DSLR Bokeh Tutorial
It seems that many Flickrites out there are struggling to get good bokeh shots. The good news is that shooting bokeh is one of the easiest photographic techniques to learn. Unfortunately, it is also one of the hardest to master. Here I will attempt to get you started with the basics. You’ll have to do the mastery part on your own :-)
Bokeh (pronounced: “boke-aay” or “boke-uh”- I prefer the latter) is the out of focus or blurry areas of a photograph. Wikipedia has a much more detailed description of the definition of bokeh that’s worth a read. On Flickr I find most people use the term to specifically describe out of focus highlights in a photo. For the purposes of this how-to we’ll focus (pun intended) on out of focus highlight bokeh.
The photo above made the Front Page of Flickr’s Explore last week. I wish I could say that this was a difficult and challenging shot that called upon all of my skills as a photographer. The truth is this was one of the easiest shots I took that night. These small aperture long exposure shots were a lot more difficult to get right:
The secret to shooting bokeh lies in its definition: out of focus highlights. You need three things to shoot bokeh: pin point highlights, a large aperture and a short focal distance. When I say pin point highlights I mean small light sources. Trying to shoot a large area of light like a window or fluorescent light does not typically produce the type of bokeh “balls” that we are looking for here. Small lights like Christmas twinkle lights are an obvious source, but any light source that is far enough away will become infinitely small and can produce bokeh. I find street and car lights in the distance at night make wonderful bokeh.
Pentax-A 50mm f/1.7 SMC
Next, we need a large aperture. For the novice, the aperture is the opening in the lens that controls the amount of light that makes it through the lens and shutter to the film/sensor. The smaller the f number (or f-stop) the larger the opening. This is usually expressed as f/5.6, f/4, f/2.8, f/1.4, etc. Read more about aperture here. Typically the larger the aperture the larger the bokeh. Fast lenses below f/2.8 like my 20 year old manual focus Pentax-A 50mm f/1.7 SMC are ideal for shooting bokeh (and is the lens I use for most of my bokeh shots on Fickr).
That is not to say that one can not get great bokeh using lenses with a smaller maximum aperture like the typical kit lenses sold with most entry level DSLRs. The trick is to make sure you are using the largest aperture possible (smallest f number). To do this I recommend switching your camera into Aperture Priority mode (typically labeled “A” or “Av” on the program mode dial) and dialing in the smallest f number possible. With most kit lenses this will be f/3.5. Here is another Explore bokeh photo of mine shot with my kit lens at f/3.5:
The other reason that you want the largest possible aperture your lens is capable of is to ensure that your bokeh is round and not faceted. You see, most lenses use 5-7 straight aperture blades to create the variable opening in the lens. Bokeh takes on the shape and size of the lens opening so smaller apertures will produce smaller, faceted and generally less pleasing bokeh. There are exceptions to this rule as most high end lenses use curved aperture blades that keep the aperture opening round at all f stops. However, if you’re shooting with a $1,500 Canon L series lens I trust you already know how to shoot bokeh ;-)
Aperture openings on a 6 bladed lens (mouse over for setting):
Bokeh shots at different aperture settings with this lens (mouse over for setting):
The last component to getting good bokeh shots is the focus distance used. I have found that the shorter the focus distance to the foreground subject, the better the background bokeh I will get. The idea is to get as much distance between the subject and the bokeh producing highlights. Also, the closer you are focused to the camera the shorter the depth of field (DOF) will be. This ensures those lights way off in the background will be nice and blurred out.
The focal length of the lens is also a consideration. Depth of field is basically a function of focal length, distance to subject and aperture. At a given aperture and distance longer focal lengths result in shorter DOF. A short DOF is what we need to effectively blur the background highlights to produce bokeh. Getting close to the foreground subject and zooming to the longest setting on your lens will likely put you where you need to be to capture killer bokeh.
Here we have an example of close focus on the foreground subject coupled with a wide open aperture and longer focal length to create bokeh from small lights in the background:
When I took this shot I was at the minimum focus distance for my 50mm 1.7 lens (about 18-20″). The white (gold colored here) twinkle lights were on another Christmas tree approximately 8-10′ behind the light bulb and branch I focused on. The other smaller colored bokeh highlights were from other lights on the same tree that I focused on.
TUTORIAL:
Now that I’ve rambled on ad nauseam about all the intricate details of capturing bokeh, let’s get on to the part where you actually go do it!
For DSLR users (point ‘n shooters will have to wait for another tutorial):
- Set your camera to Aperture Priority mode (A or Av on the program dial).
- Select the smallest possible aperture (f) number for your lens (should be ≤f/4).
- Switch your camera to manual focus and manually adjust the focus to the closest setting.
- Zoom your lens to somewhere around 50mm.
