Comments on: DSLR Bokeh Tutorial

By: Lucy Harvarton

Lucy Harvarton — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 08:39:59 +0000

I have been doing photography for about 5 years and this post really speaks to me, thank you.

By: Robert

Robert — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 01:29:53 +0000

I think that’s what I said ;-)
“Select the smallest possible aperture (f) number for your lens (should be ≤f/4).”

Thanks, anyway!

By: trybZe Imagery

trybZe Imagery — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 22:53:40 +0000

I’m trying it out on my canon 7d with the nifty fifty :)

By: trybZe Imagery

trybZe Imagery — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 22:37:26 +0000

I’m really impressed with the way you broke it all down. Now I have more understanding about bokeh. Would like to be in touch more often personally.I’m a photographer from Nigeria :) BB pin:2755E905

By: terri

terri — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 07:36:01 +0000

With all due respect, perhaps it may be less confusing to your readers if you refer to your apertures as “the smallest number aperture” rather than “the smallest aperture.” Reason being, the smallest number aperture your le.s uses is actually the widest aperture. The largest number aperture on your lens is the smallest opening your lens has. Agreed?

Thanks for the nice article.
Terri Aigner

By: Steve jones

Steve jones — Sat, 09 Feb 2013 13:25:20 +0000

I have just sent off for a Better Bokeh kit – cant wait to try it out, but unsure even now how it will work. I am looking forward to the results

By: David Muir

David Muir — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 20:29:10 +0000

Thank you for posting this. Very clear and helpful.

I’ve posted my first attempt at bokeh on Flickr – http://www.flickr.com/photos/daviddmuir/8432685521/. Not great art, but I’m pleased with how it’s turned out. :-)

By: Robert

Robert — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 15:57:20 +0000

Sari, just set the mode dial on the top left side of your D90 to the "A" position. You will then need to use the front control dial (I believe) to manually select the desired aperture setting. You might also want to search for an online user guide for your D90 to help you become more familiar with its controls and operation. Cheers!

By: Robert

Robert — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 15:52:55 +0000

Sally, if you are using the kit zoom lens that came with your camera (18-55mm) then f/5.6 is the smallest f-stop your lens is capable of at 55mm. If you zoom out to 18mm you will be able to select f/3.5. However, achieving good bokeh at 18mm is next to impossible. You should still be able to achieve a modest bokeh effect at 55mm and f/5.6 if you focus on a subject up close and have point source lights in the far background. My general recommendation to anyone looking to master the bokeh effect is to purchase a “fast fifty” lens. The Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II lens (AKA: “nifty fifty” and “plastic fantastic”) is cheap ($100) and produces a wonderful bokeh effect on your camera. Plus it makes an excellent low light and portrait lens. Hope this helps!

By: Sally

Sally — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 06:51:08 +0000

I’m doing all these things and I’m really interested in bokeh and have been trying and playing around with it but I’m just not getting it. The smallest f-stop on my camera (Canon EOS 1100D) is 5.6 and I’m wondering if that’s the problem. Because I’ve adjusted everything else, but all the tutorials I’ve read through use a larger aperture than that. Do you have any advice on what I can do to make it work?? Because I’ve tried just about everything I can think of….