Techniques you use to get max bokeh?

[240SS]

Hey i'm pretty new to photography in general (esp car photography) and was wondering how to get a nice blur/bokeh effect in the background, what ik so far is to use a wider aperture/lower F# and make sure stuff is exposed correctly

Sort of confused behind how to make the subject, foreground, background, exposure, composition etc... to work together to create that bokeh effect ya know... and just really not knowing where i should be standing or what my exposure settings should be

---

Some of the shots i'm talking about are here linked below...
(i won't copy & paste the images w/o permission but the 1st pic i'm talking about is the red genesis and the 2nd is the silver volvo 940 doing a burnout w/e30 in the background)

http://www.stanceworks.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20399&page=7

http://www.stanceworks.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58920

Also i'm assuming most of you guys use a wide angle (zoom) type lens primarily and/or a combination of a zoom + prime lens...

[banzaii]

You can do it similar ways, for example use good lens or be master of PS.

1. Canon 70D + Canon 70-200 f2.8 L (first generation 70-200 lens)



2. Canon 70D + 70-200 F2.8 L USM II IS



Good telephoto & fix lenses are the best for good bokeh.
70-200 f2.8, 50 mm f1.4, 50 mm f1.8, 50 mm f1.2, Sigma 35 mm f1.4 ART, 85 mm f1.8 / f1.4. There is many different ways for that.

[240SS]

You can do it similar ways, for example use good lens or be master of PS.





Good telephoto & fix lenses are the best for good bokeh.
70-200 f2.8, 50 mm f1.4, 50 mm f1.8, 50 mm f1.2, Sigma 35 mm f1.4 ART, 85 mm f1.8 / f1.4. There is many different ways for that.

Wow dude those are some beautiful shots, totally what i'm trying to go for but atm i just have a poverty 50mm f/1.8 lens haha.
Been doing some research as well as shooting photos myself and i noticed/realized that there are a LOT of factors that go into getting a nice *bokeh* or narrow DOF.

---

In the photos above you used a zoom lens the 70-200mm but you still got really good bokeh, sort of confused as to how you did it or what factors go into getting a narrow DOF shot?
Having trouble understanding focus distance (like the min focus distance on the lens) and how that relates to getting a narrower DOF/bokeh when taking a photo. Don't really understand how the magnification/focus ring works on my lens either like i only know how to make the subject in focus or w/e but i'm confused on how to manipulate my DOF?

Thanks lol i think i should've posted on some photography forums but i'll get back to this thread with some pics

[banzaii]

For proper bokeh / narrow DOF use telephoto lens. As I told before Canon 70-200 f2.8 lenses are really good, 70-200 f4 works as well but you don't get same bokeh as what you get with f2.8 lens.

Probably you can do almost same with your 50 mm fix. Only thing which irritates me is 50 mm fix lens soft line sharpness but nevermind of that because you can fix it later with post-processing.
Sigma 50 mm f1.4 ART is much better.

Finally, don't forget post-processing - play with curves, levels, contrast, colours & sharpness. It's also a prerequisite for good DOF.

Good luck :-)

[240SS]

For proper bokeh / narrow DOF use telephoto lens. As I told before Canon 70-200 f2.8 lenses are really good, 70-200 f4 works as well but you don't get same bokeh as what you get with f2.8 lens.

Probably you can do almost same with your 50 mm fix. Only thing which irritates me is 50 mm fix lens soft line sharpness but nevermind of that because you can fix it later with post-processing.
Sigma 50 mm f1.4 ART is much better.

Finally, don't forget post-processing - play with curves, levels, contrast, colours & sharpness. It's also a prerequisite for good DOF.

Good luck :-)

Omg your photos are so beautiful man Thank you for the advice.

70-200mm lenses are obv very expensive as well as the 50mm f/1.4 i don't know if you have any recommendations for similar type lenses as mentioned above^.

And can you even get good bokeh/background blur with f-stop as high as f/4?
Are there any good canon lenses you could recommend other then the 70-200mm, i'm considering switching over to nikon -> canon or i'll just use a lens adapter on a nikon body?

Also i'm considering getting a d700 full-frame sensor cam soon so that should help out a bit.

[Withers]

A 50 f/1.8 can get the effect you're looking for, it just won't be as extreme. An example of a shot taken with the nifty fifty:


All you really need to do is research depth of field and go out and practice. It's just a matter of taking pictures at different distances from the car with different aperture settings. In order to get more depth of field, you essentially just need a longer focal length with a large aperture (around f/2.8 for an 85-150), around f/4 will work for telephoto lenses.

Here's an 150 f/2.8 shot for example:


The closer you get with a long focal length, the more exaggerated the effect will be.

Another option is using the brenizer method, which is basically just stitching together a bunch of images with a shallow depth of field in order to create a "wide angle" shot that still has nice bokeh. An example of that:



If you want a really solid lens that will get you good bokeh for a reasonable price, the Canon 85mm f/1.8 prime is roughly $300 used and rivals much more expensive lenses.

[Bimmerteck]

Since you have the nifty 50 you may want to practice with smaller subjects than cars until you get the hang of it. Bokeh doesn't require any post processing in itself, though it can be enhanced or completely faked in post with some layered filters. With your 50 you want a shallow DOF(f2 or f1.8), with you closer to the subject than the subject is to the background.

