Shallow depth of field and 'Bokeh' - tips for good Photography

Bokeh is the term used to describe how out of focus highlights in the background of a picture appear as circles of light when they are thrown out of focus by what is called a shallow depth of field. In this picture of the wait groom and father of the groom, taken with a zoom lens, a wide aperture was used to throw the background out of focus and it also resulted in the bokeh affect.

This young dancer portrait shows a similar effect. By throwing the background significantly out of focus the eye is drawn to the sharply focused elements of the eyes and face.

It also works well in this picture of the golden eagle. I call it the 'sky-eyed' eagle because the blue sky and clouds appear very clearly in the birds beautiful eye.



I usually only post three pictures, but here is a bonus picture. In this case, unusually, I threw the foreground out of focus with the highlights on the flute producing the bokeh affect.

Thanks for viewing.