Most beginner photographers rate a digital camera by scrutinizing a picture taken by the camera to see how sharp it is. Sharpness is prized for good reasons and yet it is often important to be able to throw the background out of focus to get maximum impact from a photograph. We do that by using a shallow deapth-of-field.
Shelton Muller of Total Image magazine (www.total-image.com.au) explains depth-of-field and demonstrates how to use depth-of-field to your advantage when taking portraits.