However, these reflections can cause damage if they are focused close to other optical

components. In most cases this can easily be avoided by the right orientation of the
lenses as demonstrated in figure 2.29.

Fig. 2.29. General considerations on the orientation of lenses inside the light sheet
optics. Furthermore cases c and d in figure 2.29 should be used in order to minimize
aberrations. For other situations it might be possible to tilt the lens slightly in order to
avoid reflections on to other lenses or towards the laser or even into the resonator.

Refraction
In general, the incident wave is partially refracted and partially reflected;
In optics, refraction is a phenomenon that often occurs when waves travel
from a medium with a given refractive index to a medium with another at an
oblique angle. At the boundary between the media, the wave's phase velocity
is altered, usually causing a change in direction. Its wavelength increases or
decreases, but its frequency remains constant.
A ray traveling along the normal (perpendicular to the boundary) will change
speed, but not direction. Refraction still occurs in this case. Understanding of
this concept led to the invention of lenses and the refracting telescope.
Refraction in a glass of water. The image is flipped.
An analogy that is often put forward to explain the refraction of light is as
follows: "Imagine a marching band as it marches at an oblique angle from a
pavement (a fast medium) into mud (a slower medium). The marchers on the
side that runs into the mud first will slow down first. This causes the whole
band to pivot slightly toward the normal (make a smaller angle from the
normal)."
Image Formation by Lenses and the Eye
Image formation by a lens depends upon the wave property called
refraction. Refraction may be defined as the bending of waves when
they enter a medium where their speed is different. Since the speed
of light is slower in a glass lens than in air, a light ray will be
bent upon entering and upon exiting a lens in a way that depends upon
the shape and curvature of the lens. In the case of a converging lens
such as the double convex lens shown below, parallel rays will be
brought together at a point.

The distance from the lens to this principal focus point is called
the focal length of the lens and will be designated by the symbol f.
A converging lens may be used to project an image of a lighted
object. For example, the converging lens in a slide projector is used
to project an image of a photographic slide on a screen, and the
converging lens in the eye of the viewer in turn projects an image of
the screen on the retina in the back of the eye.

There is a geometrical relationship between the focal length of a lens (f), the
distance from the lens to the bright object (o) and the distance from the lens
to the projected image (i). The relationship between the distances illustrated
in Figure 2 can be expressed as

This relationship will be used to determine the focal length of a

glass lens, and will be used as the basis for a qualitative
investigation of image formation by the eye with the use of a large
eye model.

I. Image formation by a lens; determination of focal length.

1. Position the lens and white screen on the optical bench and place
them so that the distance from the lighted "object" to the lens can
be measured on the bench scale. Adjust the screen to get a clear
image.

Determine the object distance and image distance, o and i, and

calculate the focal length from the lens relationship. Describe the
appearance of the image, compared to the object (e.g, larger,
smaller, erect, inverted). Adjust the object distance to a different
value and repeat the process with a different set of measurements.

2. What is the average of your focal length measurements, expressed

in meters?

3. The lens strength in diopters is defined as S = 1/f(in meters).

The unit is 1/m but this unit is commonly called a "diopter".

What is the strength of your lens in diopters?

Note: Converging lenses are listed as + and diverging lenses as -

when diopter numbers are quoted. Prescriptions for eyeglasses are
usually expressed in diopters.

4. What is the diopter number of a lens of focal length 0.05 meters?

What is the focal length of a +7 diopter lens?

5. Using the average value of your focal length measurements,

calculate the image distance i if the object distance is 1.5 x your
focal length (e.g, if your measured focal length were 10 cm, you
would do the calculation for an object distance of 15 cm). For this
arrangement, the image distance and linear magnification of the image
are given by
Calculation
Measure the height of your object and predict the size of the image
which would be formed with the object placed as described above. Now
make the actual measurements of image distance and image size and
compare them with your predictions.

Measurements
Predictions
Measured object size h =
Measured focal length f = _______ cm
_______ cm
Object distance o = 1.5 x f =
Measured image distance i =
_______ cm
_______ cm
Predicted image distance i = _______
Measured image size = h' =
cm
_______ cm
Predicted magnification M = i/o =
Predicted image size h' =
_______ cm
_______ cm

II. Investigation of image formation by the eye.

The figure shows a sketch of the eye model. At the beginning of the
experiment the retina should be in the middle, or "normal eye"
position. The model should be filled with water to a height which
covers the fixed lens of the eye model. This fixed lens of the eye
model represents the cornea. In addition to the cornea, the human eye
has another internal lens.

