These are the two photos I chose from the Green-Wood Cemetery field trip, that I feel define shallow depth of field and extensive depth of field. In a nutshell depth of field is basically the distance between the nearest and farthest object(s) that appear crisp and sharp in an image.
Getting those two photographs were a bit difficult for me since I had to use my cell phone.I had to get extremely close for the shallow depth of field and wait for the wind to subside or it would move the leaves causing the photo to come out blurry. Doing extensive was far easier for me since my subject was not influenced by the wind, but I still had to get fairly close with my phone to get a decent shot.
Both extensive and shallow depth of field are great techniques in a photographer’s arsenal, if executed properly. Shallow depth is great for when you have something that you want to be the main focal point of your image, for instance taking a picture of the birthday boy/girl at his or her own birthday party. Since they would be topic of interest at that event you would want to use shallow depth to make sure that they are highlighted within any picture they are in. Extensive depth of field would be used to capture an array of things at multiple points in an image while still retaining sharpness. For instance, you take a picture of someone at the beach, the middle ground has people socializing and the background the horizon of a near by landmass none of which would be blurred out.
