“I think a photography class should be a requirement in all educational programs because it makes you see the world rather than just look at it.”
—Author Unknown

If there’s one thing that I love to play with it is Depth of Field (DOF). Controlling what is in focus, in a photograph, can seriously enhance the feel or mood. I used to think that you needed a detachable lens on a really good camera to achieve varying depths of field. Not so. Sure it’s easier to selectively focus with a DSLR (digital single-lens reflex camera), but you can obtain a shallow depth of field with a point-and-shoot, too. For images such as landscapes, a large DOF is appropriate, while for others—such as portraits—a small DOF is better.

If you have a point and shoot camera and you want to have more control over the depth of field and aperture, there are few things you can do:

• Shallow Depth of Field; where the foreground is in focus and the background is blurry, shoot in Portrait mode as this will choose a wider aperture ( aperture controls the amount of light reaching the film or image sensor) for your photo.
• Wider Depth of Field; where everything in the photo is in focus/sharp, shoot in Landscape mode where the camera selects smaller aperture.

With a DSLR camera you have more control with removable lenses, various modes that allow you to set the aperture and shutter speed, and a varying degree of ISO settings (how sensitive the image sensor is to the amount of light present; the higher the ISO, the more sensitive the image sensor and therefore the possibility to take pictures in low-light situations.)

I could go on and on about these various aspects of DOF.

My main piece of advice to you:

• READ your camera’s manual.
• READ about all the various settings or mode.
• READ and equip yourself with the knowledge that will “make you see the world around you rather than just look at it.”

“The moment one gives close attention to anything, even a blade of grass it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself.”
—Henry Miller

There is a direct relationship between something like Depth of Field and Perspective. Once you harness the ability to change the DOF, you can change the mood of whatever you image you are capturing. That’s just one way you, as a photographer, can change the perspective of a picture. The other way is simply changing the angle or height at which you take a picture.

Changing DOF to achieve a different perspective:

Changing angle and/or height to achieve a different perspective:

“I’ve learned that you can’t have everything and do everything at the same time.”
—Oprah Winfrey

And this quote applies to photography, as applies to all aspects of life. Sometimes you just can’t follow the Photography Basics and Rules. Sometimes you just have to do what feels right. You have to find a balance among all these variants of composition. There have been plenty of photographs that have won much acclaim, that have not followed any of the rules. That’s because emotion is evoked. When you find your perspective, balance will follow; photographically and philosophically speaking.

Balance in photography is easy to achieve once you put things into perspective

[Mishelle is the author of Secret Agent Mama and Mishelle Lane Photography. Along with her husband, four children, whom she home schools, she resides northeast Metro Atlanta.]