Bokeh Photography Tutorial

photoextremist.com This photography bokeh tutorial will show you how to take a picture with a defocused background using a DSLR camera and shallow depth of field.

Comments

25 responses to “Bokeh Photography Tutorial”

  1. Dante Alighieri Avatar
    Dante Alighieri

    Bokeh refers to the aesthetic quality of the out of focus regions. Everything else is referred to as the circle of confusion.

  2. ReAnn Ring Avatar
    ReAnn Ring

    Beginner in photography and completely excited to have found your Ebook on FB .. downloaded it today and know I will be absorbed with it and my new camera … Love special effects and appreciate your simple explanations on how to … Great stuff!

  3. treocin Avatar
    treocin

    Sure, depends on F stop and distance from object, there are few plug ins for PS that do the trick too – OnOne suite, Allien Skin Bokeh etc. You can also Masket it and slightly twist the the vignette area and keep the main thing in focus just soft diffuse its edges. Usually 2 F and higher will give you this effect as the DOF is few inches. 1.8 Canon 85 mm is about 1″ which means you focus on eye and ear is not in focus, 1.2 85 mm is 1/2″ from being in focus. Most lenses are sharpest at 4 – 8 F

  4. Pēteris Lācis Avatar
    Pēteris Lācis

    Don’t all tripods do that? Mine does – Dynex DX-TRP60 It was 40 something $ from BestBuy.

  5. tjtank20 Avatar
    tjtank20

    Music?

  6. susiebeemee Avatar
    susiebeemee

    I noticed this too, so I took a good look at my tripod and found that I can mount my camera sideways on the mounting plate. Now to tip sideways I do what normally causes the camera to tip up and down. It is a little awkward, but I can now do vertical shots easily. Hope this helps, Susie

  7. C Feist Avatar
    C Feist

    Great Tutorial- I like the details it helps to me understand your process more clearly. Thanks!

  8. lqgemini Avatar
    lqgemini

    Bokeh is Japanese word meaning blurry. If you want a full tutorial about DOF, you have to add 2 more things. F-stop is not the only way to thinner the DOF, 3 ways to increase blurry background:
    1. Lower f stop
    2. Longer focal
    3. Closer object
    Yes, round shape depends on f-stop and it also depends on the number of aperture blades of the lens, 9 blades would be more round than 6 blades 🙂

  9. rhovanions Avatar
    rhovanions

    you can check out manfrotto for these kinds of tripods. some of them have ball heads that allow for free range of moment

  10. victor francis Avatar
    victor francis

    Excellent, will this work on cannon model550 with a lens 18-55mm? Do you run course?

  11. arun kumar nayak bhukya Avatar
    arun kumar nayak bhukya

    yes it is good but what happened when the lights are not having i mean in a dark room?

  12. Zina Jackson Fierce Foodie Avatar
    Zina Jackson Fierce Foodie

    Very cool effects! thanks for sharing…especially now for the holidays!

  13. BoldtCave Avatar
    BoldtCave

    At only around US $200 the Nikon 50mm f/1.8G AF-S would work great on a D5100 as a beginner lens, and it would allow you to do depth of field tricks like this. With lenses that only allow for smaller apertures like f/3.5 you would have trouble doing things like this as easily unless, as Evan suggested, you have a zoom lens like a 200 or 300mm. Search Youtube for bokeh and watch a few videos once you get your camera and get more familiar with it and you will catch on. Have fun!

  14. maratmasry Avatar
    maratmasry

    Question… I plan to get a Nikkon D5100 within a couple weeks or so and would love to do this. Must I get a Nikkor f/1.8 50mm for this? Or can i just use the settings you gave? #soontobenewbie

  15. Ariel Annika Avatar
    Ariel Annika

    Morning! Have you considered photo sfxart tricks (search for it)? My work buddy Debbie made some very incredible photography with their photography tutorials.

  16. morgand7000 Avatar
    morgand7000

    Very cool! I’m gonna do this

  17. StiRiLe35 Avatar
    StiRiLe35

    nice. 😀

  18. urwisss1 Avatar
    urwisss1

    I don’t see nothing extreme in it

  19. Mellowsprite Avatar
    Mellowsprite

    Thanks, it really helped me out!

  20. photographe06 Avatar
    photographe06

    Written in the first second of the video…

  21. 7julie77 Avatar
    7julie77

    THANK YOU!

  22. Victor Gonçalves Avatar
    Victor Gonçalves

    in my opinion the best part is the end, with those photos

  23. Anton Khlivnyy Avatar
    Anton Khlivnyy

    what a mess in that living room

  24. dazipro Avatar
    dazipro

    Bokeh isn’t depth of field, so you know; Bokeh is how nicely the out-of-focus areas look. Poor bokeh usually means sharp/ugly out of focus areas; Good bokeh means nicely blurred areas without obtrusive sharp lines.

  25. deanileifronzzX Avatar
    deanileifronzzX

    Sir. What is the best shutter speed, ISO, aperture for portraiture shooting. Thanks a Lot 😀