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I am now trying to prefect my bokeh and was just curious how to get good bokeh and a picture like this.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mlephotos/2882136165/
(I didnt take this)

Im also wondering if I need to use manual focus to get my whole photo blurry like this one and some others ive seen.

I WANT TO KNOW THE SECRETS!

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SonyA200 ~ 18-250mm ~ 50mm 1.7

http://www.flickr.com/photos/39243783@N06/

here is a video workshop by Gordon Laing, Editor of Camera Labs....

http://www.dslrtips.com/workshops/How_t ... ield.shtml

And to take a photo like the one you have linked to:
1- put the lens to manual focus
2- use the closest focus point you possibly can (opposite of infinity)
3- use the largest aperture you can. (in your case f/3.5 or 5.6)
4- snap the picture

And Three tips for getting shallow depth of field
1- large aperture (f/2.8 and larger works best, larger meaning f/2.0, 1.8, 1.4, 1.2 and so on)
2- shoot telephoto. 70mm will provide you with a much better bokeh than 18mm.
3- distance from subject. the closer you are to your subject the more shallow the DOF. The further your subject is from your background the more it is knocked out.

Example:



Notice in this image I took earlier today...
1- I shot this image at f/2.2
2- I shot this image at 50mm not telephoto but on a cropped canon body its 80mm which is a sweet spot for portraiture.
3- I am very close to my subject, my subject is very far away from the background.

the perfect combination for shallow DOF (depth of field)

...hope that helps

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Canon 40D + 70-200mm f/2.8L IS + 50mm f/1.8
Manfrotto 055CX3 + 496RC2
www.thomaslowe.com

Like this?


Tomis described the smooth out of focus areas, but I think you wanted the...light dots.
These work in the same way Tomis described, but you need some bright points in the background (highlights). I used the sun reflecting of some other bikes. Postprocessing (contrast, curves) can further bring out the bokeh.

^that shot was shot with a 70-200 at I think 200 mm @ F/2.8.

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I take pictures so quickly, my highschool was "Continuous High".

Thanks tomis and citrus. I was talking more about the light dots. I will give this a go and try to practice with some christmas lights.

_________________
SonyA200 ~ 18-250mm ~ 50mm 1.7

http://www.flickr.com/photos/39243783@N06/

when the light source (dots) in the background are out of focus, it shows up as a round dot in the your shot

pretty much like Tomis cover above.

Use lenses with Large aperture ( ex: f2.8, f2, f1.8, f1.4, f1.2 )
then place your subject some what close to the lens, the greater the distance of the background = the better bokeh
ex lenses are does these best are fast Primes lenses, 35mm, 50mm 85mm ..... etc

some bokeh example to demonstrate

1
f1.2
2
f2 i think at close as possible
3
f1.4 at close as possible
4
f2.8 at close as possible.
5
this is just making it out of focus a little.

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Nikon D2h | Noct-Nikkor 58mm f/1.2 | Nikkor 35mm f/1.4| Nikon 85mm f1.4 |SB-600 SB-28 SB-28
" The best camera is the one that's with you" Chase Jarvis
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