Bokeh is created by you. Can this be true? We all now that the bokeh is a tribute of your lens and some say the more expensive the lens the better the bokeh. I disagree with this so read on and I will tell you why. First bokeh is just a Japanese word for blurry background or everything that is behind your subject and not in focus.

Photo above shot with my 70-300mm lens. f14. 1/30th. ISO-100.

Bokeh refers to the aesthetic quality of blur, the out of focus area of the image. It’s how the light renders lighted areas that are out of focus. The difference in lens aberrations and aperture shape causes the area to blur, creating the look that’s aesthetically pleasing. So what you have in the background that is out of focus will be the bokeh and that is all up to you. So you create the bokeh and the camera and lens render it in a pleasing way.

Shallow depth of field. OK. We know that in order to get a bokeh you have to use a smaller f-stop so you get a narrower depth of field, well this is both right and wrong. My first image was shot at f14 and the one above here at f5.6. So what is going on here is the focal length of the lens and how close you are to your subject and how far away the background items are behind the subject. And these are things controlled by you.

Photo above shot with a 70-300mm lens at 250mm. f5.6. 1/400th. ISO-400.

The photo above of the brown leaf was shot with my 70-300mm lens at f5.6 from about 5 feet away the leaf is on the wooden hand rail of the boardwalk at a local park and the line you see running under the leaf shows the depth of field, about 1/4 inch. This is a shot straight from the camera I only re-sized it. It looks like the rail is bending to the right and it is not, it goes straight back for a very long way. Only the light is being bent.

Colors can make the bokeh pleasing. Colors of the items behind the subject will usually render in a very pleasing way. In the photo above of the potato leaves are backlit by the rising sun, the photo is shot just after dawn so the light is soft and warm and it is the this light shinning between the leaves in the background that is being rendered by the lens as the very pleasing bokeh you see. They are about 3 feet away.

Photo above shot with a 70-300mm lens at 250mm. f14. 1/60th. ISO-100.

Golden Glow. I have another  tutorial that shows you  how to get the golden glow of dawn, but it is no substitute for the real thing. Shooting in the golden hours is one of the best things you can do to improve the bokeh and your pictures in general. Now remember I said earlier that you choose the bokeh, let me tell you how you do that.

Choosing and placing the bokeh. Choosing and placing the bokeh is up to you. When you look through your view finder at the subject and get it in focus it is always very, very important to really see what is behind the subject. In the shot above of the fly on the flower it was important to get the background flower behind the fly.

Photo above shot with a 100mm macro prime lens at f10. 1/25th. ISO-800.

Placing the bokeh. Had I not done that and the background was instead the dark green then the fly would not be so prominent. As you see the flies head is outlined by the bokeh. Another yellow flower just a few inches away. I chose the bokeh and placed it where I wanted it to be for the best possible picture. Too many of you just point the camera, focus and shoot, but not anymore. Now you will be in control of your own bokeh.

Using the only bokeh you have. Now you know about selecting and placing the bokeh we can go a little bit further and be very selective with our background. When I first looked at the photo above I did think an all black background would be the best way to show off the water drop. Yellow/red against black is always good. I took six shots of this at different camera settings, this one was the best of them, remember more is better.

Photo above shot with a 100mm macro prime lens at f8. 1/25th. ISO-400.

But on very close inspection I saw the flower was reflected in the drop and when I moved just a few inches this way and that to get the background all black the reflection disappeared. This was the best bokeh I could get for this image. Sometimes I use a piece of black material but shooting into a dark shadowy area works the same.

Subtle colored bokeh to enhance harmony. Color is so important when taking shots of flowers and so is the color of the bokeh also as important. I walked all around these flowers not just looking for the best angle but also for the most pleasing color bokeh. I settled on this faded blue of more flowers in the background. I also needed to increase the shutter speed here as a bit of a wind was blowing the flower about.

Photo above shot with my 70-300mm lens at 200mm. f9.5. 1/200th. ISO-200.

Tilt the camera. Another little tip I can throw in here has nothing to do with bokeh but a lot to do with composition, just tilt the camera a little bit and angle your subject. But remember this time more is not better. And also note the rule of thirds here or just about thirds, anyway be sure to position your subject off center.

A pleasing shape as a bokeh Composition is king. I am sure you have heard that before now and it is right. Composition is everything and that goes for your bokeh also. In this shot above I wanted the flow of the flowers and leaves to be complimented by the vertical shapes in the background.

Photo above shot with a 70-300mm lens at 180mm. f14. 1/100th. ISO-100.

So composing the picture with the flowers in the lower half gave me the early golden light of dawn and vertical shapes of the trees in black behind the flowers and I think you will agree with the overall picture is one of harmony and if I may say so a perfect composition for this shot. This time more was better I took six shots.

Complimentary pattern bokeh Complimentary pattern bokeh that matches your subject can go along way to increasing the awesomeness of your images. The bokeh of yellow flowers are complimenting the flowers the butterfly is resting on and so gives a feeling of depth and harmony to the image.

Photo above shot with a 100mm macro prime lens at f11. 1/250th. ISO-800.

This is also one of those occasions where the rule of thirds can be broken a little. The secret in getting this shot was getting down close to the ground, and another tip I can throw in here that is very pertinent is to shoot from an angle the subject is not normally viewed at.

Complimentary shape bokeh Complimentary shape bokeh is using a blurred background that people know and associate with the subject but one that may not be easily recognized like this shot of the lily and the lily pad. The lily is easily recognized but the pad is not we just know what it is and we know it should be there.

Photo above shot with a 100mm macro prime lens at f2.8. 1/1000th. ISO-100.

So if the shape is of a known item, then we can really blur it out a lot and it will still be recognized for what it is. So we have a shape bokeh that compliments the lily and the little honey bee just adds a bit more interest to a very pleasing image. Rule of thirds was observed for this shot.

Sometimes no bokeh is the only bokeh. Complimentary bokeh sometimes means no bokeh or a near solid background color that compliments the subject. This moth has a delicate pattern of it's own and so a plain bokeh is the best answer to show this off to it's fullest natural beauty. OK. this was achieved in Photoshop but it is still relevant to getting a good and pleasing image.

Photo above shot with a 100mm macro prime lens at f5. 1/500th. ISO-100.

It is my hope that this article on bokeh will give you some inspiration to take better pictures the next time you are out there shooting. Looking very closely at the background is as important as the subject.