DEPTH-OF-FIELD AND FOCUS

DEPTH-OF-FIELD AND FOCUS

Dependent on the chosen aperture (f-stop), the focal length and the focus distance you have a certain depth-of-field (DOF). The DOF defines a zone around the chosen focus point where objects appear to be sharp. Beyond the (floating) border of this zone objects get blurry. Typical beginners tend to think that a good picture is a picture where everything is sharp so often small aperture values are preferred in order to maximize the depth-of-field. This assumption works fine some photographics scenes but it's certainly wrong as a general shooting philosophy.