Nikon D5300 For Dummies

Controlling Focus and Depth of Field

In This Chapter

• Understanding autofocusing options
• Choosing a specific autofocusing point
• Tracking focus when shooting moving subjects
• Taking advantage of manual-focusing aids
• Manipulating depth of field

To many people, the word focus has just one interpretation when applied to a photograph: Either the subject is in focus or it's blurry. But an artful photographer knows that there's more to focus than simply getting a sharp image of a subject. You also need to consider depth of field, or the distance over which other objects in the scene appear sharply focused. This chapter explains how to manipulate both aspects of a an image.

The chapter begins with details of the focusing options available for viewfinder photography; following that, you can get help with focusing during Live View photography and movie recording. Just a word of warning: The two focusing systems are quite different, and mastering them takes time and practice. So don't think that you're not up for the challenge if everything doesn't sink in right away. If you start feeling overwhelmed, take a break and simplify things by following the steps laid out at the end of Chapter 1, which show you how to take a picture using the default autofocus settings and the Auto exposure mode. ...