- Find some nice points of light at a distance of 10′ or greater from the camera (your Christmas tree is the perfect subject this time of year).
- Fire away!
If you get a shutter speed that’s too slow (ie: less than 1/30 second), try bumping the ISO up to 400 or more. If you do the Christmas tree thing what you should get is something like this:
Depending on how dark the background is (darker usually = better) you might have to dial in some exposure compensation to get your bokeh to really pop. This image looks like it came out fine without any, but I often have to dial in +2/3 to +1 EV for my 50mm 1.7 on my Pentax K10D.
Next, try putting a subject of some sort in front of the camera at the minimum focus distance (or there about) with the bokeh highlights in the background. It’ll take a little playing around with subject matter and lighting (both foreground and background) but in no time you should be shooting bokeh like a pro! For more examples, be sure to check out my bokehliscious set on Flickr.
Please let me know in comments if this is helpful to you and/or if you have any questions or suggestions. Also, feel free to post links of your bokeh attempts for everyone to enjoy. Thanks for stopping by.
Happy bokeh-ing!
UPDATE: This is my single most popular post on my blog. Please let me know what else you would like for me to share about bokeh!
December 19th, 2008 at 8:42 am
[...] I posted a tutorial on photographing bokeh with a DSLR. Today I am going to attempt to do the same about pocket cameras. Please take a minute to read over [...]
December 23rd, 2008 at 2:50 pm
[...] of your Christmas tree and other Holiday decor. All those colorful and tiny lights make perfect bokeh fodder. And highly processed detail shots like this are also [...]
December 28th, 2008 at 7:11 pm
Thanks for the tutorial! I spent a dull afternoon experimenting with my Canon S3IS and had some success with the manual mode ISO 200, super macro,f/2.7
http://www.flickr.com/photos/body_soul_spirit/3144983347/
January 8th, 2009 at 1:04 pm
Awesome tutorial, I will check it out when doing any bokeh-ing! Cheers!
January 25th, 2009 at 7:40 pm
[...] end up being a bit long on an APS-C sensor camera [80mm] but at least you can start exploring the Wonderful World of Bokeh and available light [...]
June 22nd, 2009 at 12:58 am
maybe you intended to write this for less professional photographer, but smallest f value NOT always produce good bokeh. it should depend on the composition. sometimes ‘blurrer’ background proves more distractive, or less ‘artistic’.
otherwise nice article.
July 22nd, 2009 at 8:42 am
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cuneytoner/3732184406/
August 16th, 2009 at 10:13 pm
can I produce bokeh with my pocket camera??
how??
Please tell me…. i’m crazy aboout this :D
August 16th, 2009 at 10:20 pm
cyber-shooter: You can but the results will be limited. See my pocket camera bokeh tutorial here: http://www.robertsdonovan.com/?p=727
August 30th, 2009 at 4:48 am
[...] Wie wir diese schön runden Bokeh-Kreise hinbekommen, das zeigt unds Roberts [...]
September 12th, 2009 at 3:27 am
Robert, thanks so much for a totally clear, easy to follow, nicely informal but informative tutorial. Very much appreciated. Happily, I have a 50mm 1:1.8 lens, so I’m hoping for some results…
September 12th, 2009 at 12:16 pm
[...] DSLR Bokeh Tutorial [...]
September 24th, 2009 at 4:50 am
excellent advice
September 30th, 2009 at 6:15 am
[...] check these sites: Bokeh basic definition (Wikipedia) Understanding Boke (Luminous Landscape) DSLR Bokeh Tutorial Pocket Camera Bokeh Tutorial Shaped Bokeh __________________ Linda My Gear OK to re-edit and [...]
October 7th, 2009 at 5:46 am
[...] and how to achieve it: Bokeh basic definition (Wikipedia) Understanding Boke (Luminous Landscape) DSLR Bokeh Tutorial Pocket Camera Bokeh Tutorial Shaped Bokeh Some bokeh captred by my 50mm lens: As always, rules: [...]
October 8th, 2009 at 8:54 am
Thanks. Now I know what bokeh is. I will practice this tutorial ASAP.
October 8th, 2009 at 8:55 am
Excellent tutorial! I have written down my notes and I look forward to practicing your tips. I look forward to reading more or your tutorials.
Thank You!
Cheryl
October 8th, 2009 at 7:48 pm
Excellent, can’t wait to try this out. Thanks for taking the time to share this!
October 9th, 2009 at 7:37 am
Excellent step by step detailing. Thanks.
October 21st, 2009 at 6:02 pm
[...] [...]
November 6th, 2009 at 5:15 am
Hey, Thanks for the awesome tutorial! I’ve been trying my hand at every photographic style I can find as part of my learning curve. This should be really helpful for tonights 365!
