Creating Bokeh Without Zooming?


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limetouch

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Oct 8, 2008
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Boon Keng
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I have been trying to get to grips with my D90 for a few months now.

I am able to create bokeh with my D90 kit lense by zooming in and then using a wide aperture, like F5.6. How would I do it without zooming? I am not able to replicate as when I zoom. Can anyone advise?

And not to be rude, don't ask me to google since that is the most convenient answer members give to TS. I already done that and could not get an answer.
 

Bokeh is related to the focal length. Given the aperture limitations of your lens, your only real option is to get as close to your subject as possible while keeping them as far away from the subject as possible, or spend some time post-processing in photoshop.
 

move closer to the subject relative to the background. this creates the out of focus effect too.

there is also photoshop.
 

Bokeh is related to the focal length. Given the aperture limitations of your lens, your only real option is to get as close to your subject as possible while keeping them as far away from the subject as possible, or spend some time post-processing in photoshop.

What about 50mm prime lenses? Would they have to go up close just to reproduce the effect?
 

It depends. What kind of bokeh you want? The totaly blur one or the one preserving the shape of the background?

It needs some practice to known what is the distance between the camera, the subject, and the background to produce the bokeh you want...
 

Yes they will, but you can still maintain a good distance with fast apertures while getting bokeh.

Between an F1.8 and 5.6, the difference is totally huge.

You can still get a good level of bokeh at 1.4 and do a full body shot of someone in a populated area. :think:
 

So in other words, I will not be able to get good bokeh while being far away from my subject with my d90 kit lense? Its fastest aperture is F3.5 when not zoomed.
 

So in other words, I will not be able to get good bokeh while being far away from my subject with my d90 kit lense? Its fastest aperture is F3.5 when not zoomed.

Yup. You're limited by the lens, and at wide angle, your DOF is actually pretty deep, resulting in less background blur.
 

I think you are trying to create more background oof areas. bokeh is an asthetic descript of that oof.

Ryan
 

So in other words, I will not be able to get good bokeh while being far away from my subject with my d90 kit lense? Its fastest aperture is F3.5 when not zoomed.

Actually you can do a "maximum" bokeh test by manual focusing the lense to nearest working distance (0.45m IIRC), then do a shot.

Check back the image and that will be the "blurest" bokeh you can get with any aperture that you have set.
 

Actually you can do a "maximum" bokeh test by manual focusing the lense to nearest working distance (0.45m IIRC), then do a shot.

Check back the image and that will be the "blurest" bokeh you can get with any aperture that you have set.

Thanks! I will have a try at it without zooming when I get back home and let you know of my findings. Btw, I do appreciate all the help and advice given by you guys.
 

Thanks! I will have a try at it without zooming when I get back home and let you know of my findings. Btw, I do appreciate all the help and advice given by you guys.
zooming is a term of changing focal length, so you are referring zoom in or zoom out? have you notice you are the only one using this term in the whole thread?

why don't use a proper term to let others understand you better and also knowing you have already understood what they have been trying to tell you.

anyway, to get maximize of the Bokeh on your current set up, set your lens at the longest focal length setting, widest aperture setting, place your subject far away from the background as far as your could, get closer to your subject as close as you can.
 

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I am able to create bokeh with my D90 kit lense by zooming in and then using a wide aperture, like F5.6. How would I do it without zooming? I am not able to replicate as when I zoom. Can anyone advise?

Read here and learn about what factors are responsible for Depth of Field: http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/depth-of-field.htm Bokeh is everything outside DOF.

And not to be rude, don't ask me to google since that is the most convenient answer members give to TS. I already done that and could not get an answer.

Not sure what you are doing with Google but typing 'bokeh' into Google Search gave me plenty of results, Wikipedia being the first hit.
http://www.google.com.sg/search?q=b...s=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&client=firefox-a
But it also helps to read up about the basics (here: aperture and DOF) in the Newbies Guide to Photography, just here in Newbies Corner.
 

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zooming is a term of changing focal length, so you are referring zoom in or zoom out? have you notice you are the only one using this term in the whole thread?

why don't use a proper term to let others understand you better and also knowing you have already understood what they have been trying to tell you.

anyway, to get maximize of the Bokeh on your current set up, set your lens at the longest focal length setting, widest aperture setting, place your subject far away from the background as far as your could, get closer to your subject as close as you can.

Thanks for the tip. I doubt you didn't get what my thread is about. I am able to get a bokeh while at my maximum focal length or at least near to it. What I am asking is getting a bokeh at my smallest focal length (which means not needing to zoom in). In any case, the other helpful members have already clarified my doubts.

Read here and learn about what factors are responsible for Depth of Field: http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/depth-of-field.htm Bokeh is everything outside DOF.

Not sure what you are doing with Google but typing 'bokeh' into Google Search gave me plenty of results, Wikipedia being the first hit.
http://www.google.com.sg/search?q=b...s=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&client=firefox-a
But it also helps to read up about the basics (here: aperture and DOF) in the Newbies Guide to Photography, just here in Newbies Corner.

I was looking at a more definite search like 'bokeh without zooming in', obviously I was using the wrong terms to start with. I have already read the newbies guide to photography, and understand how it works. I just needed some clarification on some doubts, you can't expect to grasp everything within a fixed document.
 

A quick and dirty answer to get bokeh from your kit lens is (like others have said) to place your subject far from your background. The further the background is from your subject, the blurrer it will be. Otherwise, get a faster lens. A faster lens is useful for lower light photography too, so it's not just for one purpose.

Cheers!
 

And not to be rude, don't ask me to google since that is the most convenient answer members give to TS. I already done that and could not get an answer.

reading a photographic book would give you a lot of mileage in terms of basic photography knowledge, not to be rude. almost every digital camera book has something on this, believe me. a simple visit to the library, and self-discovery.. goes way further than posting such and asking people to hand you the golden key.

but anyways, there are THREE ways to attain narrower depth of field (you should google more about depth of field rather than bokeh).

1. subject/background distance. the nearer the subject is to your lens compared to the background, the more oof is possible. you might be limited by minimum focusing distance here, along with other aesthetic limitations like face distortion, etc, depending on subject.

2. aperture. the larger the aperture (or rather, the smaller the f-stop number), the narrower the depth of field.

3. focal length. for the same aperture setting, if you use a LONGER focal length, you will get narrower depth of field.
 

I have been trying to get to grips with my D90 for a few months now.

I am able to create bokeh with my D90 kit lense by zooming in and then using a wide aperture, like F5.6. How would I do it without zooming? I am not able to replicate as when I zoom. Can anyone advise?

And not to be rude, don't ask me to google since that is the most convenient answer members give to TS. I already done that and could not get an answer.

first you need to get the definition of bokeh as hopefully the rest of us understands it, google will give you lots of instant information on that.

then you also need to know that "zooming" is a photographic technique and does not mean changing focal length.
 

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