What Is Bokeh in Photography: A Simple Guide

By Ray Baker

Here is the part most people get wrong when asking what is bokeh in photography: bokeh is not the blur itself. It is the quality of out-of-focus or “blurry” parts of the image rendered by a camera lens. If you have ever asked what is bokeh in photography, you have probably also noticed that two lenses at the same f-stop can give you very different backgrounds.

That difference is the thing I look at before I judge a lens for portrait work.

What is bokeh in photography?

When you ask what is bokeh in photography, bokeh describes the visual character of the out-of-focus areas in a photograph. It covers how smoothly the background melts away, how foreground blur looks and how points of light are shaped. The word comes from the Japanese boke, which means “blur” or “haze”.

A good bokeh pleases our eyes and our perception of the image and therefore, the background blur should appear soft and “creamy”, with smooth round circles of light and no hard edges.

Key takeaways

• Bokeh concerns the quality of the whole blurred region, not merely reflections and highlights.
• The term comes from the Japanese word boke, which means “blur” or “haze”.
• Different lenses render bokeh differently due to unique optical designs.
• Although wider apertures are better, you can still get bokeh with smaller f/stops.
• A pleasing bokeh should look soft and creamy, with smooth round highlights and gentle edges.

Is bokeh the same as background blur?

No, and the difference matters when you are choosing a lens. Background blur is simply the amount of blur created by a shallow depth of field, which you control with aperture, subject distance and the lens you choose. The quality and feel of the background/foreground blur and reflected points of light is what photographers call Bokeh.

A lens can give you plenty of background blur but still produce busy, harsh highlights. That is why I check the way a lens draws a bright background before I worry about how much it blurs.

One easy test is to shoot a small, bright light source in the background at night or through a window. The blurred highlights should look like soft, round coins. Poor bokeh draws the eye in a distracting way, because the blurred areas are unpleasant to look at.

I use this test when a client asks why their background looks busy even though the aperture is wide.

If the depth of field side feels a bit wobbly, my guide to depth of field photography breaks it down step by step. The short version is that a wide aperture, a long focal length or a closer subject all reduce the sharp zone. Bear in mind, though, that those settings only alter how much blur there is, not how attractive it looks.

Why does bokeh quality vary by lens?

The short answer is optical design. Different lenses render the blurred area in noticeably different ways, even with the same settings. As Photography Life’s beginner guide points out, the Nikon 85mm f/1.4D lens produces exceptionally good-looking bokeh, while the Nikon 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6G DX lens produces poor bokeh at the same focal length and aperture.

That gap is why I tell people to test a lens before buying it for portrait work.

The same guide notes that every lens can produce blurred areas, yet not every lens can render beautiful bokeh. The reason comes down to how each lens is built, including its aperture blades and glass elements. You do not need to memorise the physics.

You just need to look at what happens to a small, bright light in the background. Even, circular highlights are a good sign; hard-edged or cluttered shapes are not.

Price is not a perfect guide either. I have used cheap lenses that render a lovely soft background and expensive ones that left me cold, because the design suits one kind of scene and not another.

If you want a starting point for gear, my article on the best lens for portrait photography covers the trade-offs between price, reach and that smooth look.

What makes bokeh look creamy or busy?

The difference comes down to how the lens draws blurred highlights and edges. Pleasing bokeh should look soft and velvety, with even highlights and gentle edges. I see this most often when there is a bright window or string of lights behind the subject.

The same amount of blur can look completely different depending on how those highlights are rendered.

If you want to test it, point your lens at a small light in the background and move the focus ring until the light becomes blurred. Watch whether it becomes a smooth disc or something harsher. That simple check tells you more about your gear than a hundred forum posts.

The distance between the subject and whatever sits behind it does a lot of quiet work here. Put a person against a wall six feet away and the wall stays mostly sharp, even with a fast lens. Move them out to a park and the trees behind can fall into soft shapes.

I have watched photographers blame their lens for a busy background when a simple step to the left, with more room behind the subject, fixed it. Fashion and portrait work often rely on exactly that spacing.

How can I get better bokeh?

Here are the five things I check when I am trying to improve bokeh in the field.

1. Although wider apertures are better, you can still get bokeh with smaller f/stops.
2. Move closer to your subject and keep the background further away to make the blur more obvious.
3. Use a longer focal length, which enlarges blurred areas and softens the scene.
4. A pleasing bokeh should look soft and creamy, with smooth round highlights and gentle edges.
5. Test your own lens against a simple background before a paid job, because bokeh character is easy to see once you look for it.

Most of these changes cost you nothing. They simply change the geometry between lens, subject and background. One more habit I keep is shooting the same scene with two lenses when I can, just to see the difference side by side.

That comparison teaches you more than any spec sheet. If you are unsure about f-stops, my aperture for portraits guide explains how each stop shifts the look without making it feel like a maths class.

When I am teaching someone, I get them to shoot the same subject three times: once at f/1.8, once at f/5.6 and once at f/11 from the same spot. The change in the background tells you more than a chart. After that, swap lenses without touching the settings and see what happens to the highlights.

Two minutes of that exercise usually settles the argument about which of your lenses you reach for on a portrait job.

Can smaller apertures still produce bokeh?

Yes, and this is a common mistake I see. A very wide aperture makes smooth bokeh easier, but it is not required. The examples show bokeh at f/8 and f/10, and even with a compact camera.

The trick is to place your subject close to the lens and the background far away. That combination stretches the distance between the sharp subject and the blurred background, which gives the blur room to develop.

Phones and small-sensor cameras often rely on digital simulation instead. Hair and glasses remain a challenge for phone cameras and fake bokeh. If you shoot on a phone, my phone photography tips article covers how to work around these limits.

Frequently asked questions

Is bokeh just about blurry backgrounds?

No. Bokeh concerns the quality of the blurred parts of the image, not the blur itself or how much of it there is.

Which lens gives the best bokeh?

Generally, portrait and telephoto lenses with large maximum apertures yield more pleasant-looking bokeh than cheaper consumer zoom lenses.

Do I need a wide aperture for bokeh?

Although wider apertures are better, you can still get bokeh with smaller f/stops.

Can phones create real bokeh?

Hair and glasses remain a challenge for phone cameras and fake bokeh. The effect can look convincing in simple scenes, but fine detail often shows artefacts.

Why does bokeh look different between lenses?

Different lenses render bokeh differently due to unique optical designs. That is why testing matters.

What does bokeh mean in Japanese?

Bokeh comes from the Japanese word boke, which means “blur” or “haze”, or boke-aji, the “blur quality”. The term was first recorded in 1995-2000.

Honest take

If you take one thing from this, let it be this: what is bokeh in photography matters less as a definition and more as a habit. Before you buy a lens or book a portrait session, look at how the background falls away. The mistake I see most is chasing a wide aperture without checking whether the lens draws highlights cleanly.

Start there and you will make better choices with the gear you already own.

References

1. Photography Life. Understanding Bokeh for Beginners. https://photographylife.com/what-is-bokeh
2. Nikon. Bokeh for Beginners. https://www.nikonusa.com/learn-and-explore/c/tips-and-techniques/bokeh-for-beginners
3. Dictionary.com. Bokeh Definition & Meaning. https://www.dictionary.com/browse/bokeh

Shoot well and follow up faster,
Ray Baker