November 10th, 2009 at 11:27 pm
bokeh photography is similar to tachisme, an art that I don’t know how to enjoy, haha
December 5th, 2009 at 2:00 am
Hi,
I just bought my Olympus E 520 few days ago and im struggling w/ it. WHenever I zoom the lens, f number will increase so i cant create bokeh effect….plz help T______T”.
THanks
December 5th, 2009 at 9:41 am
Sally,
The 14-42mm Olympus kit lens has a variable aperture depending on the zoom setting (f/3.5 @ 14mm and f/5.6 @ 42mm). You can still get good bokeh though. Be sure to set the camera to Aperture Priority mode. Zoom to 42mm and set the aperture to f/5.6. Get up as close as you can to a test subject with some lights in the distant background (10 feet or more away). Focus on the close subject then recompose slightly so that the subject is to one side of the frame and the lights are visible in the background and take a picture. You should get nice bokeh balls in the background.
You can also try switching to manual focus and simply set the focus to the closest setting and then point the camera at some lights that are 5 feet + away (that’s how I took the main shot above).
Hope this helps. Good luck.
Cheers!
December 5th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
closest setting you mean f 5.6 42mm?
btw, if i wanna buy one more lens for the olympus, wat should i buy to get good bokeh?
thanks :)
December 5th, 2009 at 1:27 pm
Sally,
By “closest setting” I mean the minimum focus distance at f/5.6 @ 42mm (closest to the front of the lens). The best 4/3rds mount lens for bokeh is probably the Panasonic 25mm f/1.4: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/484209-REG/Panasonic_L_X025_25mm_f_1_4_Leica_D.html
The Sigma 24 f/1.8 is about 1/2 the price of the Panasonic lens but quite a bit larger: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/463451-USA/Sigma_432107_24mm_f_1_8_EX_Aspherical.html
The Olympus 25mm f/2.8 lens is the cheapest alternative but at “only” f/2.8 it won’t produce as good of bokeh as the other two (though it is a definite improvement over the kit lens and quite compact): http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/549015-REG/Olympus_261059_25mm_f_2_8_ED_Zuiko.html
Cheers!
December 5th, 2009 at 3:57 pm
Great tutorial. Just the information I was looking for. Thanks for posting it.
December 5th, 2009 at 6:04 pm
Your site is a great resource, thank you for all your detail. I am waiting for my first DSLR the Pentax K200D, it should be here Friday. I used to love film photography, but the processing became to expensive to really have fun. With pictures like yours, I am inspired and will be visiting your site frequently.
December 5th, 2009 at 9:46 pm
Hey,
thank you so much. You should put up more tutorial. there are some pictures out there, let’s say this one ( even thou its not a good example) http://www.flickr.com/photos/richxti/4150516295/. i wanna take picture of the street and the light make a whole line like that. how can i do it? is it bokeh too?
and you should make a tutor how to adjust the WB too >”<. i have trouble w/ the A and G of WB T______T".
Thanks :)
December 6th, 2009 at 5:37 pm
[...] DSLR Bokeh Tutorial « robertsdonovan.com The Bokeh could be our first assingment. Or we could use the ones that are posted on the photography forum. I posted a link to a tutorial on Bokeh __________________ Ollie Chachi Hallie Harlie & Me CircleKRanchYorkies.com] [...]
December 6th, 2009 at 11:37 pm
Hi Robert again,
I’m just curious how I’m able to know what kit lens are compatible w/ my olympus e 520.
THanks~~~
U’ve been so helpful :)
December 11th, 2009 at 8:04 pm
[...] challenge. Capturing the best looking bokeh isn’t just about capturing lights out of focus. Here’s a decent tutorial, to lend you a hand. If you’re into DIY projects, then give this one a try too! [...]
December 29th, 2009 at 8:45 am
[...] DSLR Bokeh Tutorial [...]
December 30th, 2009 at 1:38 am
hello!!
I have found this SUPER helpful! I am yet to try it, and my DSLR is only just out of the box, but as soon as it gets dark, the fairylights will go on, and I am going to get playing with this!!!
Thank you so much!
Renee x
January 5th, 2010 at 11:50 pm
The tutorial is really clear and crisp, i’ll try it right away. thanks
January 19th, 2010 at 11:51 pm
[...] renders out-of-focus points of light. The bokeh effect is created naturally through the lens of a camera, or it can be recreated digitally in a Graphic Design Software such as Photoshop. If you want to [...]
January 23rd, 2010 at 11:03 am
Hey
i tried soo many times
but i didnt take bokeh
=((((
dont know wt to do
January 28th, 2010 at 11:35 pm
take nikon D40 from its bag then tadaaaa.. i did it after tried so many times.. thank you :)