Importance Of Depth Of Field In Wedding Photography

One of the most used photographic techniques in the wedding industry is the bokeh. But is it really what changes a picture completely? Will clients still like their images without the bokeh? Let’s find out in this article about the importance of depth of field.

- Souradeep Roy

 

WHAT IS DEPTH OF FIELD?

Depth of field is the distance between the nearest and farthest distance in a scene that are sharp. It is also known as the effective focus range. Aperture plays an important role in depth of field as reducing the aperture value (i.e 2.8,2,1.8,1.4 etc) will provide low depth of field and increasing aperture value will provide high depth of field.

REASONS FOR USING DOF

Depth of field can be used for several reasons. While the quality depends on a lot of factors like the aperture, the camera sensor size and the type of lens used along with the lens’ maximum aperture the theory of depth of field is still the same. Wedding photographers have shown a keen interest in using depth of field to their advantage and this is one of the primary reasons why they prefer full frame cameras and expensive and fast lenses with good lens quality.

Let’s talk about the primary reasons for choosing to shoot low depth of field photographs during weddings. Low depth of field photographs can only be shot with DSLR/Mirrorless/Medium format cameras etc thus the quality of images and the overall aesthetics look amazing compared to images shot in ordinary point and shoot cameras. The images look quite beautiful when shot in shallow depth of field as there is much less distraction. The blur in the backdrop and the bokehs provide for the perfect frame as the viewer’s attention stays on the bride or the groom in the photo.