SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

Recently there have been a number of mentions about DoF. Most every discussion of a 2.8 or faster lens includes some discussion about DoF(dof) and/or Bokeh(the quality of the OOF areas). Does compression play a part?
I would like to open up a discussion about, but not so much about the technical merits of DoF/OOF/Bokeh areas, as much as how we take advantage of these techniques in our photos to enhance and draw attention to subjects(positive space) and foreground/background areas(negative spaces).
We see DoF used in everything from portraits to bird shots. How do we create this DoF and to what degree. If dof is good, can there be too much of a good thing?
Are some lenses better than others at not only producing DoF but at rendering Bokeh? This is not about whether Bokeh has Specular Highlights(SH), but how do you create them and do it purposely to use them to your advantage.
Show us how and when and how much DoF you like to use and why that what works for that particular photograph.
I will follow with a few broad examples that I feel work well in relation to the subjects.
Feel free to draw on the other Composition discussions that we've already had.

SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

following are three very different shots incorporating dof, Bokeh and SH
Feel free to post any shots that use these techniques and how and with what you created then with. ;-)
SS

jack-o-lantern

(Download)

bullfrog

(Download)

wedding w/specular highlights

(Download)

wolfiebear Loc: 10,200 elev. in the Rockies

GOOD POST. I'l join in when I have something to share.. . . just wanted this in my "watched topics".
Can we also assume you are not really talking about Macro shots?

lighthouse Loc: No Fixed Abode

Hey, I thought that first pic was a Lou Reed album cover!!

I think you need to be a bit clearer SS regarding what you are calling DOF.
I assume you mean shallow DOF?
DOF can be shallow, and DOF can be deep.
But people sometimes tend to mean only shallow DOF when they say DOF. And that is not strictly correct.
When I take a shot that is in focus from 10 inches to infinity and beyond, I am using DOF.

SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

Lighthouse, you are absolutely correct, it's all DoF.
I think that when we use dof for effect, it's ushally shallow. I did think of posting a shot that is a focus stack and is in focus from 0 to infinity but it basically becomes any wide angle shot with tons of DoF.
So rather than focusing on the f64 club we should focus on the f4- club and how we use shallow dof to enhace our shots.
But thanks for clearing that up Lighthouse! :thumbup:
SS,

Uuglypher Loc: South Dakota (East River)

So, we landscapers who have serious concern with hyperfocal theory...and the large format enthusiasts of the Scheipflug principle for whom Depth-of-field is as much their bread-and-butter as it is for those who merely open up wide for a shallow DOF "to isolate the subject" should wait for other, more closely and diferently defined threads on DOF? We must keep in mind that use of the concept of DOF is just as crucial to those planning to eliminate bokeh as for those who extole its characteristics.
...just asking so'z not to overstep the intended bounds of this thread.

Dave in SD

oldtigger Loc: Roanoke Virginia-USA

When i grab a greymule, bozsik, travelerted or moxie and blow it up 400% with the intention of jumping in and wandering around its because there is no sense of DOF, it has uniform all pervading detail.
However, when an image grabs me, demands my attention, or has emotional impact i usually find it has very well defined and limited DOF and the quality of the out of focus areas has little bearing on the viewing experience.

bud 77 Loc: Long Beach, WA

Sharpshooter, Thanks for starting this thread. The depth of field has an effect on every photo and how it is used makes or breaks each and every one, deep or shallow. I will follow this with great interest. bud

DaveO Loc: Northeast CT

I agree Bud. :thumbup:

jimmya Loc: Phoenix

I created this shot with my then Canon t1i. I've since upgraded to the t3i which I really enjoy. I used my
50mm f/1.8 hand held at 1/200 on Shutter Priority. The only editing I did was to add a slight bit of contrast.

Canon t1i, 50mm f/1.8, 1/200 on Shutter Priority. Framing slightly left just for the look of it.

(Download)

DaveO Loc: Northeast CT

Very good pic!

oldtigger Loc: Roanoke Virginia-USA

achieving narrow DOF without trashing out of focus highlights is a difficult balancing act.

SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

Dave, If you use Bokeh in your landscapes, by all means post them. I realize that a lot of landscape shooters do not, and by design the average wide angle lens used has so much dof that we will never see the effects of the OOF areas without some careful planning.
Maybe this discussion can be used as a catalyst for some landscape shooters to start looking for those types of landscape scenes that can include Bokeh as part of the landscape. It could open up a whole new dimension of shooting!
I'll post a shot where I do just that! I could have chosen to include the wildflowers in sharp dof (focus) or not but purposely chose not to, in order to give my shot a more unique approach. And no, I did not just merely open up wide, I shot this at f11 @ 113mm, so my shooting position was very deliberate to get the result I was trying to get!
Sometimes using dof can give a clichéd shot a little more personal spin. The scene can always be photographed both ways. I bracket my dof field all the time and possibly more than I bracket my exposure since it's difficult to see exactly what the dof looks like on the back of my camera. Oftentimes I bracket for both. You may or may not agree but it's just another way of approaching the landscape shot. I use it all the time in my landscape shots, street shots and travel shots.
I think in the course of this discussion, as I mentioned at the start, we should keep it to shots that are using visible dof/Bokeh to help carry our shots, no matter what genre they may fall into and including landscape!!
Dave, I hope that does not stop you and all the landscapers from participating with some of your other shots or with landscape shots that include some oof. ;-)
SS

wildflowers and mountain

(Download)

SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

Tigger, maybe you could explain that?
As a highlight goes farther and farther into the OOF area, the more and more it will start to take on the characteristics of the diaphragm through which it is passing.
If you look at the highlights coming off of the fork, you'll notice that they are turning into 5 sided balls(pentagons), which are typical for the lens that he used. I'm not sure if that is what you refer to as, "trashing"?!
Jimmy did not say if he used flash or not, but my initial feeling is he did not. ;-)
SS

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I was waiting for someone to mention that.