I never intentionally sought to create bokeh backgrounds. In fact, I only learned about bokeh fairly recently. But I have been taking photos with those fuzzy backgrounds for a long time, playing with different combinations of depth-of-field and aperture settings to create what I liked to call “3D” photos. I am a food blogger, after all, and the 3D effect works wonders in food photography. After I learned about bokeh, I went through the thousands of photos in my hard drive and was surprised how many of them had the kind of background that have come to be known in photography as bokeh.
What is bokeh?
Bokeh… is a photographic term referring to the appearance of out-of-focus areas in an image produced by a camera lens using a shallow depth of field. Different lens bokeh produces different aesthetic qualities in out-of-focus backgrounds, which are often used to reduce distractions and emphasize the primary subject. [Wikipedia]
If you want to get into the technical aspect of creating bokeh, read this and this. The second link is especially interesting as it includes the result of bokeh experiments using various camera lenses.
There is really no good or bad lens for creating bokeh in photos as the quality of blurring also depends on the distance of the subject to the objects in the background. A 50mm lens set at f/1.8 can create good quality blurring if the distance between subject and background is a mere few feet. But if the distance is longer, the background can be washed out.
One thing seems clear, however — good or bad bokeh is not always the result of technical skill nor the kind of lens used. In many cases, what is good or bad bokeh is a subjective thing since the ultimate test is whether the bokeh is pleasing to the eye. And that is something that will always vary from one viewer to the next.
Sunlight filtering through the leaves of the tree created the bokeh in the photo above. If you’re wondering what camera and settings I used:
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Shutter speed: 1/85 sec
Exposure program: Manual
F-Stop: f/4.5
Aperture Value: f/4.6
ISO Speed Ratings: 400
Focal Length: 105.0 mm
Below, another tree trunk similarly photographed.
Is the appearance of the light spheres necessary for a photo to be considered to have bokeh? Some seem to think so and it might be redundant to say it again but the concept of bokeh is a pretty subjective one. As far as I’m concerned, good bokeh simply means the background is pleasantly blurred to make the subject pop out of the picture.
Just how blurred should the background be for it to be considered bokeh? Personally, I have no idea. Photographers are in a constant state of disagreement although most agree that background objects should have no hard edges. Just how fuzzy the edges should be for them not to be considered “hard” is beyond me.
In macro photography, it is often tempting to go to extremes and open the aperture as wide as it can go to create an extremely blurred background. But there are cases when the background can actually enhance the subject and make it pop out even better. In such cases, less blurring becomes more effective. Take the photo of a cosmos flower above, for instance. By only slightly blurring the green leaves but still allowing them to remain an integral part of the photo, the flower appears more natural as it is set against its most natural setting — its own leaves. Bright yellow against green works visually well too.
But if you have to have those little light spheres, the effect can be created in many surprising ways.
Those are DVD cases, standing side by side on a shelf, behind Yoda. What created the white spheres? They are the result of lens blur and the reflection of the overhead light on the DVD cases with dark background and white text. You can actually make out some of the letters especially on the right side of the photo.
A direct source of light in the background is not always necessary to create a bokeh background effect. In this photo, the out-of-focus white flowers and green leaves, both lighter than the rest of the colors in the background, create interesting patterns.
So, you like bokeh? There are only two things to learn, really — depth-of-field and aperture settings. Experiment, experiment, experiment. 
Oh, I love that pic of the yellow flower! Splendid!
How is ‘bokeh’ pronounced, I wonder?
Bo-ke. From what I’ve read, the original spelling was “boke” but Americans kept mispronouncing it so a magazine writer added the “h” and it caught on.
Wow! The pictures are so pleasing to the eyes.
This is soooo informative.
Thanks a lot, Sass.
so that’s what it’s called. i get accidental bokeh background shots a lot and i love them. thanks for the tip
Beautiful dragonfly pics!
d0d0ng, I inform myself, then, I pass it on
Dexie, imagine the feeling that you actually have what can be considered as photography masterpieces sitting in your hard drive, no?
Asianmommy, I thank that dragonfly for staying still long enough to allow Sam and me to take dozens of shots. LOL
really informative. got a suggestion for you. Try the other way around making your main subject at the background and blurring (bokeh-ing) your foreground. This will provide a leading effect on your main subject, better if you can find a leading line like a row of flowers in a garden, or a fence and your main subject is at the farther end. But don’t put your main subject at the dead-center, instead place it either on the left or right of center to put a dynamic effect.
Wow, Nani, you make me want to go out and around the neighborhood right now. Thanks, I will definitely try that. I’ll show your comment to Sam as well. She’s more photo crazy than I am.
Hi. You’ve got such a nice site. Stumbled upon this while looking for other Pinoy bloggers. I had quite a laugh reading the Obama look-alike post. Pinoy talaga (I’m referring to the pics)- could always come up with something as original as that pics, lol. And, I particularly like this “Bokeh” post. Your shots are beautiful. Very soothing to the senses. Now, I know what shots like these are called. My personal favorites are the yellow flower and the dragonfly (was that a dragonfly? because I’ve quite forgotten my biology lessons, lol). Oh, sorry, I’ve been babbling quite a lot now when all i needed to say was that you’ve got such a cool site. Keep it up.
Pahabol na tip pa. On color rendition, you will notice that the picture of the dragonfly has greater impact compared to other pictures (well, as far as I am concerned), this is due to the contrast on dominant colors which is red over green. Sa colorwheel kasi, these two colors are in contrast. Picture of the yellow flower seems dull to me (oops, no offense meant, just saying my view) because yellow and green are complimentary colors. I think this picture was shot sometime in the afternoon or in overcast. But maybe if you can try to take picture again in the morning w/ no overcast, say between 7-8am, the green leaves will be nearer to blue or blue-green background, and will enhance more the yellow color of the flower. As you said it, experiment, experiment, but don’t forget to record the info that go into the picture, not only your camera setting but the time of day and weather conditions.
Dee, yes, it is a dragonfly.
Nani, baliktad naman tayo. I think the dragonfly pics would have been better had the hue of the leaves been darker. But with the light green leaves, thingin ko nga masakit sa mata yung kulay ng dragonfly. LOL
Re recording settings. Ah, the camera settings, day and date all go automatically into the EXIF data. But the weather condition LOL Canon has to invent a system for recording that as well. Me, lazy to document LOL
Hi thanks for the very informative blogs. My husband gave me EOS Canon 450D for Christmas and to be honest my knowledge about photography was very limited, reading your blogs and seeing all the wonderful pictures in your site encourage me to go out and learn more about photography. I particularly like the dragonfly pics. Thank you po. By the way, I live in Switzerland. more power to your site and for sure I will be a constant visitor.
Laysa, I’m sure you won’t run out of interesting things to photograph in Switzerland.
Hi Ms. Connie… just wondering if you’ve been able to successfully execute bokeh effects using your powershot G10? I’m considering getting a G10, but I’m concerned with the limited aperture range… please advise! Thanks!!!
I’ll post photos ha.
UPDATE: Gabby, click here.