@gphelps5 hahaha
The reason you get bokeh is because you have points of light out of focus, so they look much bigger on the photo than they do in real life. You can use any kind of lights to get the bokeh effect really, although some classics are tea lights and christmas tree fairy lights.
It can be harder depending on your camera - you need to use one that won't try and have the lights in focus, cos that would destroy the bokeh effect, or one that has selective focus enough to focus on something in the foreground while lights in the background are 'bokehed'. Putting your camera on aperture priority and making the aperture as big as it goes, then taking a picture of something with the lights in the background would be the easiest way. if you have manual focus simply blur the lights. if not, play around a bit with pointing the camera at something close to it, with lights far away in the background (a cityscape or something)
hope that helps x
That is a little like asking how you do a 'nice photo' effect... first you need to understand what bokeh is.
Bokeh simply refers to the aesthetic qualities of the out of focus parts of your photo. You always 'get bokeh' if there is something that is not in focus in your photo. Often good bokeh refers to a creamy, smooth blurring of the background, but sometimes harsh bokeh (doughnuts from mirror lenses for example) might be desirable for the image that you want. So first you need to identify what type of bokeh effect you are after.
To get then your desired bokeh effect you need three things... First you need a lens that is capable of creating the bokeh that you want (e.g. a mirror lens for doghnuts, a circular aperture lens for circular points of light, or an STF type lens for very soft bokeh etc). Shaped bokeh (hearts, diamonds etc) can be created using shaped filters for your lens. Second you need a subject (or rather a background) that will give you the type of out of focus areas that you are after - If you want specific round (octaganal/hexagonal/shaped etc) points of light then you need some small points of light in your out of focus areas; if you want very smooth bokeh then you need a smoother area of background colour/tones. Finally you need to select a largish aperture when taking the photo (use A or M modes) for a narrow depth of field to send the background out of focus.
@shorieshaz Hi Shannon... all of the above is quite true (except for Bulldog!!) I have a little p&s and have found I get bokeh like I suspect you are looking for by macro focusing on something close-by with dots of light in the background... like this which was dew on the grass. (I got lucky with the drop in focus!)
I found I could cheat by focusing on something close-by so that the background lights were out of focus then moving the camera slightly (holding the focus) before clicking so the thing 'in focus' was out of the picture. Hope that makes sense. Have fun experimenting!
If youi have an SLR go for Apeture priority, about f2.8 if you can get it. Then zoom out to 100mm or so. You are looking for a strong central subject that is a long way infront of the background. Revew shots as you go to see what works.
@harveyzone@asrai Oh, thank you, both, just right for me then as my best friends call me Haze!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I understand nothing of the technical side of photography so any bokeh I get is purely incidental/co-incidental but I might just start signing my emails 'bokeh'. (I'm not actually a flippant person.)
I actually got accidental bokeh :) I was being brave at the beach this last week and had my camera in the ocean with me trying to catch shots from the backside of the surf. Anyway, I had focused on some waves when one knocked me around and I hit the shutter button! This is what I ended up with...
@shorieshaz As most have mentioned, large Aperture eg; f2.8 correct distance for background to foreground DoF, Bokeh is generaly the creamy out of focus area but is exaggerated by reflections or lights. @quietpurplehaze Bohek or Boke is defined as blur.
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The reason you get bokeh is because you have points of light out of focus, so they look much bigger on the photo than they do in real life. You can use any kind of lights to get the bokeh effect really, although some classics are tea lights and christmas tree fairy lights.
It can be harder depending on your camera - you need to use one that won't try and have the lights in focus, cos that would destroy the bokeh effect, or one that has selective focus enough to focus on something in the foreground while lights in the background are 'bokehed'. Putting your camera on aperture priority and making the aperture as big as it goes, then taking a picture of something with the lights in the background would be the easiest way. if you have manual focus simply blur the lights. if not, play around a bit with pointing the camera at something close to it, with lights far away in the background (a cityscape or something)
hope that helps x
Bokeh simply refers to the aesthetic qualities of the out of focus parts of your photo. You always 'get bokeh' if there is something that is not in focus in your photo. Often good bokeh refers to a creamy, smooth blurring of the background, but sometimes harsh bokeh (doughnuts from mirror lenses for example) might be desirable for the image that you want. So first you need to identify what type of bokeh effect you are after.
To get then your desired bokeh effect you need three things...
First you need a lens that is capable of creating the bokeh that you want (e.g. a mirror lens for doghnuts, a circular aperture lens for circular points of light, or an STF type lens for very soft bokeh etc). Shaped bokeh (hearts, diamonds etc) can be created using shaped filters for your lens.
Second you need a subject (or rather a background) that will give you the type of out of focus areas that you are after - If you want specific round (octaganal/hexagonal/shaped etc) points of light then you need some small points of light in your out of focus areas; if you want very smooth bokeh then you need a smoother area of background colour/tones.
Finally you need to select a largish aperture when taking the photo (use A or M modes) for a narrow depth of field to send the background out of focus.
Simple as that!
I found I could cheat by focusing on something close-by so that the background lights were out of focus then moving the camera slightly (holding the focus) before clicking so the thing 'in focus' was out of the picture. Hope that makes sense. Have fun experimenting!
@quietpurplehaze Bohek or Boke is defined as blur.