Bokeh is the aesthetic quality of the blur produced in the out-of-focus parts of an image. This quality is produced by your camera’s lens and is most apparent in highlight areas. Is most often seen in portraits that are photographed using a wide open aperture.
Bokeh can be used creatively in so many different ways and can be the difference between an ordinary picture and one that has an exciting quality to it.
To achieve this look you’ll want to be setting your camera to aperture priory or a manual mode. Set your aperture to it’s widest possible. The smaller the number the bigger the aperture.
Experiment with having lights in the background of portraits. Fairy lights are often used to create the effect but you can also use the light coming through the leaves of trees as well.
This weekly photo challenge is designed to complement our photography basics section the London Mums website. Each week we will set a different theme and your homework is to go out and photograph a collection of images related to that theme.
You can start this challenge whenever you like and do the different themes in any order you see fit. Think of these challenges as a photography workout. Don’t just do them once and not revisit them. If you do start these challenges as you begin our online basics classes then in a few months why not revisit older challenges to see how much better a photographer you have become.
Also try and think outside the box as much as possible. Photography is as much about creative interpretation as it is about technical prowess.
