January 4, 2025, 9:05 am | Read time: 4 minutes
Less is sometimes more. This is especially true for photos with unsteady backgrounds. With the help of the bokeh effect, a cluttered image can be turned into a classy presentation. TECHBOOK reveals what you should bear in mind when taking photos.
Using the bokeh effect in a photo involves manipulating the background’s sharpness or, more accurately, its blurriness. If the background is blurred, the actual subject stands out more. This is often used for portraits, close-ups, or macro shots – especially if the background is not particularly photogenic. Nowadays, the effect is achievable not just with cameras but also with smartphones and post-processing techniques.
Guiding the Viewer’s Gaze with Bokeh
Bokeh simply refers to the intentional blurring of a photo’s foreground or background. The name comes from the Japanese and means just that: blurring or haziness.
As a photographer, you can use the bokeh effect to sharpen the areas of the image that you want the viewer to focus on. After all, people always instinctively look for the sharp areas of the image first, which are brought into focus by the bokeh effect.
On smartphones, authentic bokeh is achievable when equipped with at least two cameras. Yet, software can also be used to achieve or enhance this effect. For a really good bokeh effect, you need a fast lens, so the aperture should have as large an opening as possible, which corresponds to a small f-number. The aperture not only determines how much light hits the sensor, it also influences the focus setting.
Bokeh Effect with a Camera
The aperture you choose directly influences the bokeh effect produced. The larger the aperture, the shallower the depth of field, which in turn means that the background will be blurred. However, good bokeh can also be achieved by increasing the distance between the camera and the lens.
A camera lens with a lens speed of at least f/2.8 is required for the bokeh effect. The higher the speed – for example, f/2.0 or f/1.8 – the better for the bokeh effect. Finally, the nature of the aperture also plays a role. If it consists of round blades, it creates soft circles with blurred light on the image – as in the cover picture. A more angular aperture, on the other hand, produces a slightly angular representation of out-of-focus highlights.
To achieve bokeh, the aperture must be wide open. The optimal approach is to utilize the camera’s manual exposure control. You select the aperture opening and the exposure time yourself. You can also use the aperture priority mode, in which the aperture is set manually, and the camera automatically selects the optimum exposure time for this setting.
Even with a low-light lens, you can still achieve a bokeh effect. To do this, the distance between the background and the image focus must be increased by moving the camera closer to the subject. The further away the background is, the blurrier it becomes in the picture.
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Bokeh Effect on Smartphones
Many smartphones can now create a natural bokeh effect thanks to ever-larger sensors and better optics. However, manufacturers usually use a software-based solution called “portrait mode.” If the camera detects one or more faces or objects, it automatically simulates blurring in the background.
Unlike natural bokeh, however, this solution is not perfect, as the smartphone does not really separate the foreground and background. However, the software solution is more flexible. The strength of the effect can usually be set manually. Google’s Pixel smartphones and now the iPhone 15 also make it possible to change the focus and depth of field even when a normal photo has been taken.
There are also numerous apps, such as Snapseed, in which the bokeh effect can be added retrospectively. Additionally, popular image editing software like Adobe Photoshop and GIMP can be utilized to add attractive accents with soft focus and bokeh highlights.
If you don’t want to resort to software tricks, you can use a simple trick with your smartphone camera to achieve a similar effect. Most newer smartphones automatically blur the image when an object is very close to the lens. If you focus on the subject in the foreground, the background becomes blurred. On the other hand, if you focus on the background or middle ground, the foreground becomes blurred. If you get within a few centimeters of the subject to achieve this effect, you may be able to achieve even better results in macro mode.