{"id":2927,"date":"2010-04-19T08:31:23","date_gmt":"2010-04-19T12:31:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/?p=2927"},"modified":"2017-08-11T17:11:35","modified_gmt":"2017-08-11T21:11:35","slug":"bokeh-vs-shallow-depth-of-field","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/bokeh-vs-shallow-depth-of-field\/","title":{"rendered":"Bokeh vs shallow depth-of-field (DoF)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/images\/models\/johannie\/NV1_0105.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"900\" height=\"1352\" \/><\/p>\n<h1>Bokeh vs shallow depth-of-field (DoF)<\/h1>\n<p>The first thing you might notice in this image is our super-cute model, Johannie.<\/p>\n<p>Next you will probably notice either:<br \/>\n&#8211; the strange background pattern, due to the\u00a0<strong>bokeh<\/strong> of this lens<br \/>\n&#8211; or the shallow\u00a0depth-of-field of the Nikon 50mm f\/1.4D used wide open<br \/>\n&#8211; or the lighting on her, (a reflector),<\/p>\n<p>These are all inter-related in some way for this photo &#8230;<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div id=\"banner_ad\"><div class=\"adsbygoogle\"><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script><!-- Tangents-responsive --><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"style=\"display:block\"data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-5272216363056127\"data-ad-slot=\"2115071898\"data-ad-format=\"auto\"><\/ins><script>(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); <\/script> <\/div><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Bokeh<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>With this photo I want to\u00a0illustrate a certain point about <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/category\/bokeh\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">bokeh<\/a><\/strong> &#8211; shallow depth-of-field is not\u00a0the same as having great\u00a0bokeh.<\/p>\n<p>It was shot with a 50mm lens,\u00a0at the widest aperture &#8211; f\/1.4<\/p>\n<p>While the DoF \/ depth-of-field is wafer-thin, the\u00a0out-of-focus leaves and branches in the background have an intrusive harsh shape to the edges. \u00a0The out-of-focus benches in the background also have that strange double effect to their shape. \u00a0This is because this lens exhibits harsh bokeh. \u00a0Not smooth. \u00a0Definitely not &#8220;buttery&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>I want to reiterate this again &#8211; even\u00a0though\u00a0the depth-of-field is shallow, the bokeh remains harsh. \u00a0This is simply due to the actual optical design of this lens. \u00a0In this case\u00a0I used the\u00a0Nikon AF-D 50mm f1.4 lens, but the Nikon 50mm f\/1.8 and Canon 50mm f\/1.8 look very similar. Ideally we&#8217;d want a lens that offers shallow depth of field to also exhibit great bokeh &#8211; a smooth rendition of the background. This comparison between various\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/review-canon-50mm-lenses-bokeh\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Canon 50mm lenses<\/a>\u00a0show how the bokeh differs, with the more expensive glass performing better.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Shallow depth of field<\/h2>\n<p>Using a shallow depth of field is possibly the easiest way to direct attention to your subject. \u00a0Your subject pops out from the background, giving a near 3-D effect when used well. \u00a0And then we just need to take care of our lighting, our composition and the background, for more <a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/effective-on-location-portraits\/\">effective on-location portraits<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The things we need to consider in our photography are nearly invariably inter-connected like that in some way.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Using a reflector for lighting<\/h2>\n<p>Since I desired a very shallow depth of field in such bright light, the wide aperture forced a high shutter speed. \u00a0The shutter speed being higher than <a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/maximum-flash-sync-speed\/\">maximum flash sync speed<\/a>, would mean I&#8217;d have two options:<br \/>\n&#8211; use high-speed sync on my flash. \u00a0This would mean reduced output on my flash. \u00a0And the easiest would be to use wireless radio controllers like the Radio Poppers.<br \/>\n&#8211; use a reflector.<\/p>\n<p>Camera settings: \u00a01\/4000 @ f1.4 @ 200 ISO<\/p>\n<p>I had my assistant hold up a white reflector to throw some light directly onto our model. This then created that interesting tightly &#8216;focused&#8217; light on just her face and upper part of her body. \u00a0The light that is reflected from the sun like this is pretty harsh, so I made sure that Johannie didn&#8217;t have to look directly into this. \u00a0I also had my assistant throw the light onto her for very short moments in which I&#8217;d shoot a burst of images.<\/p>\n<p>This would also explain the change in color balance across our model&#8217;s body. \u00a0Her face is now lit by sunlight, yet the rest of her body is still in shadow. \u00a0Two different white balance settings would be needed .. which of course is impossible in-camera. \u00a0But I like the effect here &#8211; it helps direct attention to her.<\/p>\n<p>A reflector is often used for just a bit of fill-light on the subject, but in this case the light from the reflector becomes a main source of light.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Related articles<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>More articles on\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/category\/bokeh\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">bokeh<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/bokeh-the-quality-of-blur\/\">Bokeh \u2013 the quality of blur<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/bokeh-quality-of-lens-blur\/\">Bokeh \u2013 a few notes<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/full-frame-vs-crop-sensor-cameras-comparison-depth-of-field\/\">Full-frame vs Crop-sensor comparison : Depth-of-field &amp; perspective<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/how-to-get-a-blurred-background-in-photos\/\">How to get a blurred background in photos<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/effective-on-location-portraits\/\">Effective on-location portraits<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bokeh vs shallow depth-of-field (DoF) The first thing you might notice in this image is our super-cute model, Johannie. Next you will probably notice either: &#8211; the strange background pattern, due to the\u00a0bokeh of this lens &#8211; or the shallow\u00a0depth-of-field of the Nikon 50mm f\/1.4D used wide open &#8211; or the lighting on her, (a&nbsp;<a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/bokeh-vs-shallow-depth-of-field\/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Read more inside&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29777,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,22,24,42],"tags":[866],"yst_prominent_words":[4500,1493,4266,4501,1217,1202,4502,4503,4486,4490,4505,1120,4499,1547,1673,4504,4488,1218,4498,1198],"class_list":{"0":"post-2927","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bokeh","8":"category-lighting","9":"category-models","10":"category-technique","11":"tag-bokeh","12":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2927"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2927"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2927\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39397,"href":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2927\/revisions\/39397"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29777"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2927"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=2927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}