Beginners: 8 Tips for Creating Shallow Depth of Field

Portrait with shallow depth of field image

What is Shallow Depth of Field Photography?

Depth of field is a powerful element in a photo. Controlling it is one of the most important skills for a novice photographer to learn. In this article, I'm going to go over how the subject of a photo can be highlighted and enhanced by creating a shallow depth of field. It's a very effective technique and easy to achieve with just a little bit of know-how.

Hopefully, you've been following our Beginner's Tips and already know that the camera setting that controls depth of field (DoF) is the size of the lens aperture when you release the shutter. If not, I'd recommend reading the article here as well as this one, to understand how aperture size affects both DoF and exposure. Ready? Let's get to it:

Choose your subject.
This technique works best when you know exactly what you want viewers to see as the main subject of your photo. It might be the face of your model, a single flower in a field of flowers, or the eyes of a bug in a macro shot. Know what you're shooting and how much of it you want to be in focus.
Get some distance.
If possible, make creating shallow DoF easier by choosing a setup that puts some distance between your main subject and other elements within the frame, particularly the background. This will make the job of finding the correct aperture setting easier.
Focal length doesn't affect DoF.
That statement may come as a shock to some readers and some will actually argue the point. The fact is that when a sujbect is viewed at the same magnification, the depth of field won't change substantially from a wide angle to a super telephoto.

The fact that a longer focal length tends to make background objects appear closer can help enhance the effect of a shallow depth of field, so your choice of lens can make a difference. On the other hand, telephoto lenses tend to have smaller maximum aperture sizes, which limits how shallow the DoF can be. In most cases, how close you can get physically to your subject will determine the best focal length.
Choose the right shooting mode.
If you're comfortable with balancing exposure yourself, set your shooting mode to manual. If not, switch to aperture priority (Av or A) mode and let your camera's metering system handle the exposure. Note: Don't count too much on the camera here - there are many situations that can fool its metering system. You may want to learn to use AEB or manually bracket your exposure to be sure you get the best possible results.
Focus carefully.
When you've got your shot framed properly, take the time to be sure your focus is spot-on. Personally, I prefer to use manual focusing and magnify the subject in my LCD to be positive that I've got the sharpness I want, right where I want it. Whatever your preference, be certain you've focused properly; a wide aperture means less margin for error.
Use the DoF preview button.
If you'd like to know exactly the kind of depth of field you're going to get in your shot, most DSLRs and film SLRs will let you preview it. Check your camera manual for the location of the depth of field preview button and use it to see how things will look at the current aperture setting. The view may darken slightly, but since you should be selecting a wide aperture, this effect shouldn't keep you from judging the results.
Change it up.
The trend in photos with shallow depth of field is to compose the shot so that the main subject is in the foreground and the blurred portion in the background. Don't be afraid to think outside the box. You'll find that focusing on a subject farther away and blurring the foreground can be effective and interesting, too.
Software gives you options.
There will be times when you can't achieve the results you want in the field, or you may simply want to experiment with some photos you took without the idea of shallow DoF in mind. In those cases, you can turn to various software packages to add the effects in post-processing.

These tips should help you achieve the shallow depth of field effect in your photos very quickly, and a little practice will have you using it effectively in no time at all.

Go. Practice.