1. Place the object light about two meters away from the eye model so
that light passes through the eye's lens and falls on the retina.
Find a lens to place in the holder inside the water of the eye model
which will give you a clear image on the retina. This internal lens
in the human eye has a variable focal length and is changed in shape
to allow you to change your eye's focus from a distant object to a
close one. This change of focus is called "accommodation".
 Lens strength for sharp image
at 2 meters: _________

2. Move the object to a

distance 35 cm from the front
lens. To illustrate
accommodation, and try to
find a lens to replace the
lens in the water which will
again give you a clear image
on the retina. Then make
small adjustments in the
object distance to get the
sharpest possible image and
record the object distance
and lens strength needed to
achieve it.

Lens strength for sharp image

at 35 cm : _________

If you moved it away from 35

cm, record the data:

Distance for sharpest focus

_____________
Lens strength ___________

Note: You should now have a

clear image on the retina.
The positions of the object
and the eye model should be
kept fixed for the next two
steps of the experiment.

3. To simulate far-
sightedness (hyperopia), move
the retina of the eye model
to the forward position. The
light rays should be seen to
converge toward a point
behind the retina. Find a
corrective lens for this
defect. (Lenses for
correction must be positioned
in the slots outside the eye
model.).

Diopter number for best

correction ___________

4. To simulate near-sightedness (myopia), move the retina to the

rear. The light rays should be seen to converge toward a point in
front of the retina. Find a corrective lens for this defect.
Corrective lens _______________

5. Remove the corrective lens from the front of the near-sighted eye
model and replace it with the lens holder which has a metal plate
with an aperture in it. Describe any changes in the image quality
when this aperture is placed at the front of the eye model. Would a
nearsighted person see clearer images in dim light or in bright
light? Why do nearsighted persons squint?

6. The human eye is relaxed when it is focused on distant objects.

From your experience in this lab, does the lens focal length approach
a maximum or a minimum when your eye relaxes? Would this imply that
the eye's lens is more rounded or less rounded when the eye muscle is
relaxed?

Equipment: Image Formation

Optical bench

Converging lens and lens holder

Illuminated image and optical bench stand to hold it.

White card for screen and stand to hold card

Eye model including lens set

Large illuminated object for eye model.

wikiHow to Choose a Lens Aperture (F Stop)

Community Q&A

The aperture is a hole which controls the amount of light that passes
through to the camera sensor (or film pane for film cameras). It's
one of the three key settings of exposure (ISO, shutter speed,
aperture).

By adjusting the aperture or f/stop to which it is most often

referred, you not only control the amount of light you gather but
you also introduce effects on your final image which you will need to
understand. Depth of field (DOF, the area of sharpness through the
image) is the most important, but there are also optical
imperfections or enhancements. Knowing how your camera's lens
aperture works will help you make informed choices about what other
exposure settings to use and what creative effects or even errors may
occur and how these will affect the image.

Steps
1.

Familiarize yourself with some of the basic concepts and

terminology. You'll need to know these in order to make sense of the
rest of the article.

o Aperture or stop. This is the adjustable hole through which

light passes on its way from the subject, through the lens, to the
film (or digital sensor). Like the pinhole in a pinhole camera, it
blocks rays of light except those that would, even without a lens,
tend to form an inverted image by passing through that central
point to a corresponding point in the opposite direction on the
film. With a lens, it also blocks rays of light that would pass
through far from the center, where the lens glass may less
closely approximate (usually with various easy-to-make
spherical surfaces) the shapes that would focus it perfectly
(usually much more complex aspherical surfaces), causing
aberrations.
 Because every camera has an aperture, usually
adjustable, and if not, at least has the edges of the lens
as an aperture, the aperture size setting is what is
normally called the "aperture".

o F-stop or simply aperture. This is the ratio of the focal length

of the lens to the size of the aperture. This kind of measurement
is used because a given focal ratio produces the same image
brightness, requiring the same shutter speed for a given ISO
setting (film speed or equivalent sensor light amplification)
without regard to focal length.

o Iris diaphragm or simply iris. This is the device most cameras

use to form and adjust the aperture. It consists of a series of
overlapping thin metal blades that can swing toward the center
of a hole in a flat metal ring. It forms a central hole that is
perfectly round wide open, when the blades are out of the way,
and constricts by pushing the blades toward the center of that
hole to form a smaller polygonal hole (which may have curved
edges).

