Image Bank - Depth

Depth Of Field is the size of the area that is in focus. It is the space in front of and behind the focal point that still remains sharp

This is an example of shallow depth of field. As you can see, there is only a small amount of the image that is in focus and the rest of the image is very defocussed. To achieve a shallow depth of field, you need a low f stop value e.g f3.5. The closer you are to the subject, the shallower the depth of field will be. 

This is an example of wide depth of field. You need a high F stop e.g. f22, which is a very narrow aperture. As you can see, all of the picture is in focus, which is what we call a wide depth of field. Generally, the further away you are from what you are photographing, the wider the depth of field will be. 

This is use of a narrow depth of field. The focus point is near the front on the padlock, while the rest of the image behind it is out of focus. The f stop would have been around 3.5.

However, this image has a very wide depth of field. This means it would be taken on a narrow aperture e.g. f22. The wide depth of field means everything in the picture is in focus.