Written by Sanne
Edited on
7 April 2023
·
07:14
Tips to get the bokeh effect in photos
You can create a bokeh effect with a big difference between sharpness and blur in your photo. I understand that you are now wondering how you can achieve this. That is why I've listed 5 tips for you to get a great bokeh effect in your photos.
Tip 1: Use the correct lens
The lens largely determines the quality of the bokeh. A beautiful bokeh often consists of soft and round light balls in the background. The number of 'slats' influences this. The more aperture blades, the rounder the aperture and the smoother your bokeh eventually becomes. You often find this effect in portrait photography. The background blur causes your subject to separate from the background, drawing attention to the model.
Tip 2: choose the correct aperture
In a photo with a bokeh effect, the background is blurred and the foreground is sharp. You create this with a small depth of field, or a large aperture. You can achieve a large aperture with a small aperture number. Choose an aperture of f/2.8 or f/1.8 if you have it. This way, you get the best effect. If you focus on the subject that you want to focus on, you'll see that everything around it becomes blurred.
Tip 3: choose a suitable subject
Most photographers use the bokeh effect in portrait and macro photography. With a portrait photo you want the person to be sharp and the background to be blurred. The same applies to a macro photo of, for example, a flower. In addition, a bokeh is also very nice in photos of details of, for example, a fabric. Another tip: are all lights visible in the background? Then certainly apply the bokeh effect. The lights then change into beautiful blurry balls.
Tip 4: stand close to your subject
The closer you are to your subject, the easier you get the bokeh effect in your photo. In this way the subject is released from the background. If you stand close to the subject, the background will be blurred faster. This increases the bokeh effect. Are you unable to get closer? Then use a zoom lens to get closer to the subject. Combined with a large aperture, this produces a nice result.
Tip 5: focus on your subject
This sounds very logical of course, but it is very important to focus on your subject. If the focus is not on the right subject, then your bokeh will not become the way you suggested it. With the auto focus you can easily focus on the right part of the image. If you shoot very close to the subject, use the manual focus. Your camera will then not always succeed in getting the subject in focus.
Article by Sanne
Camera Expert.