If your camera uses interchangeable lenses, or it is a

"bridge" type digital camera, the lens will have an
adjustable diaphragm iris. If your camera is a shirt-pocket
sized "point-and-shoot" compact model, especially a
lower priced model, it may have a "neutral density filter"
instead of a diaphragm iris. Also, if the camera's mode
dial includes "M", "Tv", and "Av", it almost certainly has
an actual diaphragm iris; this applies even on small
compact models. If the mode dial doesn't include these
three settings, the camera might have a diaphragm, or it
might only have an ND filter; the only way to know for
sure is to read the specifications in the owner's manual,
or read a detailed professional review (Google your
camera's model name with the word "reviews", and you
will probably find at least two or three reviews on the
Internet). If your camera uses an ND filter, your ability to
"fine tune" your settings and control depth of field and
bokeh effects will be limited to whatever the fixed
aperture of the lens provides. NOTE on Mode Dial
settings: "M" stands for "Manual" - in this mode you have
to set both the shutter speed and aperture. "Tv" is
shutter speed priority: you manually set the shutter
speed, and the camera's exposure computer sets an
appropriate aperture. "Av" is "Aperture Priority" - you
manually set the f-stop (aperture) that you want, typically
to achieve a specific depth of field, and the camera's
exposure computer decides what shutter speed to use.

Most SLR cameras only close down the iris diaphragm,

making it visible from the front of the lens, during an
exposure or when the depth-of-field-preview function is
activated.
o Stopping down means to use a smaller, or (depending on
context) a relatively small aperture (large f/ number).

o Opening up means to use a larger, or (depending on context),

a relatively large aperture (small f/ number).

o Wide open means to use the largest aperture (smallest

f/number).

o Depth of field is the specific front-to-back area, or (depending

on context) the scope of the front-to-back area that appears
fairly sharp. A smaller aperture increases depth of field and
decreases the extent to which objects outside the depth of field
are blurred. The precise extent of depth of field is somewhat
subjective because focus drops off gradually from the precise
distance of focus, and the noticeability of defocus depends on
factors such as subject type, other sources of lack of sharpness,
and viewing conditions.

A relatively large depth-of-field is called deep; a

relatively small depth-of-field is called shallow.

o Aberrations are imperfections in a lens's ability to focus light

sharply. Generally speaking, less-expensive and more-exotic
types of lenses (such as superwides) have more severe
aberrations.

Aperture has no effect on linear distortion (straight lines

appearing curved), but it often goes away toward the
middle of a zoom lens's focal-length range, and pictures
can be composed to avoid drawing attention to it such as
by not putting prominent obviously straight lines such as
on buildings or horizons close to the frame edges, and it
can be corrected in software or by some digital cameras
automatically.

o Diffraction is a basic aspect of the behavior of waves passing

through small openings which limits the maximum sharpness of
all lenses at smaller apertures.[1] It becomes increasingly
apparent past f/11 or so, making a great camera and lens no
better than a so-so one (albeit sometimes one exactly suited for
a specific need such as great depth of field or a long shutter
speed where lower sensitivity or a neutral-density filter is not
available).
2

Understand depth of field. Depth of field is, formally, the range of

object distances within which objects are imaged with acceptable
sharpness. There is only one distance at which objects will be in perfect
focus, but sharpness drops off gradually in front of and behind that
distance. For a short distance in each direction, objects will be blurred
so little that the film or sensor will be too coarse to detect any blurring;
for a somewhat greater distance they will still appear "pretty" sharp in
the final picture.[2] The pairs of depth-of-field marks for certain
apertures next to the focusing scale on a lens are good for estimating
this latter measure.[3].

o Roughly one-third of the depth of field is in front of the focus

distance, and two-thirds is behind (if not extending to infinity,
since it is a phenomenon relating to the amount by which light
rays from an object have to be bent to converge at a focal point
and rays coming from far distances tend toward parallel.)

o Depth of field drops off gradually. Backgrounds and foregrounds

will appear slightly soft, if not in focus, with a small aperture, but
 very blurred or unrecognizable with a wide aperture. Consider
whether they are important and should be in focus, relevant for
context and should be a little soft, or distracting and should be
blurred.

