Shallow Depth of Field vs Soft Focus

By Editor Miro Susta
Edited and published by Yvette Depaepe, the 23rd of May 2025

Although the terms “Shallow Depth of Field” and “Soft Focus” are closely related in photography, they have different meanings and applications.

'Beauty giving you 'goose' bumps' by Yvette Depaepe

In this article, I took the liberty of referring to shallow depth of field as 'blurring' and soft focus as 'softening'.

untitled by David Minster

Blurring is a form of intentional image processing that aims to achieve a soft-focus effect, whereas softening is an artistic technique used to create a special soft image.

'Window side' by Takashi Tadano

Blurring is a powerful technique suitable for striking portraits and almost any other photographic genre. It is also very popular in macro photography, still life photography, wildlife photography and many kinds of travel photography.

untitled by Doron Braunstein

'Dandelion' by Margareth Perfoncio

'The blue forest ….........' by Piet Haaksma

Photographing with a shallow depth of field is a simplification technique in which unnecessary details are blurred or removed, and the focal plane is limited to the essentials.

'Warm up' by Rana Jabeen

However, many photographers find it difficult to get started with shallow depth of field photography. One issue is that people don't usually experiment with fast enough lenses.

'In the woods' by Shenshen Dou

If you are using a camera with a 'kit lens', it is likely that the maximum aperture will be f/4.5 or smaller. This will not produce a shallow depth of field, but will only result in a soft foreground. Not much can be achieved with such a lens. In general, lenses with an aperture of f/2.8 or faster should be used, but f/2.8 only provides the expected creative effect in certain situations.
Therefore, it is necessary to invest a little more and use faster, high-quality prime lenses.

'The bursting spores of Cookeina Tricholoma mushroom' by Sharita Miranda

The 50 mm prime lens is a good starting point for shallow depth of field photography and is ideal for street, still life and portrait photography.

'Red Leaves' by Leif Løndal

Using long lenses (85–100 mm) can flatten a scene and compress the distances between elements, making it more difficult to include context in the frame.

'Sentiment' by Patryk Morzonek

Taking the camera out into the streets with an 85 mm or longer lens will produce similar shots as there is not much room for movement, space or composition. Images would be tightly framed, showing mostly people's heads and little else.

untitled by Vagueandoporlisboa

Using a 50 mm lens, you can get much closer to your subject and vary the amount of context you include, while still achieving a strong shallow depth of field that makes the subject stand out from its surroundings.

'Help Punk to get drunk' by Joško Šimic

However, it is not only 50 mm or longer prime lenses that are best suited to photography with a shallow depth of field. One of the most important lenses for this type of photography is the 24 mm lens. While not ultra-wide, 24 mm is a generous focal length for a wide-angle lens, and an aperture of f/1.4 or even f/1.2 is powerful for achieving a shallow depth of field.

'Fisherman's Wharf at Sunset' by chen wei

The further away the subject of a photograph is, the less effect a large aperture has. Compositions with a close subject appear more dramatic due to the relative distance, although the effective depth of field is much shallower.

'Boys and cow' by Svetlin Yosifov

David Hamilton became famous in the 1970s and 1980s for his soft-focus photographs. Other photographers often imitated this softening effect, and it eventually became overused. Even today, photos with soft focus are not necessarily considered superior when the soft-focus effect is applied.

'Royal Tea. Pearls' by Dasha_and_Mari

Major features of soft-focus technique: -

· Creates a dreamy aesthetic.

· Hides imperfections.

· Makes skin look smooth.

· Gives the image a nostalgic feel.

'Potatoes' by Bill Gekas

Photographing with soft focus is an art form that involves simplifying an image by removing unnecessary details and limiting the plane of focus to the essentials.

'Family flamingos' by Natalia

There are many ways to achieve soft focus in images, the most common methods are listed below:

· Soft focus lens, expensive but gives the best results.

· Soft focus filters which scatter light to create the effect of soft focus

· UV filter smeared with a minimal amount of Vaseline.

· Post processing does not give a perfect soft focus but still gives an acceptable result.

'Time to seed … ' by Yvette Depaepe

In conclusion it can be said that: -

· Soft focus is a technique used in photography to reduce the contrast of delicate details in a picture.

· Soft focus is a blur caused by spherical aberration or, in other words, light scattering. This means getting a blurred image without losing sharpness.

· Soft focus softens the contrasts. Depending on the effect and technique, an image may appear softer, foggier, or duller.

· Originally, soft focus effects may have been considered a lens fault or a technical defect in the lens.

· Although the soft focus can be edited in post-processing, the result of a shot with a soft-focus lens cannot be achieved.

Following just a few more wonderful images from our members on this subject.