What is Depth of Field? (Part 1 of 3) Depth of field is the amount of distance in focus. IMPORTANT: it’s not where you focus. It’s really just how much is in focus. A SHALLOW depth of field has a very blurry background (and possibly blurry foreground) A DEEP depth of field shows A LOT in focus. Your subject and the background may all be in focus. But how do you control it? Did you know there are 3 main ways to control Depth of field? Most new photographers make the mistake of thinking there is o