If you want great background blur but do not have quite

enough depth of field for your subject, focus on the part
that will draw the most attention, often the eyes.

o Depth of field generally appears to depend on, in addition to

aperture, focal length (longer focal length gives less), format
size (smaller film or sensor size gives more, assuming the same
angle of view, i.e., equivalent focal length), and distance (there
is much less at close focus distances).

So, if you want shallow depth of field, you can buy a super-fast
lens (expensive), or zoom in (free) and set even a cheap smaller-
aperture lens wide open.

o The artistic purpose of depth of field is to deliberately have the

entire picture sharp or to "crop depth" by diffusing distracting
foreground and/or background.

o A more practical purpose of depth of field is to set a small

aperture and pre-focus the lens to the "hyperfocal distance" (the
closest at which the depth of field extends to infinity from a
given distance; see a table or the depth of field marks on the
lens for the aperture chosen) or to an estimated distance, to be
ready to take a picture quickly with a manual-focus camera or a
subject moving too fast or unpredictably for autofocus (in which
case you'll need a high shutter speed too).

o Remember that you normally won't see any of this

through your viewfinder (or on your screen as you're
composing. Modern cameras meter with the lens at its widest
aperture, and only stop down the lens to its selected aperture at
the moment of exposure. The depth-of-field preview function
usually allows only a dim and imprecise view. (Disregard any odd
patterns in the focusing screen view; they will not appear in the
final picture.) What's more, viewfinders on modern digital SLRs
and other autofocus cameras don't even show the true wide-
open depth of field with a lens faster than f/2.8 or so (it's
shallower than it looks; rely on autofocus, not subject to this
limitation, when possible). A better option on digital cameras is
to simply take the picture, then play it back and zoom in on your
LCD to see if the background is adequately sharp (or blurred)
enough.
3

Understand the interaction of aperture and instantaneous

lighting (flash). A flash burst is normally so short that the flash
component of an exposure is affected only by aperture. (Most 35mm
and digital SLRs have a maximum "flash-sync" flash-compatible shutter
speed; above that only a fraction of the frame would be exposed due to
the way in which their "focal-plane" shutter works. Special high-speed-
sync flash modes use a rapid burst of weak flashes, each exposing a
fraction of the frame; they greatly reduce flash range and so are rarely
helpful.) A wide aperture increases maximum flash range. It also
increases effective fill-flash range by increasing the proportionate
exposure from a flash and reducing the time during which ambient light
is allowed in. A small aperture may be needed to prevent overexposure
in close-ups due to a minimum output below which a flash cannot be
reduced (indirect flash, which is inherently less efficient, can help in
this situation). Many cameras can adjust the balance of flash and
ambient lighting with "flash exposure compensation". A digital camera
is best for complex flash setups because the results of instantaneous
bursts of light are inherently non-intuitive, even though some studio
flashes have "modeling lights" and some fancy portable flashes have
modeling-light-like preview modes.
4

Test your lenses for optimal sharpness. All lenses are different and
are better shot at different apertures for optimal performance. Get out
and shoot something with lots of fine texture at different apertures and
compare the shots to figure out how your lens behaves at various
apertures. The object should be all essentially at "infinity" (30 feet or
more with wide-angles to hundreds of feet with tele-lenses; a distant
stand of trees is generally good) to avoid confusing defocus with
aberrations. Here's some hints as to what to look for:

o Nearly all lenses have lower contrast and are less sharp
at their widest aperture, especially towards the corners
of your image. This is especially true on point-and-shoot and
cheaper lenses. Consequently, if you're going to have detail in
the corners of your pictures that you want to keep sharp, then
you'll want to use a smaller aperture. For flat subjects, f/8 is
typically the sharpest aperture. For objects at varying distances
a smaller aperture may be better for more depth of field.
o Most lenses will have some noticeable amount of light
fall-off wide open. Light fall-off is where the edges of the
picture are slightly darker than the centre of the picture. This
can be a good thing for many photographs, especially portraits;
it draws attention towards the centre of the photograph, which is
why many people add falloff in post. But it's still good to know
what you're getting. Falloff is usually invisible after about f/8.

o Zoom lenses can vary depending on how far in or out they are
zoomed. Test for the above things at a few different zoom
settings.

