Lesson video

Hello, everyone.

How are you today? I hope you're feeling really, really good.

My name is Miss Afzal, and I'll be your art teacher for this lesson.

I'm very pleased about that because our lesson is about photography, and I love photography so much.

Today's lesson is called "Taking Pictures: Depth of Field." I wonder if that's a term that you've come across before.

Perhaps this is new to you.

Either way, don't worry.

We are gonna be exploring this.

We're gonna be getting right into it.

Our lesson comes from the unit of work "Foundation Workshops: An Introduction to the Areas of Study." So if you are feeling ready with some openness, focus, enthusiasm, I think we're all set to begin.

The outcome for today's lesson is: I can explain and use depth of field to take pictures.

We have a few keywords in our lesson today.

They are "depth," "aperture," and "focus." So what do these words mean? Well, depth is how far away a subject is when referring to an image.

An aperture: the hole that lets light into the camera, controlling depth of field.

And focus: how sharp or blurred a subject appears.

These are our keywords: "depth," "aperture," and "focus." Let's make sure we're looking out for them, listening out for them, and thinking carefully about them.

They'll be coming up in our lesson today.

Today's lesson is called "Picture Taking: Depth of Field," and it has two learning cycles.

First of all, there's "What is depth of field?" and next there's "Using depth of field in photography." Let's begin with this question: What is depth of field? Take a good look at these two cubes.

Which object appears blurry and unclear, and which is in focus? Pause here and share with someone.

Thanks for sharing.

Perhaps you said that the object on the left appears blurry and unclear, and the object on the right is in focus.

To understand depth of field, we first need to understand focus.

When objects appear sharp with clear edges in photographs, we would refer to them as being in focus.

When objects appear blurry and unclear, we would refer to them as being out of focus.

So we can see the cube on the left here is out of focus, and the cube on the right has got sharp, clear edges, so it's in focus.

You can use the focus ring on your camera to choose which area of your image is in focus, ranging from near to the camera to far away.

Pause the video and share with someone.

Have you ever explored using the focus ring on a camera before? Thanks for sharing.

Again, don't worry if you've tried this before or if this is new to you.

We're gonna be focusing on focusing in this lesson, so you'll be learning all about it.

Check for understanding: Which setting on your camera should you use to make sure your subject can be seen clearly and is not blurred? Is it: A, the focus ring? B, aperture controls? Or C, flash? Pause here while you decide.

Well done if you selected A, focus ring.

Indeed, this is what's gonna help to make your subject be seen clearly and to not be blurred.

So let's take a look at this question: What do you understand by depth of field? Here are some responses: Izzy: "I think depth must mean how deep a picture is, maybe how far we can see.

I'm not sure about the field bit.

And Lucas: "Is this field of vision, maybe?" Both of these are great responses.

Depth refers to how near and far from the camera subjects are, and field means our field of vision through the lens.

Depth of field refers to the range of depth in a photo that appears sharp and in focus.

Which depth of field is shallow, and which is deep? Pause here and share with someone.

What do you think? Thanks for sharing.

Perhaps you said that the image on the left has a shallow depth of field, and the image on the right has a deep depth of field.

Let's explore these a little more.

Shallow depth of field is when only a small part of the image is in focus.

You do a sharp subject with a blurry background.

So we can see that Izzy is in focus, whereas Lucas, who is in the background, is not.

And deep depth of field is when most or all of the image is in focus, e.

g.

, a landscape where everything looks sharp, or in this image, where we can see both Izzy and Lucas looking sharp.

The ways we can control depth of field with our cameras are: The aperture, or f-stop, sometimes it's known.

So lower f numbers like f/2.

8 give a shallow depth of field.

Higher f numbers like f/16 give a deep one.

Distance to subject.

The closer you are, the shallower the depth of field.

And lens type.

Longer lenses, like telephoto, tend to create a shallower depth of field.

So those are three ways that we can control the depth of field in our cameras.

Let's have a check for understanding: Which of these are a way to control depth of field? A, a tripod B, a phone camera.

C, a telephoto lens.

Pause here while you decide.

Well done if you selected answer C.

Indeed, a telephoto lens is a way to control depth of field.

And now it's time for your first task.

I would like you to identify and share images and photographs that use different depths of field.

You could: use found images to create a visual image board showing pictures with a range of depths of field.

Make a note of any patterns that you see and note when particular types of images use a larger or smaller depth of field.

So pause here while you have a go at this task: identifying and sharing images and photographs that use different depths of field.

I'll see you when you're finished.

It's great to be back with you.

How did you get on with your task? Identifying and sharing images and photographs that use different depths of field.

There are many outcomes, but you might have pick some images like these that have a shallow depth of field.

Here we can see that the subject, each of these creatures, are clear and in focus, whereas the backgrounds are blurry.

And these images have a deep depth of field where there is clarity throughout the image, both in the foreground and the background.

Let's hear some reflections.

So Jacob says, "I found some pictures of mountains in a magazine that all used a greater depth of field to show more of the scenery." And Andeep: "I found that lots of advertisements used a shallow depth of field.

It really made the different products stand out." Pause here and share with someone what was some of the different kinds of images that you found that that particularly had a shallow depth of field or more of a deeper depth of field.

Thanks for sharing.

And now we're onto our next learning cycle: Using depth of field in photography.

Let's explore these newfound skills.

So how do you affect depth of field in your photography? Pause here and share with someone.

Thanks for sharing.

One of the simplest ways of affecting depth of field in your photography is through the aperture controls.

I wonder if that's the answer you gave.

