Shallow depth of field is frequently used in advertisement type stock photographs. It can be used in editorial photos but more frequently is used in ads.

Using shallow depth of field for stock photos enables you to isolate the subject very easily. Having an isolated subject is very important. People that are advertisers don't want to buy stock photos that are cluttered and filled with detailed backgrounds.

Setting a shallow depth of field will make the stock photo much more profitable in certain situations. If you're taking an expansive landscape photograph, shallow depth of field probably wouldn't be your best option.

Great settings for which shallow depth of field work good for include a few categories. The possibilities, however, are endless. Shallow depth of field could be greatly used when taking pictures of a product. Isolating the product will bring more impact on the object. It could be used when taking photographs of people. It could even be used when photographing small objects of interest.

A shallow depth of field makes the object of interest more interesting. Having a simple background brings more impact to the subject of interest. Do not, however, think that the background is only a useless part of your photograph.

When setting the background up, even though it's out of focus, be sure that it adds something to the subject. If your subject is a duck then having an out of focus lake is a much better option than a white blank background.

In case you don't know, shallow depth of field is created by using a very large aperture .Using a large aperture lets a larger amount of light in. Having more light in makes the light that is let in lees detailed and thus creates a blur on certain parts of the photograph. Aperture settings such as F/5.6 or F/2.8 work great for shallow depth of field photographs.

With stock photos if you took a photograph of an object it can be greatly enhanced if you turn it into a shallow depth of field photograph. For example, let's say you took a picture of a salt shaker and the background was a kitchen fully in focus. You could open the photo up in an editing program and blur the background slightly or extremely. This will make more impact on the salt shaker.

An interesting way to use shallow depth of field in stock photography is when you take extreme telephoto lenses. I'm sure you have seen the pictures of very small objects and only a piece of the object is in focus. Everything else, the front and back, are out of focus. This shallow depth is achieved by using a very small field of vision. It is very interesting to play with the different effects of shallow depth of field. But always be sure that the subject of interest is as clear and focused as possible. Stock photography does not allow room for photos with out of focus subjects.