o Diffraction makes almost every lens's images softer at f/16 and

smaller apertures, and conspicuously softer at f/22 and smaller.

o All of this is just something to think about for optimum clarity of

a picture that already has as good a composition--including
depth of field as possible, and which will not be much more
grossly marred by insufficient shutter speed causing camera-
shake or subject blur or noise from excessive "sensitivity"
(amplification).

o Don't waste film investigating this check your lenses on a

digital camera, check reviews, and in a pinch assume expensive
or prime (non-zoom) lenses are best at f/8, cheap simple ones
such as kit lenses are best at f/11, and cheap exotic ones such
as superwides or lenses with wide or tele adapters are best at
f/16. (With an adapter lens on a point and shoot, stop down as
much as possible, perhaps by using the camera's aperture-
priority mode look in its menus.)
2.

Understand aperture-related special effects.

o Bokeh, a Japanese word often used to refer to the appearance

of out-of-focus areas, especially highlights because those appear
as bright blobs. Much has been written about the details of
those out-of-focus blobs, which are sometimes brighter in the
middle and sometimes a little brighter at the edges, like donuts,
or some combination of the two, but at least one author rarely
notices it except in bokeh articles. Most importantly, out-of-focus
blurs are:

Much larger and more diffuse at wider apertures.

Soft-edged at the widest aperture, due to the perfectly

round hole (the edge of a lens, rather than an iris blade).

The shape of the diaphragm opening, when not at the

widest aperture. This is most noticeable at wide apertures
 because they are large. This might be considered
unattractive with a lens whose opening does not closely
approximate a circle, such as a cheap lens with a five- or
six-bladed diaphragm.

Sometimes half-moons rather than circular toward the

sides of images at very wide apertures, probably due to
one of the lens elements not being as huge as it would
have to be to fully illuminate all parts of the image at that
aperture, or weirdly extended due to "coma" at very wide
apertures (which is pretty much only an issue when
taking pictures of lights at night).

Prominently donut-like with mirror-type tele lenses, due to

a central obstruction.

o Diffraction spikes forming sunstars. Very bright highlights,

such as light bulbs at night or small specular reflections of
sunlight, will be surrounded by "diffraction spikes" making
"sunstars" at small apertures (they are formed by increased
diffraction at the points of the polygonal hole formed by the iris).
These will either have the same number of points as your lens
has aperture blades (if you have an even number of them), due
to overlapping of opposite-sides' spikes, or twice as many (if you
have an odd number of aperture blades). They are fainter and
less noticeable with lenses with many, many aperture blades
(generally odd lenses such as old Leicas).
6

Get out and shoot. Most importantly (in terms of aperture at least),
Control your depth of field. It's as simple as this: a smaller aperture
means more depth of field, a larger aperture means less. A larger
aperture also means more background blur. Here's some examples:

o Use a small aperture to force more depth of field.

o Remember that depth of field becomes shallower the

closer you get.If you're doing macro photography, for
example, you might want to stop down far more than you would
for a landscape. Insect photographers often go way down to f/16
or smaller, and have to nuke their subjects with lots of artificial
lighting.

o Use a large aperture to force a shallow depth of field.

This is great for portraits (much better than the silly automatic
portrait scene modes), for example; use the largest aperture you
have, lock your focus on the eyes, recompose and you'll find the
background is thrown out of focus and is, consequently, made
 less distracting.

Remember that opening the aperture like this will cause faster
shutter speeds to be chosen. In bright daylight, make sure you
aren't causing your camera to max out its fastest shutter speed
(typically 1/4000 on digital SLRs). Keep your ISO low to avoid

Shoot for special effects. If you're photographing lights at night,

have adequate camera support, and want sunstars, use a small
aperture. If you want large, perfectly rounded bokeh spots (albeit with
some incomplete circles), use a wide-open aperture.

3. 8

Shoot for fill-flash. Use a relatively large aperture and fast shutter
 speed if necessary to mix flash with daylight so the flash isn't
overwhelmed.

4.

Shoot for optimum technical image quality. If depth of field is not

of primary importance (which would generally be the case when pretty
much everything in the picture is relatively far from the lens and will be
in focus anyway), the shutter speed will be high enough to avoid blur
from camera shake and the ISO setting will be low enough to avoid
severe noise or other quality loss (which would generally be the case in
daytime), you don't need any aperture-related gimmicks, and any flash
is powerful enough to balance with ambient light adequately, set the
aperture that gives the best detail with the particular lens being used.
 5.

