Bokeh - Yeah, It's a Weird Word

Pronounced BOW-kuh...it's a weird word to say. It was a weird word to hear the first time I heard it. I remember acting like I knew what it meant, excusing myself to go to the men's room, pulling out my phone, and doing a Google search for it. When I read the definition I knew EXACTLY what it was, I just didn't know it had a name. I just thought it was "blur."  I was only half right.

Bokeh used to subtly convey what subject is doing.

According to Wikipedia, "bokeh" is "aesthetic quality of the blur in out-of-focus areas of an image." So, it's not just the blur, but how good the blur looks. Another way to put it...all bokeh is blur, but not all blur is bokeh. Bokeh enhances a photos appeal and is more engaging to the viewer, whereas plain ol' blur might just be a poorly taken picture.

Bokeh used to make unsightly background more appealing.

Bokeh isn't something that just happens unless you don't know what you're doing. It's something very intentional. Take the photo above for example. @justlarry LOVES Memphis, TN. We were on a shoot together and he picked up a copy of Memphis magazine. While I wanted Larry to be the primary focus of my photo, I wanted his love of Memphis to be the secondary focus. And his red nose to be the tertiary focus (Ha!).  Bokeh can also be used to blur out ugly backgrounds. That might not sound like "bokeh" as the background is ugly, but remember, bokeh is the aesthetic quality of the blur, NOT what is actually blurred. You can literally take something unsightly and use it to your advantage.





By now you're probably wondering how you can make this happen intentionally...well that's what I'm here for. Take notes...or bookmark this page!

Before I move on I feel I must also touch on "depth of field." Depth of field is the area of the photograph that is in focus. It's affected mainly by two things...focal length (effective length of the lens) and aperture setting. The lower the number (the more open the aperture) the narrower the depth of field.  Combining a long focal length with a wide aperture can give you the narrowest depth of field with a lot of blur. A short focal length with a small aperture will cause just about the entire photo to be in focus. Ok, moving on...

If you're using a point-and-shoot:
I'm not going to lie, you're going to be a little limited here. However, it's not impossible to pull off. You'll want to zoom in as far as your lens will go (maximum focal length) and NOT use digital zoom. Focus on your subject and take the picture. If the blur is not where you want it, try setting your camera to it's macro setting. If that doesn't work look to see if your camera has an "aperture priority" setting. It's "Av" on Canon models and "A" on Nikons. Once you set your camera to aperture priority you'll want to open the aperture as wide as you can, which will mean a small f/number. Start of with an ISO of 200 and shutter speed of 1/80 if you're indoors. Adjust settings to taste. You're just simply going to have to play around with your settings, but it CAN be done.

If you're using a DSLR:

• Shoot in manual mode.
• Use maximum zoom. (If using a prime lens, this won't be an option.)
• Set aperture to wide setting that will allow for a good depth of field. For instance, if you're using a 50mm, f/1.4 lens, setting the aperture to 1.4 might make someone's nose in focus but the eyes will be blurry. Take multiple shots and tweak your settings.
• If you are still not getting the desired effect, try moving closer to your subject if possible. Longer focal lengths at short distances will create a greater blur.
• Pay attention to ISO. I can't help you much here...you're going to have to play with it based on your available light.

That's really about it. You're going to have to experiment. Eventually, it will all click and you'll be able to pull off the desired results whenever you want.

If you have any questions about bokeh, or any other photography/video topic, please e-mail me at ande@geminimm.com.

Remember, you'll smile when I flash you!