Warmer nights bring with them lots of opportunities for outdoor evening entertaining and the perfect chance to learn some new photography skills by testing out a little Bokeh. As much an art form as a photography technique, bokeh makes a great subject for customised canvas prints.

What is bokeh?

Translated from the Japanese for ‘blur” bokeh is a technique that forces the viewer to look at a particular area of a photograph. It does this by not only retaining blurry areas that we sometimes try to correct in photographs but by actually encouraging them and forcing focus onto a clearer object.

These blurry parts are rendered by the camera lens and can be manipulated. There is some disagreement between photographers as to what good bokeh looks like and the effect you are trying to achieve will largely depend on your subject. Some people like to create creamy background with soft circles of light in the background of images, whereas others create sharper-looking bokeh images that play with colour and light, where the bokeh shape itself is the subject. There’s no reason why you can’t shoot bokeh during the day but the light against a dark backdrop can produce spectacular effects, so next time you’re holding a late-night garden party, be sure to have your camera to hand!

What do you need to create bokeh?

Any camera will produce blurry photographs under the right conditions but not all of these images will contain bokeh. To really nail this technique, you’ll need a telephoto or portrait lens set to maximum aperture. You might have seen bokeh images with heptagon shaped bokeh rather than small round circles, this is because the reflected light captured in the out of focus areas is shaped by the lens diaphragm. Most new cameras have nine rounded blades, which produces circle shapes, however, some old lenses had seven straight blades. You may have seen bokeh that features heart shapes or other unusual designs and these are generally created using a fake lens hood, which can be cut from a black card. These artistic shots make great custom canvas prints and provide points of interest on children’s walls.

For shooting bokeh, you should use a well-lit background. If you’re hosting a garden party with strings of lights and lanterns, you’ll find you have the perfect set-up. You can take great bokeh images in the street with street lamps and signs too, but it’s harder to dodge the crowds and you mightn’t have the same freedom to set up your shots perfectly.

Taking your photo

Once you’ve selected background with some lights, put your camera focus on an object that is close to you, keeping the object in focus. Cocktail glasses and wine glasses are great to play around with at parties. Try and ensure there are no other objects for a distance of five feet or so behind, as this will distract in the image. Check out our blog on taking the perfect photo on your smartphone, for more tips.

To capture the shot, set your aperture as low as possible, put yourself on the same level as the object and use a fast shutter speed and manual focus. As will all photography, experimentation is the key to discovery, so take lots of shots and select your best image to transfer to canvas, you might even find you have a series of shots from a garden party that you’d like to put together in a split canvas print.

Got some brilliant bokeh you’d like to display on your walls? Use our simple uploader to create your own customised canvas print using bokeh photography.