This post is meant for beginners in photography but anybody can go through it.

What is Bokeh?

Bokeh is a Japanese word meaning ‘Blur’ or haze.

Bokeh is the aesthetic quality of the blur produced in ‘out of focus parts of an image.

Just notice these two images of the same flower

In one image both the flower and the background green leaves are in focus.

In the other image, the background leaves are blurred and the flower pops out more prominently.

Image without background blur (everything in focus)

Image with background blur

Deciding which looks better depends on the person

‘Beauty in the eyes of the beholder’

Glowing Lights transformed into bokeh

This feature is lens-specific and depends on the number of blades of the diaphragm of the lens.

Is getting a pleasant bokeh an easy-peasy job?

It depends how rich or poor you are!💰💰💰

If you are rich you can have those costly lens having wide apertures reaching almost 0.9 (Leica 50 mm F/0.95 costing $10,500)

If you are poor go for the cheapest lens is 50mm f/1.8 costing $100 to $150 (popularly known as nifty fifty)

Don’t ask me about the big difference in the cost of the lens and the quality of the image it produces 😂😂

Re-read my earlier statement

‘Beauty in the eyes of the beholder’

What about the ‘bokeh effect’ by the camera in our cell phones?

My friend, don’t drag me into the never ending discussion.

The quality of cell phone cameras can never match that of DSLR or mirrorless cameras.(I am not saying the manufacture is saying this). The whole thing boils down to the size of the sensor.

Manufactures have their own claims!!

Just like any other business model!

But you are the deciding master. Who cares what others say or talk!!

Beauty in the eyes of Beholder!!

What are the factors that influence bokeh?

Just 4 factors.

• Aperture- Larger the aperture of the lens bigger the bokeh effect and vice versa
• Focal length- Longer the focal length of the lens more visible is the bokeh effect and vice versa
• Shooting distance- The nearer the subject the more bokeh effect and vice versa
• Background- The further away from the background the more bokeh effect and vice versa

Fortunately, present photography software can do wonders without spending a fortune on those high-end lenses.

Bokeh in real life

What was your experience when you had your love at first sight??

In my case, except her everything was blurred😂😂😂

“Love at first sight happens only when no one is visible to you except her, just like a bokeh mode, and you start dreaming even in daylights, just even in standing position…and the most important thing is you are not in the consciousness” Mrinali

Thank you for visiting my site and taking your time to read.

Take care, my friend.

Namaste 🙏🙏🙏

Philosophy Through Photography

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This post is part of

Nancy Merrill’s A photo A week- BOKEH photo challenge

Cee Neuner’s Flower Of The Day photo challenge