A Word about Depth of Field (Four Photographs)

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I find depth of field can be confusing to many including myself. I am not a teacher of photography but if I were I would spend a lot of time on three things: the position of the camera in relationship to the subject and background, the differences between lenses, and the impact of depth of field. These four photographs were taken with a large aperture to get a narrow depth of field (not easy with a 300mm prime lens at a distance of five feet). There are two ways to get a narrower depth of field when a large aperture alone does not work, both of which are illustrated here in the first two photographs. First, find a plant where the background is sufficiently far away as to be out of focus; and second, move your position as close as you can to the subject to increase the distance to the background. The other two photographs show how the background, being too close to the subject, can negate a narrow depth of field. In short, the camera’s relationship to the subject and the background matters as much as aperture, and understanding the properties of your lens can help you find the right strategy.