Depth Of Field
In optics, particularly as it relates to film and photography, depth of field (DOF) is the distance between the nearest and farthest objects in a scene that appear acceptably sharp in an image. Although a lens can precisely focus at only one distance at a time, the decrease in sharpness is gradual on each side of the focused distance, so that within the DOF, the unsharpness is imperceptible under normal viewing conditions.
In some cases, it may be desirable to have the entire image sharp, and a large DOF is appropriate. In other cases, a small DOF may be more effective, emphasizing the subject while de-emphasizing the foreground and background. In cinematography, a large DOF is often called deep focus, and a small DOF is often called shallow focus.
Read more about Depth Of Field: Circle of Confusion Criterion For Depth of Field, Factors Affecting Depth of Field, Lens DOF Scales, Zone Focusing, Hyperfocal Distance, Limited DOF: Selective Focus, Near:far Distribution, Optimal f-number, DOF Formulas
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“It is thus that the few rare lucid well-disposed people who have had to struggle on the earth find themselves at certain hours of the day or night in the depth of certain authentic and waking nightmare states, surrounded by the formidable suction, the formidable tentacular oppression of a kind of civic magic which will soon be seen appearing openly in social behavior.”
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“And through the field the road runs by
To many-towered Camelot;”
—Alfred Tennyson (1809–1892)