Depth Of Field
In optics, particularly as it relates to film and photography, depth of field (DOF) is the distance between the nearest and farthest objects in a scene that appear acceptably sharp in an image. Although a lens can precisely focus at only one distance at a time, the decrease in sharpness is gradual on each side of the focused distance, so that within the DOF, the unsharpness is imperceptible under normal viewing conditions.
In some cases, it may be desirable to have the entire image sharp, and a large DOF is appropriate. In other cases, a small DOF may be more effective, emphasizing the subject while de-emphasizing the foreground and background. In cinematography, a large DOF is often called deep focus, and a small DOF is often called shallow focus.
Read more about Depth Of Field: Circle of Confusion Criterion For Depth of Field, Factors Affecting Depth of Field, Lens DOF Scales, Zone Focusing, Hyperfocal Distance, Limited DOF: Selective Focus, Near:far Distribution, Optimal f-number, DOF Formulas
Famous quotes containing the words depth of, depth and/or field:
“The lotus’ stem is as long as the depth of water,
So men’s height is just as great as their inner strength.”
—Tiruvalluvar (c. 5th century A.D.)
“Manners are the happy way of doing things; each once a stroke of genius or of love—now repeated and hardened into usage. They form at last a rich varnish, with which the routine of life is washed, and its details adorned. If they are superficial, so are the dewdrops which give such depth to the morning meadows.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Hardly a book of human worth, be it heaven’s own secret, is honestly placed before the reader; it is either shunned, given a Periclean funeral oration in a hundred and fifty words, or interred in the potter’s field of the newspapers’ back pages.”
—Edward Dahlberg (1900–1977)