{"id":1500,"date":"2016-04-06T09:57:41","date_gmt":"2016-04-06T09:57:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dev.wordpress\/?p=1500"},"modified":"2016-05-12T15:08:02","modified_gmt":"2016-05-12T19:08:02","slug":"want-more-flattering-bokeh-in-your-portrait-photography-change-your-lens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.adorama.com\/alc\/want-more-flattering-bokeh-in-your-portrait-photography-change-your-lens\/","title":{"rendered":"Want More Flattering Bokeh In Your Portrait Photography? Change Your Lens!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Photographer Jay P. Morgan was in shooting in New York City’s Times Square and wanted to explore shooting bokeh with all the intense lights on Broadway. (The term “bokeh” is Japanese and means “blur” or “haze”.) In this article, Morgan demonstrates how different lenses and aperture settings can create the cinematic effect.You’ll see how the bokeh generated by a 200mm lens, compares to that of a 50mm lens.<\/em><\/p>\n

Bokeh Tests<\/h4>\n

Before heading out to Times Square, Morgan first did some bokeh tests indoors, using Christmas lights in the blurred background.<\/p>\n

With Christmas lights strung on a white wall, the image on the left was shot using a 50mm lens at f\/2.8. The lens was 3 feet away from the subject, and the subject was 3.5 feet away from the background. As you can see, the lights are not very blurry.<\/p>\n

The image on the right was shot with the same lens at the same distance, but with the aperture set at f\/1.2. Notice how the wider aperture setting makes the background circles larger.<\/p>\n

(Shop for lenses at Adorama.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
(Shop for lenses at Adorama.)<\/a><\/h6>\n

Still using the 50mm lens at f\/2.8, Morgan and his subject moved away from the background about 4 feet. The lens was still 3 feet from the subject, but the subject was now 7 feet from the background. As you can with the image on the left, the blur increased as they moved away from the background.<\/p>\n

The only difference with the image on the right was the aperture setting of f\/1.2. A wider aperture results in larger bokeh circles.<\/p>\n

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Focal length also plays a factor. The image on the left was shot with a 100mm lens, 8 feet away from the subject and 13 feet from the background.<\/p>\n

The only difference with the image on the right was the lens choice: 200mm.<\/p>\n

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So, in order to render the best bokeh circles, you need to:<\/p>\n