Certified Professional Photographer Practice Exam 2026 – All-in-One Guide to Achieve Your CPP Success!

To decrease the depth of field, the photographer should adjust the aperture size. A wider aperture (represented by a smaller f-stop number) allows more light to enter the camera and creates a shallower depth of field. This results in less of the image being in focus, allowing the subject to stand out more sharply against a blurred background.

In photography, depth of field refers to the range of distance within a photo that appears acceptably sharp. By manipulating the aperture, photographers can control this aspect, emphasizing their subject by mitigating distractions from the background.

While lens focal length influences depth of field as well—where longer focal lengths typically produce shallower depth of field—aperture size has a more direct and immediate impact on this characteristic. Shutter speed and exposure time predominantly affect motion blur and overall brightness of the image, but they do not have a direct influence on depth of field.