Depth of field..
If your on the filmcrew i'm sure you would have heard this phrase thrown around alot...we use it alot as directors when talking to our handheld operators to help them get more dynamic looking shots of instruments on stage. It's certainly an important part or camera work so i wanted to talk on it.
Firstly, Here's a few web definitions of Depth of Field that i found.
- The amount of distance between the nearest and farthest objects that appear in acceptably sharp focus in a photograph. Depth of field depends on the size of the aperture, the distance of the camera from the subject, and the focal length of the lens. The bigger the aperture, the greater the depth of field.
- simply put, it is the apparent sharpness of a shot considering the distance between the nearest and farthest elements that appear to maintain acceptable sharpness and clarity.
- The range within which all subjects, though located at different distances from the camera, are in focus.
Getting depth of field for us on RVTV... simply means zooming in close to a specific object from a distance away from it so that we can specifically set our focus to that object alone. And because we're zooming in and getting nice and tight on one specific object, the camera lens can then use all of its energy to show us that object in much clearer and sharper detail because it doesn't have to worry about anything else in the shot.
The more depth of field a shot has... the far more sharp, crisp and clear it will look. So in other words, the further back we stand from an object and zoom into it.....The better it will look. I personally will often encourage my handheld operators to stand 5 steps back from their shot and zoom in... rather than physically get up close to it forcing them to be fully zoomed out to have it included.. and in the process giving a less sharper looking shot.
Obviously it's still nice to come out wide occasionally and show us the surroundings...But especially in slow worship songs when it's soft and intimate it's much nicer to have a tight shot from a distance. Why? because it has more depth of field to it...
Shots with alot of depth of field look fantastic on things like the drummers hands tapping, accoustic and bass guitars...fingers on keys of keyboard player, faces in the choir and crowd, anything really..
A good tip to remember on handheld. Depth of Field.
HB.
Firstly, Here's a few web definitions of Depth of Field that i found.
- The amount of distance between the nearest and farthest objects that appear in acceptably sharp focus in a photograph. Depth of field depends on the size of the aperture, the distance of the camera from the subject, and the focal length of the lens. The bigger the aperture, the greater the depth of field.
- simply put, it is the apparent sharpness of a shot considering the distance between the nearest and farthest elements that appear to maintain acceptable sharpness and clarity.
- The range within which all subjects, though located at different distances from the camera, are in focus.
Getting depth of field for us on RVTV... simply means zooming in close to a specific object from a distance away from it so that we can specifically set our focus to that object alone. And because we're zooming in and getting nice and tight on one specific object, the camera lens can then use all of its energy to show us that object in much clearer and sharper detail because it doesn't have to worry about anything else in the shot.
The more depth of field a shot has... the far more sharp, crisp and clear it will look. So in other words, the further back we stand from an object and zoom into it.....The better it will look. I personally will often encourage my handheld operators to stand 5 steps back from their shot and zoom in... rather than physically get up close to it forcing them to be fully zoomed out to have it included.. and in the process giving a less sharper looking shot.
Obviously it's still nice to come out wide occasionally and show us the surroundings...But especially in slow worship songs when it's soft and intimate it's much nicer to have a tight shot from a distance. Why? because it has more depth of field to it...
Shots with alot of depth of field look fantastic on things like the drummers hands tapping, accoustic and bass guitars...fingers on keys of keyboard player, faces in the choir and crowd, anything really..
A good tip to remember on handheld. Depth of Field.
HB.
posted by HaRRy BoY at 11:10 PM
2 Comments:
Excellent lesson HB!
Another thing about DOF is that it is affected by light levels - if there's not enough light, the depth of field will be so small that you can't focus at all! So avoid trying to do those shots in when it's too dark...
Yep.. and then follow that by absusing whoever was on lighting.. haha.
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