Cant seem to get the bokeh effect .

Shagnwagon

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Ive been trying to acheive this style of picture for a while now but i cant seem to get it. Just a simple bokeh style shot. For me its either everything is clear or everything is blur. Im wondering if this is possible with my lens which is a canon 18-55mm lens that came with my camera. Is it the lens? or is it my technique? Thanks in advance.
 
What aperture are you trying to use?
 
If you keep the aperture open as wide as it can go, f/3.5-5.6 depending on zoom, and get as close as you can while still maintaining focus... you should get the effect you're after. The closer the subject is to the minimum focus distance of the lens, the more you'll separate them from the background when using a large aperture.
 
i foud this video very helpful when i was starting out.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUYuUs1aaCU[/ame]
 
Ive been trying to acheive this style of picture for a while now but i cant seem to get it. Just a simple bokeh style shot. For me its either everything is clear or everything is blur. Im wondering if this is possible with my lens which is a canon 18-55mm lens that came with my camera. Is it the lens? or is it my technique? Thanks in advance.
You may be having trouble in part because what you are trying to achieve is called depth-of-field (DOF), not bokeh.

They are not the same thing.


Four things control DOF:
  1. lens focal length
  2. lens aperture
  3. lens to subject distance
  4. subject to background distance.
Here is a link to a DOF calculator :
Online Depth of Field Calculator

Here is some information about bokeh:
Bokeh - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
of which there are 2 kinds:
  1. Cream cheese bokeh
  2. Hollywood bokeh
Bokeh is mainly a function of the lens optics, plus the number and shape of the lens aperture blades.

In Nikon's lens current lineup, the AF 85 mm f/1.4D is considered as producing the smoothest cream cheese type of bokeh and has been nicknamed the "Cream Machine". AF NIKKOR 85mm f/1.4D IF from Nikon
 

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