10

Once you've chosen the lens aperture, try making the most of
it with aperture-priority mode.

Community Q&A
Ask a Question
Submit

Tips

There's plenty of wisdom embodied in the old saying: f/8 and don't be
late. f/8 typically gives sufficient depth of field for most still subjects,
and it's where 35mm and digital SLR lenses are typically at their
sharpest (or close to it). Don't be afraid to use it or program mode (a
good mode to leave your camera on for whatever might pop up) for
 interesting subjects that won't necessarily stand still for you to adjust
your camera.

Sometimes you have to compromise your choice of aperture to allow

an adequate shutter speed or acceptable film speed or "sensitivity"
(amplification) setting. You can also just let your camera's auto setting
choose something for you to get the shot. Do it.

Softness from diffraction and, to a lesser extent, defocus (which can

create odd patterns rather than softness alone) can sometimes be
mitigated by processing such as the "unsharp mask" function in your
post-processing software; GIMP and Photoshop being two popular
examples. This will strengthen soft edges though it cannot create fine
detail that was not captured, and creates harsh erroneous detail if
overused.

If careful aperture selection will be very important to your picture and

you have an automated camera, aperture-priority mode or program-
shift (scrolling through the combinations of apertures and shutter
speeds automatically determined to give proper exposure) are
convenient ways to set it.

All lenses have some distortion in them: there is no such thing as a

"perfect" lens, even in Professional models that cost thousands of
dollars. The good news is that name-brand lenses, such as those from
Nikon, Canon, Pentax, Zeiss, Leica, Sony/Minolta, and Olympus, often
have known "distortion correction" profiles that can be downloaded on
the Internet and applied in post-processing software (in Adobe
Photoshop and Adobe Camera RAW software, for example). Using the
capabilities of good post-processing software and camera lens profiles
can go a long way toward making photos with a lot of barrel or
pincushion distortion look much more natural and pleasing to the eye.
In this example of a wide angle panoramic landscape photograph, the
problem is that "perspective distortion" and "barrel distortion" is
causing the trees toward the outer edges of the image to lean inwards.
It's pretty obvious that this is a lens distortion and that it's very unlikely
that the trees were actually leaning this way.
 o Now, here is the same image after Lens Profile and Vertical
Distortion Corrections were applied in Adobe Camera RAW. The
trees are now all more or less vertical, both in the center and at
the edges of the scene, at the expense of a slight cropping of
the image. The photograph looks much more pleasing to the
eye, and doesn't have the distraction of the trees leaning in

Warnings

Make "sunstars" with bright points of light, like streetlights, that are not
so bright as the sun itself.

o Don't point a tele-lens, especially a very fast or long tele-lens,

directly at the sun while attempting to make "sunstars", or for
any other reason. You may damage your eye, or the camera's
shutter or sensor.

o Don't point a cloth-shutter non-SLR camera, such as a Leica,

toward the sun, except perhaps briefly to take a picture
handheld, and even then only with a small aperture set. You may
burn a hole in the shutter, which would require a somewhat
expensive repair.

Focusing Basics
Understanding Depth of Field in Photography

In this section were going to discuss several crucial

elements for exercising greater creative control over your
final photographic image. Other than lighting, composition and
focus (which includes depth of field) are the main elements
that you can exercise complete command over. Focus enables you
to isolate a subject and specifically draw the viewers eye to
exactly where you want it. The first thing to understand about
focus is depth of field.
 1

Depth of Field

Depth of Field (DOF) is the front-to-back zone of a photograph

in which the image is razor sharp. As soon as an object
(person, thing) falls out of this range, it begins to lose
focus at an accelerating degree the farther out of the zone it
falls; e.g. closer to the lens or deeper into the background.
With any DOF zone, there is a Point of Optimum focus in which
the object is most sharp. There are two ways to describe the
qualities of depth of field - shallow DOF or deep DOF. Shallow
is when the included focus range is very narrow, a few inches
to several feet. Deep is when the included range is a couple of
yards to infinity. In both cases DOF is measured in front of
the focus point and behind the focus point. DOF is determined
by three factors aperture size, distance from the lens, and
the focal length of the lens. Lets look at how each one
works.

