Certified Professional Photographer (CPP) Practice Exam

When photographing close to a subject, the depth of field indeed gets shallower. This phenomenon occurs due to the relationship between the camera's lens and the distance of the subject being photographed. As you decrease the distance to your subject, the depth of field narrows, meaning that only a small plane of the image will be in sharp focus, while areas in front of and behind this plane will appear more blurred. This characteristic is particularly important for photographers to consider when composing their shots, especially in portraiture or macro photography, where isolating the subject against a soft background can create a more striking image. In contrast, if you were to photograph from further away, the depth of field would increase, allowing more of the scene to be in focus. While other options suggest varied outcomes for depth of field, they do not accurately reflect the principles of optics that govern this behavior in photography. Understanding how proximity to the subject affects depth of field is crucial for creating desired visual effects in images.