If you’re new to photography, you would have most definitely heard of the term “bokeh”. 

Simply put, bokeh refers to the out-of-focus areas in a photo’s background. The creamy blur lends your photos a softer look and brings focus to your subject in the foreground. The term in itself is derived from the Japanese term boke (ボケ), which translates to "blur" or "haze". As you can see in the photo above, there is an almost dreamlike, mesmerising quality brought out in photos when bokeh is applied. 

Already entranced by the captivating effects of bokeh at this point? Let’s find out more about all the factors that contribute to a captivating photo with gorgeous bokeh and how you can have fun with this effect by using creative shape filters. 

Go for a bright aperture and use a telephoto lens

Bright apertures and telephoto lenses are ideal for capturing bokeh because they create a large Circle of Confusion (CoC) in the background of an image. Sony’s G Master lenses are exceptionally good at capturing beautiful bokeh, being equipped with the latest XA lens technology. 

The SEL85F14GM is one of the best lenses for shooting portraits with creamy bokeh. With a shallow depth of field, this lens supports a very wide aperture of F1.4 with an ideal telephoto focal length of 85mm.  

Weighing only 1.03kg, the SEL70200GM2 is the lightest in its class. However, its image quality and bokeh expression are top-notch. This telephoto lens easily captures stunning, creamy bokeh at a versatile telephoto focal length of 200mm and F-number of F2.8.  

Open up your aperture

Before we start shooting, you’ll want to set your camera to ‘aperture priority’ or ‘manual mode’, as you’ll be shooting at a wide-open aperture. Now that that’s done, set your aperture fully open condition. Brighter apertures will create a creamy and beautiful effect and create a distinct separation between your subject and its background.  

Separate your subject from its background 

Putting a good amount of distance between your subject and its background will defocus everything in the back, which is ideal for capturing bokeh. Alternatively, you can move the camera closer to your subject to increase the background blur. All this has to do with depth of field – the distance between the closest and furthest objects in a photo. The further away your subject is from the background, the blurrier your background will be. 

Capture blurred light

Bokeh is caused by out-of-focus light. As such, the best way to capture bokeh is by shooting in bright, natural light. However, that does not mean that you can’t get beautiful bokeh at night! So long as there is a light source nearby, you can capture that beautiful low-light portrait of yourself at a light festival or the dancing glow of fairy lights against the night sky. No matter what time of the day you’re shooting in, let there be light!