Depth of Field

A toy train track thru the MP-65mm F2.8 Macro

When I started with photography now over a decade ago it was with a Zentith 122 as some one you, who have been following the blog might know. Ofcourse I had no clue about this ‘thing’ called the depth of field, all I did know was that times not everything in my photographs were sharp and I was not too happy about it. (The 50mm F2 on the zenith was excellent)

The thought at the time was what’s the point in taking a photograph if you cant see everything ‘clearly’!

It was not long before I moved on to a new camera leaving behind my Zenith and with it the fascination of getting everything clear.

Over time the desire to have everything sharp died and gave rise to a new desire to have more and more of the photograph ‘blurred’. Working with the MP was a novel experience, without any Photoshop at all this photograph clearly shows the focal line in the photograph with as shallow a depth of field as I have experienced.

When I think of the importance of the depth of field in photography I end up at a concert where an orchestra is playing and then while the rest of the musicians fade out to create the background score the Cello does a solo recital.

Its as if you can cut out all the chaos in a fish market to hear a conversation between two people.