Aperture


The aperture is the opening at the rear of the lens that

determines how much light travels through the lens and falls on
the image sensor. The size of the apertures opening is
measured in f-stops - one of two sets of numbers on the lens
barrel (the other being the focusing distance). The f-stops
work as inverse values, such that a small f/number (say f/2.8)
corresponds to a larger or wider aperture size, which results
in a shallow depth of field; conversely a large f/number (say
f/16) results in a smaller or narrower aperture size and
therefore a deeper depth of field.

Small vs Large Aperture



Manipulating the aperture is the easiest and most often

utilized means to adjust Depth of Field. To achieve a deep,
rich and expansive DOF, youll want to set the f-stop to
around f/11 or higher. You may have seen this principle
demonstrated when you look at photos taken outside during the
brightest time of the day. In such a case, the camera is
typically set at f/16 or higher (that Sunny 16 Rule) and the
Depth of Field is quite deep - perhaps several yards in front
of and nearly to infinity beyond the exact focus point. Lets
take a look at these two photos as examples. The photo on the
left has an expansive DOF, most likely shot around noon (notice
the short, but strong shadows), with an f/22 aperture. The
photo on the right has an extremely shallow DOF; probably an
f/2.8 aperture setting. However, to achieve an identical proper
exposure, the shutter speed is probably closer to 1/1000th to
compensate for the increased amount of light entering the lens
at f/2.8.

Aperture Range


The aperture range identifies the widest to smallest range of

lens openings, i.e. f/1.4 (on a super-fast lens) to f/32, with
incremental stops in between (f/2, f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6, f/8,
f/11, f/16, and f/22). Each f-number is represents one stop
of light, a stop is a mathematical equation (which is the focal
length of the lens divided by the diameter of the aperture
opening) that determines how much light that enters the lens
regardless of the length of the lens. Such that an f/4 on a
50mm has smaller opening than an f/4 on a 200mm, but an
equivalent amount of light travels through both lenses to reach
the image sensor thus providing the same exposure. Each
movement up the range (say f/2 to f.2.8) reduces the amount of
light by one-half and each movement down the range (say f/11 to
f/8) doubles the amount of light passing through the lens.
Its important to understand this concept and how it affects
exposure because it works in tandem with the shutter speed
(well discuss this in another section) to establish a given
exposure value. Basically, when you change the aperture size
one stop, you have to shift the shutter speed one stop in the
opposite direction to maintain a consistent exposure and this
change in aperture alters the depth of field (DOF) accordingly.

5
 Distance from the Lens
The last element affecting depth of field is the distance of
the subject from the lens - you can adjust the DOF by changing
that distance. For example, the closer an object is to the lens
(and the focus is set on that object) the shallower the DOF.
Conversely, the reverse is true - the farther away an object is
and focused on, the deeper the DOF. Changing the distance to
subject is the least practical way to manipulate the depth of
field, and by changing the distance from a subject to the lens,
you immediately change your images composition. To maintain
the compositional integrity of the shot, but still have the
change in DOF from a distance, you can change the focal length
(either by changing lenses or zooming in). Why does changing
the focal length negate the effects on DOF? This is because the
visual properties of a given lens either provide either greater
DOF (shorter lenses) or shallower DOF (longer lenses). The
physical properties of a lens at a given focal length also
affect the depth of field. A shorter focal length lens (say
27mm) focused at 5 meters, set at f/4 has a deeper DOF (perhaps
from 3 meters in front and 20 meters behind) than a longer
focal length (say 300mm), also set at f/4 focused at 5 meters.
The 300mm lens has a remarkably shallow depth of field.
Incidentally, to help you with this, every lens has a manual
with a DOF chart for each f/stop and the major focusing
distances. DOF is just a matter of physics, and its important
to grasp this concept.

Conclusion
Manipulation of depth of field is a good way to modify the
characteristics of your photo, and manipulating the aperture is
the ideal way to do this because it has little or no effect on
composition. You simply need to change the shutter speed (or
change the light sensitivity ISO) to compensate for the
changes in the exposure from the adjustments to the f-number.
Changes in distance and focal length also affect DOF, but these
changes have trade-offs in terms of composition. Therefore,
changes to aperture are the best way to manipulate DOF without
affecting a photos composition.