DOF?

So this week we started photography and one of the tasks we were asked to do on this blog was to provide an example of two images; one that shows a large depth of field and one that shows a small depth of field. Even though we had an explanation in class I was still a bit confused as to what depth of field actually meant so I went home and did a bit of googling and found that in basic terms:

Depth of field is a characteristic of a camera that can be used to enhance the image composition of the photo. Depth of field means the sharp area surrounding the point of focus. The magnitude of the sharp area is affected by several factors: distance between the camera and the subject, focal length and aperture.

This is an example of a small depth of field. Only the dragonfly is in focus causing the viewer to be drawn to the main subject of the photo, this is good for outlining detail in a photo or to emphasize a certain aspect of it.

This is an example of a small depth of field. This is good for landscape or crowd images, instead of focusing on the detail you are showing the entire scope of the scene, avoiding the need to isolate elements within the image.