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You might have seen photographs in newspapers or magazines wherein the subject is pin sharp while the background is smoothly blurred. Such photographs are not only beautiful to look at but also help in keeping your attention to the spot where the photographer wants you to. If you always wanted to do the same to your photographs, you must read the following & start practising to get perfect with what professional call as – Bokeh.

Introduction

Before we proceed let’s get familiar with Bokeh. Bokeh is a Japanese word for Blur. The blurred portion is often the parts which are extras & are often distracting. Using Bokeh will help the viewers concentrate on the main subject which is an important aspect of a good photograph. By getting sufficient Bokeh you can lend a professional feel to your photograph, which every passionate photographer loves to yearn. Now let’s learn how to create Bokeh effect in your photographs.

Things you should know forehand

# Type of Camera:

The amount of Bokeh which you get is directly related to the camera you use. Generally, small compact & prosumer cameras won’t get heavy blur owing to the small size of their sensors. Meanwhile, with a good DSLR you can expect a total smooth blur in backdrop of your subjects.

# MANUAL Focus:

MANUAL focus is of utmost importance to generate Bokeh. Automatically letting camera focus generally doesn’t generate good amount of Bokeh. With MANUAL focus you can take total control as to where the camera should focus & thus separating the background with a good amount of Bokeh. Most compacts won’t let you focus manually, though the latest one’s do offer MANUAL FOCUS. If you own a prosumer it should have MANUAL FOCUS generally hidden under some menu. For DSLR owners just change the small switch on lens to MANUAL focus to focus manually.

# Aperture:

The wider the aperture the more Bokeh you will get in your photographs & vice-versa. If you use a DSLR, it would be better you use a fast lens typically having a wider aperture of F1.8 or even lesser. Compact cameras generally have the F3.0 or above as the starting point for aperture. A prosumer offers even more scope for Bokeh but still a DSLR with wide aperture lens is the need if you want really good Bokeh.

# Focal Length (Zoom):

The higher the focal length the more Bokeh you will get. A super zoom prosumer will do the job. Compacts will find a hard time here whereas DSLR owners can replace the lens to a high zoom one.

Shooting Photographs with Bokeh

1) Change your camera mode to MANUAL mode by turning the mode dial on your camera.

2) Use MANUAL FOCUS (if your camera offers) to focus. By using MANUAL FOCUS you can focus precisely on your subject which will help adding more Bokeh to your photograph.

3) Compose the shot normally & set the shutter speed, ISO, White Balance & other parameters as required.

4) Zoom into your subject & try to get a very tight shot. If you’re having difficulties in focussing take a step or two back & then try focussing again.

5) Turn down the Aperture to widest your camera offers (Do remember that widest Aperture will be represented by small F Number & vice-versa. Do not get confused). Do note changing focal length (Zoom) will alter the aperture appropriately, so adjust accordingly.

6) Sometimes shooting under Macro mode helps but it’s not required since when manually focussing you will automatically focus within the macro range. This is just a cheat trick for those who want to get the easy way out for generating Bokeh in their photographs. Do remember that you can’t always use this trick though.

Conclusion:

Now that you know how to generate Bokeh in photographs, grab your camera & start practising it. Do leave links to your photo gallery under the comments so that our readers (including me) can get a look at it.

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