NIKON ACADEMY – CONTINUED

Narrow apertures, like f/11, result in a large depth of field with everything in focus.

On Nikon cameras with Scene modes, such as the D3500, D5600 and Z 50, if you choose the Landscape mode, the camera will set a narrow aperture with a large depth of field. Conversely if you select Portrait or Sports mode, the camera will try to achieve a wider aperture to blur the background.

The second consideration that will affect the depth of field in your image is the focal length you use. A wide focal length, such as 14mm, will give you a large depth of field for a given f-number, while using a long focal length, like 200mm, drastically reduces the depth of field in the image.

Finally, you have to take into account the distance between the subject and the camera. The closer you focus the camera on a subject, the shallower the depth of field. The further away you focus the camera, the greater the depth of field.

Unfortunately, these three factors do not always work together well. Macro photography is an example of this, as you often get very close to the subject, which gives minimal depth of field, but you may desire everything to be sharp in the image. Even if shooting at a narrow aperture, such as f/11, if you’re extremely close to the subject, the depth of field will still only extend to a few millimetres.

Regardless of which Nikon camera you have, these days you can visualize the depth of field in your images either before you shoot using tools like Live View, or by reviewing the image on the LCD after you’ve taken the picture. This makes achieving the correct depth of field easier to achieve.