Beginning the Art of Bokeh

Roxanne Evans explains this blurred technique and how to achieve it in your own images.

Article By Jennifer Gidman

Images by Roxanne Evans

"You get bokeh, for instance, when there are spectral highlights and you achieve that wonderful circular light around your subject," says Roxanne Evans, a photographer who often incorporates bokeh into her images. "I love that soft look and the effect it can lend to a photo. The shape of the bokeh is determined by the number of blades of the lens aperture. When you shoot at smaller apertures, the shape of the bokeh is polygonal, but when you shoot wide open, the bokeh shapes are smooth, which is what I prefer when photographing portraits."

The quality of the blur is what's important (there can actually be "bad" bokeh if you don't shoot it quite right). Evans explains the whens, whys, and hows of using bokeh in her work and how you can use it to enhance your own images.

Use bokeh for a variety of applications.
I'll use this effect for everything from portraits to pet photography to flowers. It's also great for night photography, because there are so many spectral highlights you can take advantage of. Think about shooting during the Christmas season or maybe the lights in shop windows at night - you can get a line of lights and end up with some gorgeous following lines that create a terrific composition.

Try out different lenses.
Which lens I choose depends on my subject, but I love using the Tamron SP 70-300mm VC: It's so versatile, because you can go out and shoot all kinds of different things. One minute I might be shooting wildlife from a distance, then I'll see something nearby that piques my curiosity. I'll zoom out to 70mm, compose my shot, and then open up to F/4.0 to create an image with a wonderfully creamy bokeh. I'm also attached at the hip to my Tamron macro lenses, including the SP 90mm F/2.8 and the SP 180mm.

Tap into bokeh when you want to isolate your subject.
I love how bokeh makes what I'm shooting really stand out. There are many times when I really want to focus on my subject but still somehow include the things around my subject. I'll aim for as shallow a depth-of-field as possible and try to get some additional light in there, whether it's a sidelight or any other type of light source, even if it's just light that's bounced off of something.

Search for an appropriate background.
If I'm shooting a portrait, the background I pick is usually dictated by what the models are wearing. I want something that has enough of a contrast so that I'm not going to have an even color all the way across. The same goes with flowers: If I get down and shoot at the level of the flowers, I can achieve bokeh using the flowers behind my subject flowers. For example, if I'm shooting a flower that's bright yellow and I've got a dance of red and green flowers behind that, it makes for a really attractive background.

Work out your distance and open up your aperture.
It depends on the image, but generally I like to get some distance between the light source and what I'm shooting. When I'm shooting for bokeh, I'm shooting in Aperture Priority mode. I like to get as close as I can to my subject and have the background further away so it follows the shot and results in more of that blur without a lot of detail. I'll shoot at whatever the widest aperture is for the particular lens I'm using to get that dreamy background.

Scout out interesting light from varying angles.
We do a lot of outdoor shooting, heading to different wildlife areas and parks, and I like to shoot when there's light streaming through the trees, being filtered through the green of the leaves. Add that to the blue sky and you've got a bunch of varying colors that makes for beautiful bokeh. For the caterpillar shot, we were in a swamp during the early morning with really golden light, but also with a lot of canopy. My subject received a touch of the light that was coming down, and my background light wasn't harsh.

For one of the portrait shots I did, I had a lot of light around my model, but it was coming mostly from the back and the side. I used a tiny bit of fill flash with the flash on the camera and diffusers so I wasn't blasting light right into her face. It was just a little light to fill in the shadows so I could get that glow behind her.

Looking for a variety of angles is important, too. People will often see me down on the ground shooting up at flowers from different angles. That allows me to capture some of that glow, which adds interest to the photo so it's not static.

To see more of Roxanne Evans' work with her partner, Doug Sahlin, go to www.dougplusrox.com or to their Facebook page. Also check out Sahlin’s new book, “Mastering the Lensbaby,” on Amazon.