Shallow focus

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Shallow focus is a photographic and cinematographic technique incorporating a small depth of field. In shallow focus one plane of the image is in focus while the rest is out of focus. Shallow focus typically is used to emphasize one part of the image over another. Photographers sometimes refer to the area that is out of focus as bokeh.

The opposite of shallow focus is deep focus, in which the entire image is in focus. This photographic technique more closely approximates what is seen by the human eye.

[edit] How To

A shallow focus is achieved by using a big aperture in conjunction with a long lens or a close subject distance. Common lenses used in still photography to achieve a shallow focus are 50/1.4, 85/1.8, and 135/2.

Further, using a camera with a large sensor helps; in still photography, large format inherently has narrower focus than 35 mm, which is still narrower than compact digital cameras. If you can choose what format to use, go with the largest sensor available.

Shallow focus is often used in portraiture, to isolate the subject from the background.

[edit] Examples

A scene from Jean Renoir's film, The Rules of the Game (1939). Note the out-of-focus figure in the background.

In the film, The Rules of the Game (1939), a couple flirts in the foreground while the woman's husband enters in the background. Director Jean Renoir chooses to keep the husband out-of-focus so that his presence is hinted, but not emphasized.