Bokeh is a Japanese word that means unfocused “out of focus.” In photography, it is used to indicate the quality of the blur of a lens.
Is it useful for you to have some parts out of focus in your photographs? We are not referring to a blur obtained by mistake, but rather, a blur made on purpose and studied, and that serves to give something more to your photography. For more info, visit https://skylum.com/blog/what-is-bokeh-effect-in-photography.
To achieve blurring in your photographs, you have to comply with the following rules:
- Focus On The Subject
If you have a subject in the foreground, it has to be perfectly in focus. What you decide to have, focused or not, is very important in the photo you want to take.
Remember that you can also create the bokeh without the main subject, you can use only the lights as the main protagonist of your photos. We are referring to the circular lights that can be out of focus and achieve a delicate blur.
- Diaphragm
Make your diaphragm as open as possible. To achieve a good blur, the diaphragm has to be less than f/4; this way the effect you will get will be smoother. A wide aperture diaphragm produces a short depth of field and consequently more blur.
When you set the diaphragm to maximum aperture, the bokeh over the light spots is rounder. While when the diaphragm is more closed, it has a polygonal shape.
- Lens focal length
To achieve a good blur, it is important to choose the right lenses. The shorter the focal length, the greater the depth of field, which means you can sharpen the background. But that’s not what we want, is it? Our end is an unfocused background. Go to https://skylum.com/blog/hdr-effect-photoshop.
Use a telephoto or medium zoom, for example, a very bright 70-200mm like the Tamron 70-200 f/2.8. With very bright fixed focal lenses, very good effects can be achieved.