You can find aperture controls on the lens ring of some cameras, via a control dial on the camera body in manual or aperture priority mode, or in pro/manual mode of your smartphone's camera app, if supported.

A larger aperture, that's a lower f-stop, will produce a shallower depth of field.

Less of your photograph will be in focus.

A smaller aperture, that's a higher f-stop, will produce a deeper depth of field.

More of your photograph will be in focus.

We can control our light levels by offsetting the aperture controls with shutter speed settings.

So how might this look in practise? Well, if you have a larger aperture, that's a lower f-stop, then what is in the foreground, the tree in the foreground, will be in focus.

We can see that highlighted on the screen there.

And the other trees that are in the background will appear unclear and blurry.

And in the second example, we can see with a smaller aperture, which is a higher f-stop, all of the trees are in focus.

So that's the trees in the foreground and in the background; they're all sharp and crisp and clear in focus.

Let's have a check for understanding.

Which of these images has a shallow depth of field, a larger aperture, and lower f-stop setting? Is it A, B, or C? Pause here while you decide.

Well done if you selected answer A.

Indeed, the squirrel has been shot with a shallow depth of field, a larger aperture, and a lower f-stop setting.

Let's explore this a little further.

So image A, the squirrel, has a shallow depth of field, a larger aperture, and a lower f-stop setting.

We can tell this because the background is out of focus, with sharp focus on the squirrel.

It also has a fast shutter speed to freeze motion and capture the moving animal without blur.

It's really very effective.

You should use depth of field in different ways depending on the genre you are working in.

For example, if portraits, macro, or still life photography, you would usually use a low f-stop.

Use this to isolate the subject and create background blur, drawing the viewer's attention to the main focus.

And that's a pretty cute dog to focus on.

Photographers who are known for their use of shallow depth of field to create emotional intensity are: Diane Arbus used shallow focus to emphasise her eccentric subjects and create intimacy or discomfort.

Jennie Baptiste creates intimate images, often using selective focus to emphasise personality and self-expression.

Saul Leiter often focused on a small part of the scene, like a single figure, a face, or a detail, while letting the rest softly blur.

This created a dreamlike, intimate atmosphere in his photos.

So we can see there are a number of photographers using a shallow depth of field in their work to create emotional intensity.

For landscape, architecture, and group photography, you would usually use a high f-stop.

Use this to keep most or all elements in focus, from near to far, capturing full detail across the scene.

Pause video and share with someone, how do you feel when you take a look at this image, which has been created with a high f-stop and a deep depth of field? Thanks for sharing.

I find it very calming and soothing.

Let's explore some more photographers.

Photographers who use a deep depth of field to maintain sharp focus throughout and give importance to background and context include: Ansel Adams used deep depth of field in his landscape photography, creating dramatic images.

In Sunil Gupta's "Christopher Street" series, the deep depth of field serves a narrative function.

It doesn't isolate the subject but instead connects them to their surroundings, reinforcing the political and cultural significance of occupying space publicly as a gay man in the 1970s.

And Rania Matar often employs deep depth of field in her portraits to allow the surroundings to become an integral part of the story.

So we can see a number of photographers who use a deep depth of field in their work.

Let's have a check for understanding.

True or false? For shooting a street scene, you should use a higher f-stop.

Pause here and decide, is this true or false? Well done if you selected false.

Now I'd like you to say a little more about your answer.

Pause here while you do this.

Perhaps you said something like this: Using a lower f-stop will produce a greater depth of field, allowing more of your subjects to be in focus.

And now it's time for your next task.

I would like you to experiment using depth of field in your photographs.

You could: create a composition with subjects at varying depths.

Take several photographs with different aperture settings.

Use your shutter speed to balance the brightness of the picture.

As you're shooting, look at the differences in focus between your different subjects.

How is this affected by higher and lower aperture settings? Try this a few times with different compositions and see which ones work best with different depths of field.

So pause here while you have a go experimenting using depth of field in your photographs.

Enjoy your task.

I'll see you when you're finished.

It's great to be back with you.

So how did you get on with experimenting using depth of field in your photographs? There are many outcomes, but you might have taken a photograph like this.

Here's Sam: "I took this landscape photo.

I used a high f-stop to get more of the view in focus." That's been really effective, I think.

And here's Sam: "I took this landscape photo.

I used a high f-stop to get more of the view in focus." Pause the video and share with someone your impressions of this photograph that Sam's taken.

Thanks for sharing.

And here's Izzy.

I took a picture of this lily, and using a low f-stop made it really stand out.

Yep, it absolutely does stand out.

Pause here and share with someone your impressions of this photograph that Izzy took.

Thanks for sharing.

And finally, I'd like you to pause here and share one or two photographs with each other and see if you can guess whether it was a low or a high f-stop that was used in each photograph.

Thanks for having a go at that.

In our lesson, "Picture Taking: Depth of Field," we've covered the following: When taking a photograph, subjects at different distances from the camera appear at different depths.

We can control how many of these appear in focus through manipulating the depth of field.

This is done using the aperture control on a camera.

The higher the f-stop, the greater depth of field, meaning more of our picture is in focus.

Lower f-stop settings produce a narrower depth of field, meaning more of the picture appears out of focus.

Well done, everyone, for joining in with this lesson.

It was so great to explore depth of field with you and to use what we've learned about aperture control and f-stops too.

Give us some wonderful landscape photographs of a deep depth of field and perhaps some fantastic portraits with a shallower depth of field.

I've really enjoyed teaching this lesson, and I hope you've enjoyed this lesson too.

I look forward to seeing you at another art lesson soon.

Until then, stay creative.