Depth of field // Features

Definition
depth of field is the distance between the nearest and farthest objects in a scene that appear acceptably sharp in an image.

How to alter depth of field
by changing your aperture, you can alternate between having a large or small depth of field. So this means you can change your aperture to a large depth of field if you want the background of your image in focus, or a small depth of field if you want to focus on a specific object in the image and have the background be out of focus.

Large depth of field

Sourced from http://www.wallpapermay.com/thumbnails/detail/20120721/water%20ice%20mountains%20landscapes%20nature%20winter%20snow%20lakes%20hdr%20photography%20reflections%202560x1600%20wal_www.wallpapermay.com_46.jpg

 

 

Sourced from http://cdn.shutterbug.com/images/1012picture02.jpg

 

As you can see here all the image is in focus, so you can see the objects that are in the very background of the image; therefore this is a large depth of field.

Small depth of field

Sourced from http://www.photoweeklyonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Shallow_DOF.jpg

 

Sourced from https://posterjackcanada.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/shallow-depth-of-field.jpg

As you can see here only the subject of the image is in focus while the back ground of the image is out of focus so the viewers attention is on the subject, therefore this is a small depth of field.

portraiture photographers // Portraiture

David Bailey

 This is a portrait taken by David Bailey. I have chosen this as one of my 3 pictures from different portraiture photographers as he has used many various techniques within this image; for instance I quite like the way he has used light to create a grey to black effect, with the grey being at the top of the image gradually changing into a black background at the bottom left diagonal, this shows the audience that Bailey has lit the subject from above. I also quite like how he has used composition for effect; as with how the subject is posed, you can see a multitude of shapes for instance triangles, quadrilaterals and more. Bailey has used composition with the subject to make their hair not fully in focus, as it's midway through movement.

Richard Avedon

This portrait taken by Richard Avedon is quite interesting. I quite like it because the composition set by Avedon has meant that there are various shapes that make up this one portrait, this helps to make the subject look much more significant in the image. I also quite like this portrait because the subject's facial expression makes it look like their throwing their head back from laughing.

Hellen Van Meene

This portrait by Hellen Van Meene is quite interesting because of a few things. I quite like how Van Meene has used the lighting in the image to highlight the subjects face, create a shadow and make it look like the image is split in half. The texture of the walls also makes this image quite interesting, as most images have flat, one-textured backgrounds whilst this one by Van Meene has a texture to it. Van Meene also uses composition to create the shapes of the image, for example the triangle between the subject's left arm and ribs.