#Good vs bad bokeh examples manual
#Good vs bad bokeh examples trial
#Good vs bad bokeh examples free

She leads photography workshops, writes features and lectures on photography. Perdita specialises in macro images that show a plant or animal in its natural environment. To understand why bokeh is so important to portrait and macro photographers I asked two full-time professionals – Perdita Petzl and Neil van Niekerk – to share their secrets with us.

Popular choices include the Trioplan 100mm (which delivers bokeh shaped like soap bubbles), the Helios 85mm (which offers swirly bokeh) and the Minolta MC Rokker PG 58mm (which promises creamy bokeh). It comes as no surprise, then, to learn that photographers working in these genres are among the most likely to experiment with bokeh created by vintage lenses. We’ve all seen images of models with beautiful circular bokeh behind them, adding a touch of sparkle and energy to a scene, and insects surrounded by orbs of light that draw you into their magical world. The power of bokeh is frequently harnessed by portrait and macro photographers.

#Good vs bad bokeh examples manual

Or you can attempt to mimic the effects using editing software (Skylum recently updated its image-editing package to include Portrait Bokeh AI, while Adobe, Affinity and some high-end smartphones now have the facility to add ‘instant bokeh’ to pictures.) Regardless of your choice of lens, set your camera to aperture priority (or to manual mode) and select the widest aperture available (or a few stops down). Alternatively you can invest in a vintage lens (see below). You can use the lens you own and increase the distance between the subject and the background – this will throw the background out of focus and make the bokeh more visible. If you don’t own a super-fast prime, but still want to create beautiful bokeh, you have other options. (The shape of the bokeh is most noticeable in the highlights). An aperture that is circular will, naturally, create rounder bokeh than an aperture that is more hexagonal.

#Good vs bad bokeh examples trial

Many bokeh fans swear by fast primes, but only trial and error will determine what works best for you.Ĭrucially, the lens you use (or more accurately the shape created by the aperture blades) will determine the size and shape of the bokeh that you obtain in the final image. For great bokeh you need a fast lens (something that will open to f/2.8 or more is ideal). The quality of the bokeh you achieve depends on a number of things: the lens you use, the distance between the subject and the background, and the aperture you select. Again, what attracts one is sure to repel another, and there are no clear definitions.īokeh can be used by portrait photographers to add a touch of sparkle and energy to a scene.

#Good vs bad bokeh examples free

Photographers use a whole host of adjectives to describe the quality of bokeh including smooth, creamy, beautiful, sweet and silky (feel free to add your own). Generally speaking, bokeh is categorised as either ‘good’ or ‘bad’ but, as with most things, what one person loves another person hates, so it’s pretty subjective. Most people use it as a term to describe the rendering of out-of-focus areas in an image – it’s frequently used when talking about backgrounds, but it can also be applied to foreground ‘blur’ too. With that (kind of) settled, we can move on to what bokeh actually means. To settle the argument, or at least move on, I would like to propose ‘boh-keh’, as suggested by one of Canon’s Japanese-speaking product managers (although he did go on to explain that bokeh is pronounced differently in different areas of Japan!).

I’ll hold my hands up and admit that I’m a repeat offender. Over the years I’ve heard this five-letter word spoken as ‘boo-kay’, boh-kuh’ and ‘boh-key’– sometimes all in the same sentence. It’s not just the definition that bothers them, it’s also the pronunciation. The word ‘bokeh’ can cause some photographers to become irrationally irritable. Tracy Calder asked two full-time photographers to share their tips on achieving beautiful bokeh The rendering of out-of-focus areas in a picture should be more than just an afterthought.