An often-photographed subject that is an extreme example of bokeh is photographing a grouping of holiday lights or other highly reflective objects. Close-up and macro images of flowers and other objects in nature are also popular subjects to photograph that shows off bokeh in the image. The most photographed subjects showing nice examples of bokeh are portraits. You could also use the Flexible Program mode, choosing the widest possible aperture/shutter speed combination. Manual gives you the ability to choose both your aperture and shutter speed, whereas Aperture Priority allows you to choose the f/stop while the camera chooses the appropriate shutter speed for the exposure. You’ll want to shoot with the lens wide open, so you’ll want to use a shooting mode of Aperture Priority or Manual. Highlights hitting the background will show more visible bokeh too, so if you’re using a backlight, side light or a hair light, the bokeh may be more pleasing to the eye. The more shallow the depth-of-field, or further the background is, the more out-of-focus it will be. You can do this by decreasing the distance between the camera and subject. To increase the likelihood of creating visible bokeh in your photographs, increase the distance between your subject and the background. By increasing the distance between the background and your subject, you can see bokeh in images that are shot at smaller apertures like f/8. A lens with more circular shaped blades will have rounder, softer orbs of out-of-focus highlights, whereas a lens with an aperture that is more hexagonal in shape will reflect that shape in the highlights.ĭon't worry if you don't own a very fast lens. Usually seen more in highlights, bokeh is affected by the shape of the diaphragm blades (the aperture) of the lens. Best Lens for BokehĪlthough bokeh is actually a characteristic of a photograph, the lens used determines the shape and size of the visible bokeh. Many photographers like to use fast prime lenses when shooting photographs that they want visible bokeh in. You’ll want to use a lens with at least an f/2.8 aperture, with faster apertures of f/2, f/1.8 or f/1.4 being ideal. To achieve bokeh in an image, you need to use a fast lens-the faster the better.

Rose bokeh photo