Our article shows how to best use shallow depth of field in photography. We help you achieve the look and suggest when to best use it!
As photographers, we spend a lot of time trying to get our images in focus. When an image comes out blurry, we hit the delete button so fast that we barely look at the composition.
But not all images need to be sharp from front to back. Sometimes, an image is more beautiful if some parts are softly out-of-focus. An image can have an impact if the focus is “shallow.”
In photography, depth of field (DoF) describes how much of the image is focused. A deep depth of field (also called “wide” or “large”) means that most of the image is in focus. This is often the goal of landscape photography.
A shallow depth of field (also called “small” or “narrow”) means that only a part of the image is in focus. The background and sometimes the foreground is blurred.
Shallow depth of field works in portrait, nature, and travel photography. The out-of-focus part may be only slightly blurred or completely lacking detail. This is illustrated in the portrait below with a background blur.
There’s a lot of optical physics behind a shallow depth of field, but we’ll keep the discussion practical. Your depth of field is generally shallow when using a wide aperture. This means setting your f-stop to a small number.
Some lenses have an f/1.4 widest aperture, while others have an f/5.6 widest setting. Using aperture priority mode may be a good idea when you want a shallow depth of field.
Aperture size isn’t the only setting affecting depth of field. Focal length is also important. Lenses with a longer focal length generally have a shallower depth of field.
Your camera’s sensor size also matters. Cameras with larger sensors (full-frame) create a shallower depth of field than crop sensors. But creating a narrow depth of field isn’t all about equipment. It’s also about relative position.
Depth of field changes depending on how close you are to your subject and how far your subject is from the background. If you’re not getting a shallow depth of field, step closer.
If that doesn’t work, try moving your subject further from the what’s behind. There needs to be some distance. Notice how the cloth is blurrier with distance from the focal point in the image below.
Let’s now examine how to use shallow depth of field to make your photography pop. Here are the top reasons for using a small depth of field.
One of the main reasons for using a shallow depth of field is to simplify a busy scene. Portrait and nature photographers use this to create a clean backdrop.
The portrait below was taken in front of a busy storefront. The shallow depth of field hides the uninspiring background.
You may want to remove all detail, leaving only color, or you may want to de-emphasize the environment only. Blurring the environment allows the viewer to see the context without distracting from the main story.
In travel photography and photojournalism, subjects are often photographed in context. We want to know where the person is or where the action occurs. But we want the context to be secondary. Venice is the background to this gondoliere in the image below.
Different apertures produce more or less blur. Generally, shooting wide open at f/2.8 or f/1.4 creates the most blur.
If there is too much blur or you want more detail, select a small aperture like f/5.6 or f/8.0. A shallow depth of field creates separation and lets your subject pop in front of the background.
A viewer will naturally look at the most in-focus part of your image first. Knowing this, you can guide your viewer’s eye exactly where you want.
In a busy scene, you can select one focus point. One person or object becomes the subject. Selective focus is important when you have many points of interest.
You can also emphasize a part of a scene or a feature. For instance, the eyes are the most important part of a portrait.
Making the eyes the focal point and letting the image blur ensures the eyes will be the focus. In the photo below, a shallow depth of field ensures you look at this man’s face first.
We can also highlight relationships between subjects in an image. When using a shallow DoF, everything on one plane is in focus, regardless of how far apart the subjects are horizontally.
You can cleverly use this to emphasize a relationship. Two subjects on the same plane pop out of an otherwise blurry scene.
With many subjects in the image, a shallow depth of field lets you prioritize subjects. Notice how the subject’s eye and watch are in focus in the photo below.
The flip side of guiding the eye toward a focal point is drawing the eye away. Blur can de-emphasize a defect or anything that may distract the eye from your main subject, such as a crack in a wall or a busy crowd.
One little-known use of a shallow depth of field is to remove visual barriers from your image. Visual barriers, like fencing or mesh, get between us and our photographic subject.
This bird pictured below was behind mesh fencing in a zoo. A shallow depth of field made the mesh disappear! This principle is the same as simplifying a busy scene but concerns the foreground.
Wide apertures are effective if you’re shooting through a busy foreground. A narrow DoF turns it into a soft blur. You can even use shallow depth of field to obscure a person’s identity. Other scene elements can be in focus, but the person’s face blurs.
This is a compromise for parents who don’t want to show their children’s faces on social media. A family scene can still be shared, but with the child obscured.
Using a shallow depth of field softens the scene and creates a mood. Which mood depends on your subject and how you use the blur. Soft edges can create a romantic or nostalgic look. Or by obscuring details, the effect can be mysterious.
Taking away details creates an impressionistic scene. Take away even more detail, and you can create an abstract image. We might only see an edge or part of an object. What’s left of the subject blurs into an abstract.
Creating an effect includes shaping the bokeh. Bokeh is the shape of the out-of-focus light. It is usually round because that is the shape of your aperture. But you can change that by placing a bokeh filter on the front of your lens. Read our article about how to create a custom bokeh.
Blurring both your foreground and background creates a frame around your subject. Even mundane environments can be nice with a bit of blur. A shallow depth of field adds a frame to the portrait below.
A shallow depth of field adds dimension but also separates layers. This is important when creating 2D images from a 3D world, as the layers our eyes detect don’t always appear in the scene.
Learning to control the depth of field in my photography took some practice. If you’re not getting the results you’re looking for, here are a few tips:
An image with a shallow depth of field looks partially out of focus. The subject is in focus, but the background and maybe the foreground is blurred. How much is blurred is up to the photographer.
Photographing with a shallow depth of field lets you control what is in focus and where your viewer looks. Soft focus is pleasing in many images and simplifies the scene.
