The Complete Beginner's Guide to Great Bokeh (Blurred Background)

The term ‘bokeh’ means the quality of the out-of-focus blur which mostly makes the subject look secluded from rest of the background. Folks always find a photograph with a soft and beautiful background more appealing and attractive. It creates a sense of depth and dimension on an image and makes its quality more clear. Obtaining a better bokeh is not a big deal, if we try to follow some basic techniques.

1. Make use of a large aperture

Bokeh is not something which is created by the camera, rather it is your lens and its optics which is accountable for the out-of-focus areas. The foremost task which is to be done is to set your lens aperture to its lowest value. This will ultimately decrease the depth of field to a shallow area.

2. Distance between yourself and the subject needs to be reduced

Lenses play a significant role which is why subject distance renders a great role in maximizing bokeh. There is a reason behind this as the more closely you stand to your subject the more blurred the background will appear to you.

3. Increase the distance between the background and your subject.

For a pleasant looking bokeh, always put your subject away from background objects. The depth of field gradually transforms from sharp to out-of-focus. Ensuring that the subject is segregated from a cluttered background leads to a much better bokeh effect.

4. Utilize longer focal lengths.

For decreasing the depth of field, you must increase the focal length given the conditions that the distance between the camera and the subject remains the same. If you are using a zoom lens, then utilizing the maximum focal length will allow you to separate the subject from the background. For landscape and architectural photography, you must use the lens at its shortest focal length.

5. Use a long lenses.

Since increasing the focal length means decreasing the depth of field, lenses with longer focal lengths result in better bokehs. Bear in mind that this doesn't always happen as out-of-focus areas get rendered depending on the lens' optics. For instance, both the Nikon 70-200mm and the Nikon 18-200mm have the same long focal lengths (200mm). However, the optics of the Nikon 70-200mm is much better. Therefore, the bokehs from this lens turn out to be fantastic, whereas that of the 18-200 are less so. Thus, it isn't just a "long lens", but, a "high-quality long lens” results in better bokehs.

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