Depth Of Field, a photo from Sabah, East

Photographer's Note

A friend, who is starting photography, was browsing through Trekearth the other day. She was looking through the photos to learn from it as well as the comments given to the photo.

She called, asking for the meaning of DOF. It was mentioned in some comments and wondered what it was. As I didn't have time enough to explain, I thought I would give an example. Just in case she comes browsing my gallery this weekend.

DOF stands for Depth Of Field. It is a depth or range, where available objects within that range, is sharp. Anything else outside this range, is blur.Even if there are objects closer to the lens than what is focused.

The row of five droplets in the middle, on the waterlily leave is in focus, therefore sharp. You could see sharp details too, a little bit in front and behind it even though the lens is focused mainly, on the middle droplet. But those droplets closer and farther than the focused droplets, is blur. This photo has short DOF, as seen in all macro/closeup photography.

Long DOF is when the range or depth is longer. Especially in landscape photography, when anything in front of the camera to the horizon is relatively sharp. Or when shooting subject in bright light at F/8 or higher.

avis2avis, mat, burdallet, jhm, stef24, Galeota, jackwp, ChrisJ, Oldtree, gg01, nalo, sn00zie, dovi, padang, rage_tm, flip89, Riz, jayita, Edwin, archanabhimasen, SagaDS, espanek, anney, tdsi, asaad, Rehman_cp oznaczył to zdjęcie jeko użyteczne

Critiques | Translate

vsl (47) 2004-07-30 4:47

This one is perfect! The composition, the colors, everything!

avis2avis (4264) 2004-07-30 4:57

Awesome stuff Rabani... excellent shot and very helpful note. Thanks a lot for all your efforts.

softflower (0) 2004-07-30 5:02

Couleurs et reflets excellents, jolie photo.
Great composition.

mat (57) 2004-07-30 6:01

This is a marvelous picture, and the note is very good too, I was looking for a way to explain DOF to my girlfriend, this is the best exemple I could find.

[2]

burdallet (0) 2004-07-30 6:53

it's a very good example of the surface protect of Lotus ( ? ) leaves to push out the water . isn't ?

iamxa (3103) 2004-07-30 7:01

Funny composition, with a nice captured light. I'm looking for you in the drops and I can't see. How did you do this?

jhm (211734) 2004-07-30 7:09

This is a marvelous picture, Rabani, and the note is very good too, the water drop are almost crystal, well seen!

pboyer (242) 2004-07-30 7:18

What a great picture! It is just so perfect! Very well done!

joergen115 (2246) 2004-07-30 9:03 [Comment]

Show Comment

Galeota (10352) 2004-07-30 9:24

Very artistic work with a real interesting use of shallow DOF. Would be nice to know which lens you used for the shot. It is a much more interesting information than the camera.

jackwp (519) 2004-07-30 10:05

Excellent explanation of DOF. Nice capture of a difficult subject. Well done.

[2]

ChrisJ (171392) 2004-07-31 3:21

The thumbprint does not do this justice. Your best, & most creative shot yet.

waskahegan (0) 2004-07-31 18:06

Yes absolutely superbly done, waht details, colors and composition many times hurrah

[2]

Oldtree (2457) 2004-08-01 16:48

Wonderful Foto. Colors and DOF :-) are grate.

gg01 (355) 2004-08-02 0:52

Les détails sont incroyables, les couleurs parfaites.
EXCELLENT

redrahza (54) 2004-08-02 1:43

wahhhhh a great picture....!
i like the colour a lot

Piotr (0) 2004-08-03 5:42

Beautiful composition, reflexions are wonderful, very good idea, good DOF control
Regards, piotr

Michael_Gan (2776) 2004-08-04 6:31

Excellent shot and a very good picture for DOF demonstration purposes. The light is really nice, it is almost as if you used a spotlight in the center. The sharpness of the drops in the middle is aboslutely brilliant!

nalo (356) 2004-08-08 4:11

Wow man! That's amazing! I like the sharpness of the drips in the middle and the great colors!

neokreo (276) 2004-08-13 2:57

What a shot! Nice, man! What is that yellowish color of lights in those water drops?

sn00zie (2384) 2004-08-16 3:56

a brilliant example for dof.. thanks for your efforts Rabani...

cloverstar (0) 2004-08-18 17:11

Wow! You have a very creative mind. This composition is wonderful. I really admire the reflections on the water droplets.

By the way, thanks for all the tips you have given us lately. I want to try some.

avigur_11 (22535) 2004-08-18 17:14

This is a perfect way to explain DoF, Rabani, and an amazing composition. I like very much the tough contast and the dark areas of brown, red and black. Great shot.

danielswalsh (13597) 2004-09-29 21:34

Hi Rabani;

I was just browsing through your portfolio, and happened across this photo.

Fantastic sharpness in this macro. Coincidentally I just purchased a Hoya filter yesterday, and we have the same camera. Have you ever tried using more then one of the filters (doubling up)?
Your photo reminds me of a similar photo that I captured the other day "Tropical Rains..."

Keep up the good work!
- Dan

rage_tm (623) 2004-10-19 3:42

Just Wow and very useful notes. Of course Nice DOF :)

Riz (0) 2004-10-28 10:46

the detail of the drops look like marbles on a green floor well done the composition and real interesting use of shallow dof, keep up the good work. you have a good eye rabani!

archanabhimasen (270) 2005-05-11 22:47

Very Nice shot. The water droplets look like drops of mercury. Good dof. Apt to the caption!!

sarju (5324) 2005-06-01 22:52

incredible ... going through your photos is like a lesson in photography ... thanks for sharing all the information ... cheers
PS: I knew about DOF ... but I did learn many other things while going trhough the notes of your photos

anney (144) 2007-03-21 23:37