Inspiration: Bokeh

In photography, bokeh is the blur, or the aesthetic quality of the blur, in out-of-focus areas of an image, or “the way the lens renders out-of-focus points of light.” Differences in lens aberrations and aperture shape cause some lens designs to blur the image in a way that is pleasing to the eye, while others produce blurring that is unpleasant or distracting— “good” or “bad” bokeh, respectively.

Bokeh occurs for parts of the scene that lie outside the depth of field. Photographers sometimes deliberately use a shallow focus technique to create images with prominent out-of-focus regions.

Bokeh is often most visible around small background highlights, such as specular reflections and light sources, which is why it is often associated with such areas. However, bokeh is not limited to highlights, as blur occurs in all out-of-focus regions of the image.

Examples of Bokeh

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Conclusion

If you have any tips or tricks on creating that perfect bokeh in your photos, let us know in the comments.

7 Comments

  1. Hey there!
    I really love those pictures!! I wanted to ask, if I am allowed to use the Bokeh-3 pic for my blog?

  2. can i use some of your bokeh’s? thanks! They’re really nice!

  3. Hi.
    Most “bokehs” here presented has circles of confusion have sharp edges. This is not considered a good bokeh since it occurs in areas of picture, where not suppose to be any sharpness. Then what do You mean by “creating” bokeh ? You have a lens with specific set of spherical aberration characteristics and it is it, there is nothing You can change. Unless You are using some DC lenses.
    Regards, Timor.

  4. Dear Timor,
    You certainly can create bokeh. There is no “specific set” of “aberrations” on the lense. That is not it. The bokeh shown here is created probably by using an F1.8 or F1.4 lens with lights in the background that create the orb effect when unfocused. Please stop trying to sound pedantic. And I don’t understand your first sentence at all. Or the second one for that matter. And “you” is not capitalized.
    Regards,
    Lindsey

  5. Sorry Lindsay. I am sure, I must have been pretty tired, when I was writing my post. Capitalized “You” is there instead of Your name. Just to be polite, would You like to write Your name with small letter ?
    About “bokeh”. Check this out:
    http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/bokeh.htm
    Regards, Timor

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