail is out of focus.

f/20 1/80s ISO-1250 85mm

f/5.6 1/80s ISO-200 85mm

This image of a suspension footbridge is taken using a narrow/long DOF in order to make sure the posts at the end are in focus as well as the trees behind them.  I think that the narrow/long DOF, keeping all of the image in focus gives the bridge a sense of purpose.

f/18 1/60s ISO-800 50mm

The following two images are once again a comparison test that demonstrates the effect of using a shallow/wide DOF as opposed to a long/narrow DOF.  I have used a single point focus area and selected the flowers at the bottom of the path to focus on in both of the images.

  This image is quite an extreme shallow/wide DOF and because of that I feel it has more impact.

f/1.8 1/640s ISO-100 50mm

A very ordinary looking image that I have used a long/narrow DOF which does demonstrate how DOF affects an image with the in focus area being from the front right to the back.

f/22 1/40s ISO-800 50mm