17 Excellent Examples of Narrow Depth of Field
Categories: Cool Photos, Featured
Written By: Mike Panic
When I first started to take photography seriously over 10 years ago, mastering depth of field was high on my priority list. Shooting with a narrow depth of field involves setting your camera lens to the widest possible setting and then focusing on one particular part of the frame. The stark contrast between in and out of focus portions of the frame concentrating around the subject and relative distance to other things in the frame creates a wonderful, visually appealing, texture enriched image. In my mind, being able to properly produce a shot with the right depth of field makes the difference between a snapshot and a photograph. Here’s 17 excellent examples of narrow depth of field to give you some inspiration.
Photo by Express Monorail (taking a break)
April 15th, 2010 at 11:34 pm
Here’s a good example I think (even better when seen up close):
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_fLs5wWzYzxU/S1gEx_JDtfI/AAAAAAAAAWQ/6llBO_M8MWY/s1600-h/kern_thomas.jpg
April 16th, 2010 at 5:17 am
Those are some really nice photos depth of field. Nice work!
April 16th, 2010 at 6:34 am
I too have been playing w/ this narrow depth. I recently bought a new canon 50mm and am in LOVE.
Thanks for sharing!
Tania
April 16th, 2010 at 6:35 am
Swissjourno, That is a wonderful shot!! These are some great examples narrow DOF
April 16th, 2010 at 12:23 pm
Wow! Thank you so much for using my image as an example, I’m genuinely flattered.
April 16th, 2010 at 3:19 pm
Keep up the great work, Lewis!
April 16th, 2010 at 3:22 pm
The 50mm is such a popular lens. I love my 50mm for my nikon.
April 16th, 2010 at 3:23 pm
Glad you enjoyed the collection, Tony. :)
April 16th, 2010 at 3:23 pm
Nice one!
April 17th, 2010 at 11:05 am
Great selection of photos! Is it being pedantic to say it should be “shallow” depth of field rather than narrow? Possible, maybe I don’t quite understand the concept! :)
G
April 20th, 2010 at 4:45 am
Greg – good point, but in this case, it kind of depends on where you grew up and who / how you learned to shoot from, as shallow and narrow essentially mean the same thing. When I started to shoot, I liked the results I got from slide film, but people older then me often referred to it as “chrome” or “transparency” film. I’ll watch how I use terms for the future articles.
Also – I think EVERYONE should own a 50mm f/1.8 lens regardless of what camera outfit you have. It’s cheap and produces great photos across the board!
April 20th, 2010 at 7:50 pm
These are fantastic. Thanks for sharing!
April 21st, 2010 at 3:33 pm
Anytime! :)
April 24th, 2010 at 1:44 pm
Greg – good point, but in this case, it kind of depends on where you grew up and who / how you learned to shoot from, as shallow and narrow essentially mean the same thing. When I started to shoot, I liked the results I got from slide film, but people older then me often referred to it as “chrome” or “transparency” film. I’ll watch how I use terms for the future articles.
Also – I think EVERYONE should own a 50mm f/1.8 lens regardless of what camera outfit you have. It’s cheap and produces great photos across the board!
April 24th, 2010 at 7:21 pm
Anytime! :)
April 25th, 2010 at 1:48 pm
The 50mm is such a popular lens. I love my 50mm for my nikon.
May 13th, 2010 at 12:27 am
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May 14th, 2010 at 2:07 am
There is an album called “The world in f1.8″ .
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chalo84/sets/72157624025504700/
I hope you enjoy it