Bokeh: know how to enhance the image aesthetics, with this effect
Though, I am no expert in photography but this is what I understood from my friend and lots of Blogs mentioned in the credit section. I have collated few important pointers from them.
What is Bokeh
Effect
When you see an
image with subject in focus and background is blurred or out of focus, the
image has Bokeh effect. Pronounced as BOH-KAY, Bokeh is derivative of Japanese
word Boke which translates to "Blur". Bokeh is an effect which is
created with “the way the lens renders out-of-focus points of light".
Simply speaking
Bokeh is a photography effect which gets created when you shoot a subject with
fast lens, with widest aperture. This generates out of focus blur. In most of
the cases lenses used are of f/2.8 focal length or f/2, f/1.8 or f/1.4 are ideal.
Mike Johnston,
the editor of Photo Techniques magazine coined the term Bokeh or Boke in 1997
when taking reference from Japanese word Boke, altering it to suggest how it
should be pronounced.
What causes Bokeh
Bokeh is
property of an image and not camera as it is generated by lenses. Technically
speaking the diaphragm blades attached with the lens determine the shape of
Bokeh.
To get Bokeh
use fast lens and with wider aperture. If the you don't have pro-quality lenses,
increase the distance between the background and the subject at the same time
decreasing the distance between the subject and the lens. This effect is most
visible in portrait mode where subject is nearer to camera in comparison with
background.
"Differences
in lens aberrations and aperture shape cause some lens designs to blur the
image in a way that is pleasing to the eye" - Wikipedia
Bokeh is
different from soft blur. Soft Blur is intentional blur added to subject but
edges are kept sharp while in Bokeh only an element of image is blurred
intentionally.
Most of the Bokeh
you will see is during the festive season when there is lots of point light,
LEDs etc.
How digital
camera generate Bokeh
There are two
ways of generating Bokeh with the knowledge of physics. If the camera has one lens one sensor, a
technique called image destabilization is used to focus on subject from both lens
and sensor while blurring the background.
The other ways
to generate the effect is by having 2 sensors in which one sensor take normal
photo while the other sensor stores the depth data.
Why Bokeh is so
popular
As with any
skill there is always a debate on how skillfully the task is achieved, same is
with the photography. There always an arguments and counter arguments on how
skillfully Bokeh is applied. The good Bokeh appears to be smooth, silky and
hazy background.
With trending
of taking selfie which is kind of portrait mode and increasingly affordable
technology Bokeh is now popular more than ever. Bokeh add softness to the
photograph.
When the
subject is in focus and background is blurred at the same time is called shallow
depth of field and make image aesthetically beautiful.
Pro-Tip
Pro-Tip
Noise as in
most images can ruin the photograph. It is suggested to use lower ISO like 400
or lower with wider aperture and faster shutter. Lower ISOs keep digital noise low.
How can you
take good Bokeh?
Good Bokeh
depends on many things
1. First thing
first the lens. Faster the lens with wider aperture like f/1.4 or f/1.8 the
better.
2. Be closer to
your subject to get sharp and crisp focus
3. Move subject
away from background to create short depth-of-field
4. Using apps
and software’s for post processing
How can you
take Bokeh from single camera mobile?
It is not
possible for the mobile small camera to produce real Bokeh as DSLR, this is
done through emulation of images through software post processing. Dual Camera has upper hand in this by taking
two pics of the same scene at the same time, there is no reason why single
camera cannot create this effect.
There are
number of apps for IOS, Android or Windows Phone both free and paid to do the
thing. The blurring effect can be gained by identifying the background in the
image or intentionally blurring the point lights in the image. The later one
though doesn’t look professional but can be achieved quickly.
Apps like AfterFocus,
Bokeh Lens, Portrait Blur etc. can be used to make simple digital images with Bokeh
effect.
Fortunately, I
bought Honor 7x with dual camera for my mom and got the chance to test the
Bokeh Effect and I must say the results are amazing. This effect certainly adds
some depth and quality to image. I would suggest trying it. You will be amazed
with the results.
FootNote
---------------------------------
Channel -https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChlqyi2M5ywy85FSHI0i-tg
Other Articles - https://azblogs4u.blogspot.in/p/blog-page_7.html
---------------------------------
Credits
Articles
https://www.nikonusa.com/en/learn-and-explore/a/tips-and-techniques/bokeh-for-beginners.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bokeh
https://www.picturecorrect.com/tips/what-is-the-bokeh-effect-in-photography/
https://www.slashgear.com/how-to-get-a-bokeh-effect-on-your-single-lens-smartphone-camera-16488057/
https://photographylife.com/what-is-bokeh
https://digital-photography-school.com/how-to-achieve-nice-bokeh-in-plain-english/
https://digital-photography-school.com/how-to-achieve-better-bokeh-4-simple-tips/
https://www.pocket-lint.com/cameras/news/127591-what-is-bokeh-here-s-the-photography-effect-explained
https://practicalphotographytips.com/Photography-Basics/what-is-bokeh.html
Images
Pixabay
Good one!! Thanks for enlightening me
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