Here's one I got with my nifty 50 and my old 40d. My post process on band shots was VERY minimal b/c the publisher I worked for wanted the files in hand the next morning.

Aug142009 338 (19 of 47) by Erik, on Flickr


You can also effectively use bokeh to isolate a subject from a busy background or one that may not fit with them as I did here with the stormtrooper at the local ballpark. Though on it I used my 70-200 @ f2.8 you could do the same with a 50 you would just have to zoom (with your legs) to frame it correctly.
Untitled by Erik, on Flickr

Here's one of captain america using the same effect to lesser extent taken with my 5d and a 50f1.4Untitled by Erik, on Flickr

[240SS]

Thank you @bimmerteck and @withers for the helpful replies, can you guys critique my photo lmk what's wrong with it like exposure, WB, coloring, framing, distance etc. and it was a cloudy day no sun for the most part but i could fix all that stuff coloring etc. in post-process right?

---



I don't have lightroom/post-process softwares atm so i can't do that stuff and my file was originally NEF/RAW so i had to use some website to convert it into JPG coz flickr won't let me upload non JPG stuff

-Nikon d700
-50mm
-f/1.8
-1/640 ss
-320 iso

[FEELCOLINS]

i have the 1.2 50mm, and have had lots of other primes, and honestly the canon 1.8 50mm is my favorite lens from that camp. ( i have one as well)

price is great, its small, light, and i see no sacrifice in image quality especially for video.

to achieve a more severe background falloff, make the background further away. shoot low, find something with detail to be far behind the subject to show the fall off.

of course, the lower your F stop, the shallower your depth of field will be. if you're shooting outdoors and you find that being at 1.8 in full daylight leaves you with an unreasonable shutter speed, I would suggest investing in a ND filter. you can add stops that way.

[Withers]

Thank you @bimmerteck and @withers for the helpful replies, can you guys critique my photo lmk what's wrong with it like exposure, WB, coloring, framing, distance etc. and it was a cloudy day no sun for the most part but i could fix all that stuff coloring etc. in post-process right?

---



I don't have lightroom/post-process softwares atm so i can't do that stuff and my file was originally NEF/RAW so i had to use some website to convert it into JPG coz flickr won't let me upload non JPG stuff

-Nikon d700
-50mm
-f/1.8
-1/640 ss
-320 iso

Hmm, link is broken

[240SS]

A 50 f/1.8 can get the effect you're looking for, it just won't be as extreme. An example of a shot taken with the nifty fifty:

Saw this pic on your flickr here just to check the settings/exif im guessing it was a really bright day coz you have 100 iso and 1/4k ss @ f/2.8?
Not sure why such high SS, i guess that's the only way to go to get some bokeh if you don't wanna decrease the aperture?

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jasonwithers/8669687706/in/datetaken/

[Katty8]

Hi! I love your pictures! Thanks for sharing your photo tips. I am one of the awesome paper writers here who write research papers about photograph

[Zachbox]

Just beware because too fast of an F stop can actually harm the photo.

When I first picked up my Sony A7R i paired it with my nikkor 50mm. F/1.2 and thought that 1.2 was the greatest thing ever. after shooting a bunch of cars i noticed that at times, the subject wasn't very sharp or barely out of focus no matter how hard or long I tried and I couldn't figure out why.

Come to find out that when shooting wide open, some lenses aren't as sharp as others.

So my Ziess 55mm f/1.8 is actually sharper and has better image quality than my nikkor 50mm. f/1.2


This subaru was shot with the 50mm f/1.2


This Audi was shot with the 55mm f/1.8

[240SS]

@Zachbox Thx for the reply & Info , i've noticed that when you have something in front of the subject you are focusing on as well in your shot/frame like part of a bush/tree/grass (such as the photos above) it brings out the depth of field in the photo more and makes that part more out of focus.

Tbh i can't really tell the difference or don't have enough experience to tell whether a photo/lens sharpness... lol if that makes any sense

---

Again sort of a noob question here but you should generally always use auto-bracking/bracketing when shooting outdoors?

I'm not to familiar on this subject and i want to learn more if i'm going to be doing car photography shots, atm i'm just manually focusing and generally having the lowest base iso possible and adjusting shutter speed or aperture.

[Dane]

If you're using a shorter focal length, get closer to get more background blur. You'll learn that it's easy to get things in the foreground OOF if you make sure there's plenty of distance between things - more so if you're shooting a wider focal length.

35mm at F2.8. I can get background blur with any aperture, I just have to get really close when closing it up.


Here's a little foreground blur from my 85mm at F2.8.


I've never used the auto bracketing function on any camera.

Lowest ISO, 100, 50, or other? Depending on the camera, I'd keep it between 100 - 400. Newer models with auto ISO, I'd use that. If that's your 50mm 1.8, I'd get in the habit of using it between 2.8-f4. You'll likely have an easier time getting focus correct. Shooting at f1.8 makes the DOF really thin - so the sharp part of the photo is going to be very small, and thus more difficult to get the right point in focus.